Online video and drama streaming sites like Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube are killing the old-school traditional Television broadcasting services by investing billions of dollars in creating more authentic, high-definition, high-budget, and excellent-quality content. More and more of the TV audience is converting to online streaming sites due to the presence of high-quality stuff and instant access to desired programs.
The new generation is more attracted to these online streaming sites than the older audience, as teenagers and children seem to be more aware of the new technologies and tend to take advantage of high-resolution screens. Below is a comparison of different age groups for the context of TV viewership decline from 2012 to 2016, done by Claire Enders, chief executive of Enders Analysis.
In this analysis, you can easily see that a major decline happened in the viewership of children and teenagers. Adult have shown only 3% of the decline in the daily viewing routines; they seem to stick with their old TV viewing habits (“Will online streaming kill off traditional broadcasters?” 2017). TV broadcasters have to take serious steps to counter this decline in their viewership.
Some TV broadcasters have come up with very appealing strategies to attract a younger audience and counter the decline in the viewership of their channels. Companies like Time Warner Inc., 21st Century Fox Inc., and Viacom Inc. have devised the strategy of cutting the frequency of in-show commercials so that viewers can enjoy uninterrupted broadcasts. These companies have adopted this strategy to attract younger viewers who seem to like the ad-free entertainment services (“Why TV Networks Are Cutting Back on Commercials,” 2015).
Production of more original and authentic content and airing them during peak hours is another way of catering to this issue. We have seen a total of 3 percent increment in the production of original programming by the four major broadcasting networks: NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX. These networks introduced five new shows for airing on prime time at the end of 2015. These new and original programs have replaced the re-run of old shows, and it is the fact that the audience of a re-run of a show is always lower than the original no matter how good and popular the show was in its time. This strategy of network broadcasters was very productive in that it at least decreased the migration rate.
Network broadcasters have started to build their own production houses and stopped relying on third-party studios. NBC, Fox, and ABC TV networks have started this trend to enhance the production quality. In 2015 alone, ABC produced ten of its shows in its studios while FOX produced nine out of ten shows in-house. This migration from outsourced production houses to in-house studios was somewhat a risky process, as in the case of a flop show, the network had the entire burden to bear. On the other hand, in the case of a hit show, the network gets all the benefits.
According to UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland), there was a rise of around two percent in the production cost of some major TV broadcasting companies due to bigger casts, more and bigger sets, and more special effects. TV networks are pouring more money into casting famous actors in their original series to attract the viewership. For example, the Blindspot original drama by the NBC network had a budget of 59 million US dollars. Similarly, the show “The Voice” has the most expensive budget of 62 million dollars. It shows the effort of network broadcasters to attract young viewers by casting their favorite actors (Tietjen, 2015).
References
Tietjen, D. (2015, June 9). Content Wars: How Television Networks Are Fighting The Netflix Threat. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/denalitietjen/2015/06/09/content-wars-how-television-networks-are-fighting-the-netflix-threat/
Why TV Networks Are Cutting Back on Commercials. (2015, November 10). Bloomberg.Com. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-10/tv-networks-cut-commercial-time-as-viewers-become-numb-to-ads
Will online streaming kill off traditional broadcasters? (2017, February 22). Retrieved from https://www.raconteur.net/culture/will-online-streaming-kill-off-traditional-broadcasters
