NDM: News Story Index

01) Ted Cruz's Twitter Scandal

02) AI Takeover
03) Tinder Data
04) Apple blocking ads that follow users around web is 'sabotage'
05) Glamour's business model changes
06) Twitter's New Addition
07) The White Privilege of the “Lone Wolf” Shooter
08) How Has Social Media Saved Socialism?
09) What kind of journalism should the BBC do and not do?
10) Harvey Weinstein Journalist on Channel 4
11) Great British Bake-off reaches young people
12) Journalist Mark Halperin Suspended
13) Kevin Spacey Scandal
14) Fox News shows broke UK TV impartiality rules, Ofcom finds
15) Channel 4 to take on Google & Facebook
16) Videos removed from YouTube in extremism clampdown
17) Paradise Papers leak reveals secrets of the world elite's hidden wealth
18) Amazon’s Alexa is now part of the family – I just hope she doesn’t replace me’
19) Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
20) YouTube investigates reports of child abuse terms in autofill searches
21) British MP calls on Twitter to release Russian 'troll factory' tweets
22) Thirty countries use 'armies of opinion shapers' to manipulate democracy
23) Poppy
24) Netflix must cut prices by more than half to compete with pirates
25) Rupert Murdoch's "Disney Deal"
26) BT and Sky deal
27) The risk of using Twitter as a news source
28) Net neutrality
29) Genuinely great things the internet gave us in 2017
30) Apple faces lawsuits over its intentional slowing of older iPhones
31) Kingsmill tweet
32) Is this the year 'weaponised' AI bots do battle?
33) Dangers of echo chambers
34) 1994 rape case that newspaper called a hoax, solved
35) The Guardian newspaper adopts tabloid format
36) Purves opinion on male BBC presenters
37)
38)
39)
40)

Implications of social media (42)

Social media copies gambling methods 'to create psychological cravings'

Social media platforms are using the same techniques as gambling firms to create psychological dependencies and ingrain their products in the lives of their users, experts warn. These methods are so effective they can activate similar mechanisms as cocaine in the brain, create psychological cravings and even invoke “phantom calls and notifications” where users sense the buzz of a smartphone, even when it isn’t really there.

• “Facebook, Twitter and other companies use methods similar to the gambling industry to keep users on their sites,” said Natasha Schüll, the author of Addiction by Design, which reported how slot machines and other systems are designed to lock users into a cycle of addiction.
• “In the online economy, revenue is a function of continuous consumer attention – which is measured in clicks and time spent.”
• “Social media sites are chock-a-block with unpredictable rewards. They are trying to grab users’ attentions ... to make social media users create a routine and habitually check their screens.”
• phone dependency, driven by high social-media usage, can lead us to think our phone is vibrating, or that we have received a message, even when we haven’t.

Fears of streaming services (41)

BBC, ITV and Channel 4 in talks to create UK streaming service

The BBC, Channel 4 and ITV have held discussions about joining forces to create a British streaming service to combat the increasing power of Netflix andAmazon in the UK.

The early-stage talks, which are also understood to involve NBC Universal, the US TV and film group that owns the maker of Downton Abbey, are focusing on how the UK’s main broadcasters and makers of top shows can work together to create a streaming rival.

• Netflix has 8.2m subscribers in the UK and 4.3m British households are signed up to Amazon Prime Video
• The BBC, which has traditionally dominated the UK TV and radio landscape, recently said it risked being overtaken by competitors as viewers move inexorably towards on-demand viewing. The corporation owns the UK’s biggest and most recognisable video service, iPlayer, but has conceded that 16 to 24-year-olds spend more time with Netflix in a week than with all of BBC TV, including iPlayer.

MEST3 PPE - Learner Response

Grade boundaries for this exam paper were extremely harsh - but they could easily be this high again and we need to be prepared. Grade boundaries for the complete MEST3 paper (out of 80): A* = 75; A = 71; B = 62; C = 53

1) Type up your feedback in full
Total=59 Goal=71
www-There is a lot to credit here: clearly an excellent knowledge of new/digital media debates and a great range of wider examples for British identity here too. With a few tweaks to exam techniques, I think you will be pushing for an A grade.

ebi-You don't use your case study and when you do it drifts you away from the question. This is a great lesson for the real thing.
Also, paragraphing /organising your ideas s essential of Q2/3 in section A. Make it easy for the examiner to see you have explored both sides of the debate and used a range of examples from across the media.

2) Read through the mark scheme. Pay particular attention to pages 6-8 that have suggested content for each of the questions in Section A. How many of these potential points did you make? Did you successfully answer the questions? The original question paper is here if that is helpful.

