Institution: the impact of digital media on TV Drama

The internet has had a huge impact on the television industry in the last 10 years.

Streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime have fundamentally changed the way we watch television. In just 10 years, Netflix has gone from a mail-order DVD company to a giant in the television industry. Next year, Netflix plans to spend $8 BILLION making original TV programmes.



TV Drama

One of the key genres for Netflix and Amazon Prime is serial television drama. Many of these dramas now have the budgets and production values of Hollywood movies and many top actors are choosing to work in television rather than film.

For audiences, streaming has changed the way we watch television. 'Event TV', when millions of people around the country would tune in to watch the latest episode of a drama at a set time, is far less important now. Many people now 'binge-watch' TV dramas by watching several episodes back-to-back.


Digital media and television: blog task

Read the Media Magazine article on Netflix and the Cultural Industries (MM63 - page 45). Our Media Magazine archive is here - this is aimed at A Level Media students but this article will give you a brilliant introduction to the kind of ideas you'll explore if you continue Media Studies in sixth form. It also looks at the internet, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Stranger Things - so perfect for our exam topic.

Read the article and answer the following questions:

1) What has been the biggest change in media industries in the last 30 years?

2) How did Amazon and Netflix begin before they were streaming TV services?

3) How much does Netflix and Amazon plan to spend on making original TV material next year?

4) What other companies have recently joined the digital TV market (or are thinking of doing so)?

5) How many countries are Netflix and Amazon available in?

6) What did Netflix do to make sure Stranger Things would translate easily into other languages?

7) How has the internet changed the way we watch television?

8) Do you think streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime have improved television for audiences or has quality gone down?

You should consider these institutional factors when responding to your next exam brief - discussing these kinds of issues and audience habits will demonstrate you are a top-level student.