Television in this day and age has become less restricted to a Television screen itself. Through tablets, smartphones and laptops consumers can view what they want, when they want.
My family for example during the months of April and May 2019, we’re subscribed to Netflix, Stan and Foxtel Go, all for different show preferences. On top of those we had free-to-air TV and had access to free streaming sites like YouTube due our internet availability. We were given access to more TV shows and movies that we could comprehend, from all the world.
This access meant that my family were presented with a variety of content, whether it was entertainment or informational. The widespread availability of these sources meant we could view cultural differences, issues that face society and historical knowledge through documentaries, TV shows and movies. This access continued to show us what’s happening globally whether it was fictional or non-fictional.
The Grand View Research, a U.S.-based market research and consulting company, that provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services, are anticipating the global video streaming market to reach US $124.57 Billion (AU $183.43 Billion) by 2025. This can be due to the above streaming sites creating niche markets and small or large fan bases that circulate their interest through social media, blog posts and word of mouth, thus creating a bigger market overall and bigger productions from streaming sites.
Most television shows before widespread streaming, were known as being on a ‘national medium’ due to their cultural context and the way they applied to their immediate audience. Popular television shows like 'the voice', 'x-factor and 'the bachelor' are able to be adapted to their audience as they can connect to the potential contentasts and the environment will be adapted culturally. This idea can be known as 'Cultural proximity'. PHD James Webster defines cultural proximity a 'is a multidimensional concept, most often used to explain media preferences across national boundaries' the article suggests that shows like this can appeal to a large but secluded audience but as whole the shows are a success of television.
The airing of Game of Thrones season 8 was the reason my family subscribed to Foxtel Go in April and May. Though the analysis of Game of Thrones is repetitive and well known it is a major key example of a globally successful television series in our era today.
HBO, the network that transformed the book series into the TV series, were able to throw all expectations of the show being a ‘national medium’ because of the lavish productions they created.
Game of Thrones was non-restrictive of geographic or cultural distinctions due to its fantasy settings. It created a medium that fans can come together deconstruct, analyse and breakdown via social media. HBO had originally restricted the access to American viewers which saw a major increase of piracy due to the interest from other global viewers. The show applied to so many people globally as it challenged gender roles, had aspects of religion, showed interest in fantasy creatures and created ties to societal issues all whilst having an interesting storyline and characters that many viewers revealed to have great interest in. It was able to bypass the general idea of cultural proximity and create a fantasy world that wasn't restrictive of culture.
Once it was available on streaming websites like Foxtel Go, most viewers would do as my family did, create a subscription and watch it all together on a Monday night. It created conversation within my family let alone the rest of the world.
Game of Thrones is one example of global success in our day and age and with the help of social media and streaming access has become a global phenomenon. What would be interesting to see what made the global success of Baywatch, the Simpsons, Star Trek and The Brady Bunch occur being so culturally closed for most, how did Baywatch have an estimated viewing group of 1.1 billion?
Until Next Time, Live and Laugh,
References:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/video-streaming-market-worth-124-57-billion-by-2025--cagr-19-10-grand-view-research-inc-300794800.html Accessed 10.08.2019
http://theconversation.com/how-game-of-thrones-became-tvs-first-global-blockbuster-79820 Accessed 10.08.2019
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-watched_television_broadcasts Accessed 11.08.2019
Photos sourced from Unsplash: https://unsplash.com
Thomas B. Ksiazek M.A. and Ph.D. & James G. Webster Ph.D (2008) Cultural Proximity and Audience Behavior: The Role of Language in Patterns of Polarization and Multicultural Fluency, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media,52:3, 485-503, DOI: 10.1080/08838150802205876 Accessed 11.08.2019
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