Q1

• Use of camera / direct address to audience
• Pace of editing
• Use of soundtrack
• Human interest stories that audience can relate to
• Use of a variety of ages / ethnicities etc to encourage audience identification
• Text on screen to appeal to audience sensitivity
• Use of emotive and somewhat persuasive language

Q2

• Awareness of the issue of what it means to “be British”?
• Awareness that “being British” might mean different things to different people, based on history, age,
• perceived social class, ethnicity etc
• Changing role/presence of social media in contemporary life – impact on how others view us and
• how we view them
• Role of PSB/independent media producers – to what extent are our values & opinions shaped by
• the media we individually and collectively consume?
• Extent to which audiences CAN have their values and ideologies altered as a result of engaging with
• media products
• Changing socio-economic circumstances, particularly, perhaps, post the Brexit vote

Q3

• Celebrity culture positive and negative
• Transient v public sphere nature of social media ‘events’
• Quality TV proliferation of TV channels
• Agenda is in the hands of a few institutions challenged by new media forms
• Establishment of a consumer culture
• Move towards a secular society 

4) Which was your strongest question in Section A? Why did you do better in that particular question? 
Q1 - 8 marks

• Sophisticated understanding of media concepts, in particular media language within both media products.
• Supported by detailed references to both media products. Articulate and engaged
• A sophisticated analysis, showing very good critical autonomy.
• A lot of indicative content

5) Which was your weakest question in Section A? Again, try and identify why this happened
Q3 - 12 marks

• Misinterpreted and made reference to the exam texts when this was not necessary. 
• Need to make reference to wider context
• Need to learn more films that I can reference + utilise them in my answers.

6) Now look at pages 12-13 of the mark scheme for Section B - New/Digital Media paying particular attention to the suggested essay content on page 13. How many of the broad areas suggested by AQA did you cover in your Section B essay? Did you successfully answer the question?

Q7 - With reference to your case study, explore whether the range of social media platforms 

available encourages social and political engagement.

• 24/7 media via smartphones etc - means audiences have instant access to trending topics
• Citizen journalism enables the public to have their own voice
• Issues of moderation - who instigates / controls the debate?
• Online debate - both positive (increased engagement?) and negative (trolling?)
• Can social / political engagement be generated just because online platforms explore debate
• topics? Some audiences may not want to become, for example, politically engaged
• Online media possibilities / opportunities are “endless” – how do audiences know what to trust /believe in?

• A sophisticated and comprehensive essay, showing very good critical autonomy.
• Sophisticated and detailed understanding of the impact of new/digital media.
• A sharp focus on the question throughout.
• Sophisticated application of a wide range of media issues/debates/theories and
• wider contexts.
• A comprehensive individual case study, with a wide range of detailed examples.
• Well structured, articulate and engaged.

I need to fully understand/learn the case studies and become confident applying them n my essay and revise key figures, quotes, statistics etc.

Also, I need to develop a stronger sense of critical autonomy. 

7) Read the Examiner's Report in full. For each question your answered, would you classify your response as one of the stronger answers or one of the weaker answers the Chief Examiner discusses? Why? What could you do differently next time? Write a reflection for each question in the paper: 
Q1

"students really do need to respond to the wording of each question as it appears on the examination paper."

"This question is worth 8 marks, and given the duration of the paper it isadvised that students spend no longer than fifteen minutes writing their response."

 Q2

"Some students did not read the question properly"

"Few responses, though, got to perhaps the heart of the issue, which is that, given the multi-cultural and diverse nature of twenty- first century Britain, the concept of identity is fragmented and subjective."

Q3 

"explore the concept of real-life issues did provide some excellent work. Students who achieved marks in the top band showed some superb insight, that made much use of particularly contemporary news stories."

"having an up-to-date knowledge of global news events is probably a very good thing, particularly given that this subject is Media Studies."

Q7.

"Students who were able to engage with the social and political element of the question made some particularly astute and insightful comments, notably about Donald Trump’s use of social media, differences between the social media platforms available in Western cultures and platforms such as Weibo. There were also some very specific case studies about social media access in North Korea, cat-fishing and online stalking. These responses made excellent use of media theory, with the ideas of Clay Shirky and Eli Pariser appearing in a number of essays."

8) Choose your weakest question in Section A and re-write an answer in full based on the suggested content from the Examiner's Report:
Question 3 - Section A 
It could be argued that many popular media products are superficial, preventing us from
engaging with real-life issues. To what extent do you agree with this point of view?

You should refer to other media products in order to support your answer.

