- US network broadcasters must satisfy advertisers and hold market share that is controlled by federal regulation
- The impact of this on context is a reliance on highly formalised genre conventions which meet mainstream expectations but conservative drama
US Cable TV
- Launched in the 1970s HBO was the first US national subscription channel
- Major US players include: FX, Showtime and AMC
- These subscriptions based cable channels can take more risks with their context
- By the 2000s 'water cooler' moments were created
Trouble with UK TV Drama?
- UK broadcasters have failed to compete with US cable channels so have moved towards LFTVD in order to allow cable and subscription channels to take more and more risks
- Terrestrial channels rely heavily on genre-based, formulaic drama
- SKY Atlantic has helped harness the success of LFTVD within the UK
Subscription VOD (video on demand)
- Content viewing via a TV still dominates the UK
- 3/4 of UK households have a personal video recorder to uptake but it has since stagnated and then reduced due to technology such as the planner etc
- Use of time-shifting has increased
- Growth of SVOD web based channels is considerable with Netflix dominating this sector with 24% of the UK market and 5 million subscribers, a 10 % increase since 2015-16
Why do audiences love LFTVD?
- High quality drama
- Multiple episodes
- Content can be dark, difficult and innovative
- Attracts the best quality actors and writers from around the world
- Time shifting makes it easily accessible
- Rise of binge watching
- Keeps people invested
- A lot of creativity
- Lots of different companies competing
- Streaming services will allow them to be more niche
- Can play with the theme and character development in unique ways
- State of the nation TV and Cultural Zeitgeist
What does TV Drama need?
- Various Locations
- Stock Characters
- Multiple Narratives
- Generally one hour episodes
- Dramatic cliff hangers
- High production values
What does it mean?
- has a number of episodes in order to create a narrative
- technological change within the industry has helped its growth
- how audiences consume and interpret their LFTVD
- values, attitudes and beliefs through representations
- Considering economic context behind the large budgets
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