A few weeks ago, I wrote that debates over the future of television tend to conflate three separate concepts: the content, the pipeline through which it is delivered, and the appliance on which it’s projected. It’s important to distinguish between them because their prognoses are not necessarily aligned. For now, let’s examine the outlook for television content, the ways that data are changing the makeup of content offerings, and the battle for attention from modern audiences.
It’s difficult to keep discussions about content from spinning off their axes because the landscape is both vast and diverse. The creative challenges to producing scripted entertainment are very different than those of other genres, such as news, sports, or competition shows, and the current spectrum of available programming is far too varied for traditional classifications.
Also, it’s tough to be objective when talking about creative product, to cast aside personal tastes, or biases that sometimes correlate “quality” with the size of the budget or pedigree of the producer. Financial leverage and storytelling experience can help to create great programming, but in the modern landscape, they’re not the definitive means to resonate with an audience. Big producers no longer have the market cornered on raw creativity, and a “side effect” of having so much spending power and a rich history of success is an aversion (or contractual inability) to adapt to change. The freedom to do things differently empowers upstart producers, and it’s a mistake to assume that a bankroll or a case full of Emmys will guarantee future success. Not surprisingly, it’s new entrants that are leading the change.
Art is subjective, but the business of art is not. Content thrives when it can be produced sustainably, through a virtuous cycle between the supply (creators) and demand (audience). New product must first find its fans, and then actively engage them. Audience attention must be effectively monetized to support the creation of more product, and the process continues. The iterations breed fan loyalty and brand equity. This is how modern franchises are made. And the fuel that keeps this engine running is data.
Read More at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewglotzer/2015/07/06/data-are-driving-the-evolution-of-television-content/
Leave a Comment