The notion of 'superficiality' has been a term placed to describe social media on a regular basis. The idea of the media essentially serving as a superficial platform has been supported by French philosopher Jean Baudrillard who proposed the theory of hyper-reality. Hyper-reality refers to  an inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality, especially in technologically advanced postmodern societies such as social media. In other words, the media represents something and audiences struggle to distinguish that representation from real life and more than often accept the social media's representation more than the real-life version of it. This reflects on the false nature of social media and suggests that because of the possibility of entirely constructed representations, some serious real life issues are idealised through the social media. For instance, celebrities who may be on holiday representing third-world countries as luxurious, yet this is not the reality of that place. This is more than likely to make us less aware of the severity of real life problems, and therefore dismiss them as a result of social media creating false conceptions in its consumers. 

Similarly, sometimes the media can construct more negative, pessimistic representations, sometimes even creating moral panics (Cohen). This may alternatively lead to overly represented issues that evoke unnecessary concern. This leads to preventing us dealing with real life issues, because society is too busy dealing with overly represented issues, that may not be as important as social media might suggest. 

In contrast, we can argue that in fact the media is having the reverse effect and is actually beneficial to society, as it can bring awareness to real-life issues appropriately. For instance, recently a documentary called 'addicted to porn' was released. This documentary explored the huge societal damage pornography can cause and has resulted in further research into the adverse effects of pornography. Also, social media websites such as Twitter can even be used to start campaigns. The movement called black lives matter began in 2013 with the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on twitter. The historic political project was launched in the wake of the murder of Trayvon Martin to explicitly combat implicit bias and anti-black racism and to protect and affirm the beauty and dignity of all Black lives. This was extremely useful to society and reducing a serious issue we face - all as a result of the media. 

Yet, we cannot ignore the overwhelming representations media influencers create. These perceptions are very idealistic, with no perception of risks or flaws. This suggests audiences are seen as deluded - remaining ignorant about real-life issues. It is clear that media institutions support the belief of the hypodermic needle model, whereby audiences are seen as passive, absorbing all the content they are exposed to. However, as the transgression of society has progressed, critics have regarded the needle model as far too outdated and now believe audiences are much more active. This is seen in the increased use of social media used by its consumers to voice their opinions and their news. This is called user generated content and suggests we as users, are no longer passive. So perhaps media institutions still create false, superficial representations of real-life issues but in fact audiences have adapted to this false nature of the media, and are much more active, not allowing themselves to be exploited by the representations they see. 

NDM case study Task 3: Up-to-the-minute web research

The third research task for your New/Digital Media independent case study is find recent online articles about your chosen industry and institution/text that give you up-to-the-minute examples, statistics and quotes.

The very nature of new and digital media means the landscape is constantly changing and examiners love seeing examples from the days and weeks leading up to the exam. 

You may want to look back at your index of NDM stories you have been collecting weekly since September - this is when finding great articles all year really pays off. Other good sources are the usual newspaper media/tech pages...

The Guardian: Digital Media 
The Guardian: Technology
The Independent: Media News

We've also been linking stories from our Twitter account all year - @blogmacguffin - so make sure you're following that and look back at what we've posted over the last couple of months too.

BBC, ITV and Channel 4 in talks to create UK streaming service

• Netflix has 8.2m subscribers in the UK and 4.3m British households are signed up to Amazon Prime Video, according to figures from the TV ratings body Barb.
• The BBC, which has traditionally dominated the UK TV and radio landscape, recently said it risked being overtaken by competitors as viewers move inexorably towards on-demand viewing. The corporation owns the UK’s biggest and most recognisable video service, iPlayer, but has conceded that 16 to 24-year-olds spend more time with Netflix in a week than with all of BBC TV, including iPlayer.
• Another option might be to revitalise a workable plan to expand BritBox and a third to launch a whole new brand and subscription video-on-demand service.
• The broadcasters understand the strategic benefits of some form of potential tie-up of their catch-up TV and on-demand services, but history says it will be fraught with difficulty.
• It is the third time in just over a decade that the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 have endeavoured to set aside decades of rivalry to join together to secure a digital future for British TV. Previous efforts to balance the commercial and public service remits they follow have proved challenging.

Sate of TV's decline

• The user behaviour that cable TV providers fear most — cord cutting — is projected to accelerate over the next five years. EMarketer estimates that by 2021, over 81 million U.S. consumers will have either cut their cords or never signed up for one in the first place, up 64 percent from today.
• It is an axiom that live sports are holding many cable bundles together. But even the structural factors that make live sports so attractive to broadcasters and advertisers are not a match for changing user behavior, and some predict those changes will start corroding live sports ratings. Research published this month by Magna Global predicts substantial ratings declines for the 2018 Olympics.

The Netflix effect: TV networks' shifting video on demand strategies

• Millennials’ hunger for video on demand is widely tipped to continue
• “In 2017, 15 per cent of the total audiences for programs such as The Bachelor Australia and The Bachelorette Australia came from online catch-up,” she said.

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/060815/how-netflix-changing-tv-industry.asp

• Netflix is currently the dominant company in the relatively young and hugely expensive on-demand media industry. By providing on-demand content, creating compelling original shows, using user data to better serve customers and letting customers consume content in the way that they prefer, Netflix is forcing cable companies to change the way they do business. In the long-run, Netflix's success may be viewed as the first step in the unbundling of cable.
• Netflix is essentially a storehouse of content, including movies, documentaries, TV shows and educational programs. Customers pay a flat monthly fee and can consume any content at any time from whichever platform they prefer. In a sense, it is the first major disruption of television, which has become the dominant medium since its inception and proliferation in the middle of the 20th century.
• Crushing The Competition
• Netflix had humble beginnings, starting as a website where people could rent DVDs online and get them through the mail. In this version of the service, it competed with television for people's entertainment time, but it competed more directly with established physical rental locations. Netflix then came out with on-demand shows, which made it superior to physical stores and television in many ways, as consumers were able to watch what they wanted, when they wanted.
• This innovation helped end the movie rental business and made it more important for cable companies and TV networks to begin offering on-demand content. Soon, Netflix began competing with TV networks directly for original content. While TV networks only approved shows based on pilots hitting certain metrics, Netflix became a more attractive destination for showrunners and script writers because it offered upfront contracts to create an entire season or two. Netflix also started uploading entire seasons at once, essentially creating the binge-watching atmosphere, in contrast to the once-a-week programming model. Many TV networks are experimenting with this model, even if it means sacrificing ad revene
• Additionally, showrunners were given leeway in being allowed to pursue their own visions without notes or approval from the network. This resulted in some of the best new TV shows being on Netflix instead of TV networks, including "House of Cards," "Orange Is the New Black" and "Daredevil." Netflix's success has forced TV networks to be more aggressive in retaining talent by paying them more generously and giving them more freedom. One source of Netflix's success and stock price appreciation has been its original content, creating a loyal user base.
• Another innovation of Netflix was to mine for user data aggressively. This data was initially sought to serve customers and help them find content that would appeal to them. However, Netflix also uses this data to determine what type of original content the company should create. This has led to Netflix having a higher success rate in manufacturing hits. Letting showrunners make decisions on content rather than business executives and finding genres and talent that the audience already likes are the key factors behind Netflix's success in taking on this entrenched industry.
• Netflix also forced the TV industry to change its ways by giving customers the flexibility to consume content in the exact way they desire based on their needs. Customers can watch the same TV show or movie on a computer, TV screen, tablet, phone or gaming device. Until a few years ago, most mainstream television could only be consumed on television. Of course, this has changed largely due to Netflix.
• The Bottom Line
• Netflix's success has been deemed an existential threat for the TV industry. Many consumers have already cut the cord from existing cable, as Netflix is 20% of the cost of most cable packages. Further, there are no cumbersome ads. Unbundling of cable is the TV networks' worst fear; they would no longer receive regular revenue from being part of a cable package. Instead, they would have to compete on their own merits. Netflix's success brings this closer to being a reality.

https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2591&context=etd_hon_theses

• Enter: Netflix. The streaming service releases entire seasons of its shows all at once, a strategy that arguably encourages creators to reconsider or reallocate emphasis within this viewing relationship. If a show fails to woo us on episode one, the next episode is a mere 15 seconds away from starting. Why not give it the benefit of the doubt? Without a week in between each installment, the Netflix model potentially extends the courtship period. With each episode right at our fingertips, a relationship with a series that 2 requires consistent viewing no longer seems so high-maintenance. At the same time, the level of access that comes with the streaming catalog suggests that if this series disappoints us, moving on could prove to be simpler than it once was. These relationships hardly exist in a vacuum. Rather, they are subject to external forces that guide the mass medium. Technological and industrial shifts have continually modified the ways in which series are produced and delivered since the birth of television. In turn, these changes have impacted how creators tell stories and how viewers receive them. Recently, the rise of streaming has been a prominent development in the television landscape. Streaming technology has been around for some time, but the inciting force that disrupted the status quo arose through industry rather than technology. A key player came to the fore and realigned the way that people think about television
• Even before Netflix was a platform for original series, it was already changing the ways that viewers access, control, and watch television. Once just a distributor of television, it has now itself become television, offering creators a new playground upon which to experiment. In conducting these experiments, creators both reaffirm and redefine televisuality and the viewing relationship. Netflix has not fundamentally altered the face of television, but it has certainly expanded its definition, and its series have elaborated on the aesthetics of the medium. The service has simultaneously embraced television and posed itself as an alternative. By releasing its series all at once, Netflix drew a distinction from the weekly model, which had hitherto defined the viewing experience. Ushering in a new world order of television delivery, it announced the release of House of Cards with two simple words: Now streaming.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/on-demand/2016/11/21/how-netflix-changed-the-way-we-watch/

• Netflix, which started out as a DVD postal delivery service in the late Nineties, doesn’t function like a traditional broadcaster. It is a game‑changer, a disruptive force that has decisively altered the way we watch television and film. There are no schedules or live shows: subscribers are simply free to stream any of Netflix’s thousands of films and series to watch when they want and where they want, whether on a traditional television, a tablet or a mobile phone.
• But Netflix, along with other video-on-demand giants such as Amazon Prime and Hulu, hasn’t just changed the way we consume television: it’s changed the way it is made. As with House of Cards – Netflix’s first foray into producing its own shows, in 2013 – all the episodes of the first series of The Crown were available to stream on the day of its launch. Not being tied to a traditional TV schedule means that the lengths of Netflix episodes can vary to suit the plotline. It’s less important to end on a cliffhanger, because you can just binge-watch a whole load of episodes at once. It’s a formula that’s been vastly successful, with 80 million worldwide subscribers and rising. (The BBC and ITV are rumoured to be working together on launching “Britflix” in response.)
• Subscribers mean data. And the more subscribers Netflix gets, the more data it amasses – what we watch, when we watch, which episodes get us hooked, even when we hit the rewind button to watch a scene again.

http://fortune.com/2016/03/11/netflix-changing-game-network-tv/

• Networks are changing the way they develop and release new shows, and even commercials, as they seek to adapt to new TV viewing habits and profit from the “binge-watching” made popular by video streaming services like Netflix
• TV executives are also working with advertisers to change commercials, so binging viewers stay engaged. Experiments include making brands part of the show on Turner
• The changes reflect a realisation that fewer people, particularly younger viewers, watch shows when they air and instead binge-watch series like Netflix’s House of Cards or Orange is the New Black.
• “The streaming platforms have created a more competitive environment and we all need to deliver better,” said David Levy, president of Turner.

http://variety.com/2016/digital/news/netflix-tv-ratings-decline-2015-1201721672/

• Netflix is leaving an indelible mark on the TV biz — and while the streaming giant isn’t dealing a fatal blow to the industry, it is seriously cutting into traditional television ratings.

• In 2015, Netflix accounted for about half of the overall 3% decline in TV viewing time among U.S. audiences, according to a new study by Michael Nathanson of MoffettNathanson. The analyst calculated that based on an estimate that Netflix’s domestic subs streamed 29 billion hours of video last year (Netflix said members worldwide watched 42.5 billion hours in 2015). That would represent 6% of total American live-plus-7 TV viewing reported by Nielsen (up from 4.4% in 2014).

• Moreover, Nathanson predicts Netflix’s total streaming hours as a percentage of TV viewing will continue to rise to about 14% by 2020. “Currently, Netflix is a source of industry pain, but not necessarily a cause of industry death,” he wrote in the note.
• not all TV networks are suffering from the rise of Netflix and other streaming-video services, Nathanson noted. Total viewing of networks from Time Warner, Scripps Networks Interactive, AMC Networks and Discovery Communications rose in 2015. A+E Networks’ viewing hours declined 15%, Viacom fell 13%, and NBCUniversal and Disney each dropped 5% overall.
• In comparing TV viewing of Netflix vs. non-Netflix households, broadcast networks took the biggest hit in 2015. CBS viewing among Netflix subs was 42% lower than non-subs, with Fox at -35%, ABC at -32% and NBC at -27%, according to Nathanson’s analysis.
• Meanwhile, viewing time of Disney’s networks last year was 11% higher in Netflix homes versus non-Netflix homes. Viacom saw a “modest” 5% year-over-year drop in Netflix homes; in that case, “it is unclear if this is as a result of viewership which has already been negatively impacted by SVOD services in prior years, or if the company’s younger-skewing viewers are switching back and forth more easily to watch both linear television and SVOD services,” Nathanson wrote.
• Based on viewing time, Netflix in 2015 was bigger than smaller cable programmers like A+E and AMC, but not as large as the seven biggest conglomerates (NBCUniversal, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, 21st Century Fox, Discovery and CBS).
• One caveat on the analysis: Nielsen’s Live+7 excludes online and mobile viewing on TV networks’ sites and apps. But Nielsen hours-viewed numbers adjust for co-viewing, whereas Netflix’s reported data is per household. According to Nathanson, that means Netflix per-person viewing is underrepresented relative to Nielsen Live+7; thus, the analyst assumes the two factors largely cancel each other out.
• Other studies have compared Netflix’s viewing to traditional TV. The service was on track to attract a larger 24-hour audience than each of the major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC) some time in 2016, per an analysis last summer by FBR Capital Markets.

https://one.rawnet.com/blog/the-netflix-effect-the-positive-impact-on-british-broadcasting

• There have been a lot of articles in the news recently about the negative impact of SVOD platforms such as Netflix and Amazon on the traditional broadcasting market – particularly their impact on original British content. Earlier this week, the BBC Director General, Tony Hall, warned that British content is under “serious threat” from such platforms as investment in the industry shifts towards the more expensive content more likely to attract audiences of global size. While there is no doubt that the rise of SVOD platforms is leading to a shift in the broadcast market, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s all doom and gloom.
• Many people foresee a future where Netflix, Amazon & Apple reign supreme. Millennials, in particular, are seemingly champions of Netflix, with original content such as Orange is the New Black, Narcos & Stranger Things becoming viral (and don’t pretend you don’t know what ‘Netflix and Chill’ means). However, a recent report by Mediatique, commissioned by the BBC, found that traditional Pay TV penetration in the UK has actually increased by 15% over the last 10 years, despite the rise of mega players like Netflix. Furthermore, their research indicated that services like Netflix and Amazon are “seen as largely additive, as opposed to substitutive”¹ in simple terms, UK Sky customers aren’t going to leave in favour of Netflix, they’re going to get a subscription alongside their current package. Netflix will not monopolise the market, they’ll simply complement what’s already there.
• Ofcom itself noted that spend on first-run UK content from all the PSBs was still below what it was a decade ago, so if anything that’s where the deficit has come from – not from pay-TV companies and subscription streaming players, who are actually upping their investment in Britain’s production sector.

https://one.rawnet.com/blog/has-the-netflix-model-peaked/

• As the Netflix model redefines everything in its path, we question its longevity and shine the beacon of hope for the well-established traditional players in the market, currently suffering from unprecedented bidding wars for TV's best content.
• Its rise to success has been rapid, and if we're all honest took us a bit by surprise. Perhaps we were all a little slow to react to new consumer behaviours, ploughing far too much faith into traditional viewing habits that we thought were here to stay because hey,  binge-watching and a total lack of channel brand loyalty is probably just a phase, or at least only exciting to a select few early adopters.
• We get it, Netflix is disruptive, and you don't need to be Warren Buffet to understand what happened. What we want to highlight here is some growing evidence of market correction - and question whether the sustainability of today's TV market is even possible. We all need to think about fresh ideas on how we sell and market TV shows, but we don't all have to suffer in the wake of destruction either.
• Netflix buys more than $6bn of content per year, consistently outbidding TV networks for the best scripts and formats. It paid off - 91 Emmy nominations, second only to HBO, the cable channel that is synonymous with TV awards. This, of course, raises the very valid question of sustainability - its cash flow deficit sits at $2bn, compared to $1.7bn last year. It did, however, add 3.7m non-US subscribers in the first quarter of 2017. This is a big gamble that's rocking the whole market. Everyone else has to make a profit on their shows, Netflix is happy to run at a loss in the hope that subscriber churn remains low - investing now, throwing everything out of whack, to grow its brand.
• But we are at the peak. Earlier this month Netflix announced it's hiking prices by a dollar to $10.99 a month for new users in Canada, then the same for existing users a few weeks later.

• Disney has just said it would remove its content from Netflix, and then launch its own direct-to-consumer service. They're not the first, and certainly won't be the last. While these single subscription-based services are cheap compared to cable and satellite package subscriptions, Netflix will see competition as more mainstream media take to streaming.
  By breaking it down and realising it's not just the content that's part of its success, which we've just highlighted as unsustainable anyway, there's still the threat that streaming services have totally redefined how audiences think about linear TV and advertising. There are three reasons, therefore, which if we look at separately, show the mammoth can be tamed.
  1. High-quality content
  2. Streaming on demand
  3. No adverts
  The first one isn't sustainable for the current subscription price. Consumers will either see a drop in quality or a hike in prices. The second two are replaceable, as we're seeing with Disney.
• Cable cutting is very much a thing. Gone are the days where we pay £60 a month to watch 2% of the available content - paying for an inflexible bundle that viewers are simply no longer prepared to accept. We lived with it previously as the means by which content arrived was via the provider of the bundle, be that a satellite or cable, but the internet removes our reliance on such technology an gives us more choice. While we still might spend £60 a month per household on TV, it'll be made up of all our favourite subscriptions, Netflix, HBO, ITV Hub and Disney for example. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ianmorris/2017/06/13/netflix-is-now-bigger-than-cable-tv/#1dbe21ed158b

• Netflix has, for the first time, surpassed cable in total subscribers according to Leichtman Research. US cable companies have 48.61 million subscribers while Netflix has just hit 50.85 million. The numbers don't count minor cable networks, which could in themselves amount to 5% of total cable customers.
• For many this won't be a surprise. Let's be honest, with Netflix having doubled its subscriber base - adding 27 million subs - over the last five years there was always going to come a time when it beat other services.
• And the good news for cable is that this isn't having a massively detrimental effect on their numbers either. While cable subs are down by 4 million in the same five years that Netflix has seen huge growth, that's not a massive drop off. It's also worth bearing in mind that cable TV makes up only 50% of total TV viewership in pay TV. That said, Q1 2017 shows a net loss in subscriptions while Q1 2016 saw cable grow a little.
• Satellite TV is doing okay, with around 38 million subscribers. Dish Network added 318,000 customers in Q1 with Direct TV stalling with gains that didn't outpace customer loses. Satellite is still growing faster than cable though.
• Faster still though are the internet-delivered services like Sling TV and Direct TV now which have added 350,000 in Q1. These services now have 1.7 million customers between them, and it's likely that this segment will continue to see growth as customers move away from cable TV.
• In total there are 93,319,187 subscribers to cable, satellite and internet streaming services in the US, which account for 95% of pay TV viewers. Netflix certainly isn't going to hit 100m US subscriptions anytime soon, and it's likely that it will hit a wall of some sort eventually. But if the service continues to improve and offer diverse programming it's likely that customers will feel as I do - that it's worth the modest monthly fee to have access to a library of great content.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/oct/16/is-golden-age-tv-over-netflix-shows-cable-television

• There has never been a better time to be a couch potato: an endless stream of shows, old and new, delivered online without pricey cable or satellite packages. Critics have called it TV’s golden age, but some analysts say “peak television” is coming to an end.
• Money is the root of TV’s problems. In the US, where the TV economy is headquartered, TV and internet access costs two to three times what it does in the UK, and networks are in a tug-of-war with Americans, who are increasingly shredding steep cable bills in favor of Netflix and streaming services. This summer, many networks became locked in all-out legal battles with cash-strapped cable companies, with multibillion-dollar distribution deals at stake to fund those networks’ huge programming budgets.
• Executives are planning for a less luxurious future, in which TV shows may be briefer, lower-budget and filled with the kind of product-placement ads that audiences hate and advertisers pay for. Worse still, the company that started much of the trouble may soon confront flaws in its own business model.
• Netflix needs the money that increased scale would provide, in part, to pay top dollar for shows such as Arrested Development and Lost. In January, it told investors it owed $10.9bn in TV show licenses alone, with $4.7bn of that due this year. After that, almost the entire balance is due before the end of 2018.
• Netflix will have to keep buying reruns at what will almost certainly be increasing rates if it wants to retain its users, and the companies selling those shows are now in a tight spot too – largely thanks to the ad-free Netflix model

NDM case study Task 2: Media Factsheet research

You'll find the archive on the Media Shared drive:

M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets

112 Netflix Factsheet

• Netflix, Inc. is an American based company providing on-demand Internet streaming media to North and South America, Scandinavia, the Caribbean and UK & Ireland. In the United States they also provide a DVD-by-mail service much like LOVEFilm in the UK. The company was established in 1997, and began their DVD-distributions in 1999
• They were not launched in the UK as a service until 2012, although awareness of the brand grew as a result of their success in streaming original programming and support of independent film distribution. They describe their institution as “the world’s leading internet television network” and much of their development has impacted audience consumption of television.
• VOD is the acronym used for video on demand. This simply refers to the on demand streaming of moving image texts. On-demand streaming media involves a constant transmission of data via the internet. This data is constantly being presented to the end user (the audience member) and the data is available for immediate playback, rather than as a file download. The process offers much faster consumption of data, as long as the internet connection speed is strong. When streaming, applications can display the data before the entire file has downloaded, increasing consumption speed for the user.

Company Timeline

• 2000 – Netflix launches their personalised recommendation system that uses the ratings of existing Netflix users to predict choices for all Netflix users.
• 2002 – Netflix makes initial public offering on the Nasdaq.
• 2006 – Netflix launches the Netflix Prize, pledging $1 million to the first person or team who can reach certain accuracy goals in recommending films based on personal preferences. The company releases 100 million anonymous film ratings ranging from one to five stars, the largest such data set ever released.
• 2010 – The Netflix Prize is discontinued due to privacy concerns linked to the data that was released.
• 2012 – Netflix launches in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Nordics.
• October 2012 - Netflix wins first Primetime Emmy Engineering Award.
• February 2013 - Netflix original series House of Cards launches.
• September 2013 - House of Cards wins three Primetime Emmy Awards
• October 2013 - Netflix now has over 40 million members globally

• Like Northern Europe’s LOVEFilm, Netflix requires users to subscribe to the service via the company website. The user pays a monthly fee, and can then stream unlimited films and TV programmes instantly. Netflix offer the streaming across a range of devices, including TVs and tablets. Netflix also allows users to log into multiple devices, meaning that login details can be shared within family or friendship groups. Netflix also encourages users to rate the programmes and films they stream, enabling Netflix to make recommendations to the user
• The streaming market is increasingly competitive, as the technologies used to stream VoD become ubiquitous within society. DVD rental shops have lost their market share, with many going into administration (Blockbusters being a notable recent case). Alongside Netflix, users have various options including LOVEFilm, Amazon Instant Streaming, NOW TV (Sky TV’s offering), as well as the more independent Mubu and Curzon On Demand. Netflix seeks to maintain its popularity with subscribers through increased personalisation.

• Previously, Netflix relied upon the user ratings to enable personalised recommendations for the subscriber. However, the algorithms used to generate these recommendations did not take into consideration that one login is likely to be used by a wide ranging audience of differing tastes, ages and interests. For example, within a family household one login may be used to stream Disney-animations for the 8 year child, romantic comedies for the teenage daughter, and House of Cards for the parents. This has resulted in various entertaining recommendations (now catalogued by Twitter feed @BadNetflixRecs). This will enable the institution to make more informed choices about films and TV programmes to offer. “The way we’re using that data is to keep [subscribers] happy. And the way to keep [subscribers] happy is to let them watch more stuff,” (Todd Yellin, Netflix).

• Netflix has just introduced a free profile system, where users can create up to five profiles on one subscription. The intention is to offer greater individual personalisation rather than the household personalisation that the previous system offered. Personalisation is a key element to the success of Netflix, as they need to keep existing users happy as well as attract new users. According to Todd Yellin, Netflix’s vice president of product innovation, 75-80% of what users watch on Netflix comes from recommendations, as opposed to searched programmes. Offering audiences the increased personalisation offers the gratifications of personal identity and social interaction (Blumler & Katz), as users feel that they are able to tailor media schedules to their own tastes, while still participating in a viewing community through the rating and recommendations. The profiles will enable Netflix to gather more detailed information about its subscribers and their viewing habits.
• Netflix has also lead the way in developing VoD services through their acquisition of original content for distribution. This began with webisodes of the horror series Splatter (2009) which received mixed reviews for Joe Dante’s direction of Corey Feldman in the lead role of Jonny Splatter. From this point Netflix took a 3 year break, coming back with the Norwegian-American comedy-drama series, Lilyhammer, and crime series, The Ropes. The altered approach to content proved popular with audiences, and led to Netflix licensing the rights to House of Cards in 2012.

• House of Cards, whose entire first season of 13 episodes, premiered on 1 February 2013, is a political episodic drama starring Kevin Spacey, with David Fincher (The Social Network, 2010) directing. The credentials of this partnership enabled Netflix to establish their brand as a leading on-demand television network. The series was exclusively available on Netflix, encouraging audiences to subscribe. The move away from the traditional model of on-demand streaming, and the episodic nature of the programme established audience loyalty that was more predictable than previously experienced. Netflix purchased the rights initially to 26 full episodes prior to production commencing, and the deal was rumoured to be $100 million. This sum is not alien to traditional institutions when producing TV dramas – ITV1’s Downton Abbey cost £1m per episode, a cost which was recouped through advertising revenues. However, it is important to note the distinct difference in the distribution model of Netflix, as opposed to other institutions that utilise on-demand streaming.
• Following the success of House of Cards, Netflix have developed and replicated the model; Hemlock Grove is a horror thriller which premiered 19 April 2013, with all 13 episodes being immediately available to watch online. The genre of horror thriller engages the audiences’ desire to resolve the enigmas, so they are likely to watch 2 or 3 episodes at once. Here again we see the increase in audience loyalty to the Netflix brand.

• Future of Television? Netflix have established a new and secure model for on-demand internet streaming of television products. Netflix have made it known that they are keen to develop their own content rather than bulk-buying in existing content; current contracts with Nickelodeon and MTV do not look as if they will be renewed. The bulk of British television on-demand is focused on catch-up, although there have been some forays into online exclusive premieres – namely Bad Education and Some Girls, both BBC3 – and the comedy Impractical Jokers was commissioned by BBC3 following an online pilot. In this way, it may seem as if on-demand streaming may offer an extension to the viewing experience, as opposed to its immediate death.

164 Television Drama Factsheet

• With BBC 3’s move to an online only platform, and the rise in the popularity of streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, the form 
• and content of the serial drama is likely to evolve further. As audiences consume content in different ways serial dramas may become more 
• diverse and targeted toward niche groups. Online programme makers are starting to create more short form content, leading to drama serials 
• that run for much less than 60, or even, 30 minutes. Interactivity is a key feature on non-scripted programming, but how far might it play a part 
• in serialized drama?