Streaming Killed the Television Star

FADE IN:
INT. SANDRA'S BEDROOM
With her bed unmade, SANDRA leans against her pillow as she types on her laptop to conduct more research. She is surprisingly productive for it being a Sunday, her least favorite day of the week. However, she is still dressed in pajamas. Give her a break; it's second semester senior year.
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In today's blog post, we are talking about the ever-lustrous topic of distribution methods. Oof, just everyone's favorite topic.

On the real, nobody hears distribution and thinks "Yes, this is my favorite part. Not the filming and editing and creative stuff. This is the cool stuff,".

Except I kind of like it. You know, the research and stuff behind it. Kind of fun. I know, I know. I'm a nerd.

But let's get one thing straight before we start things off: TV is dead.

That's right folks. Millennials are killing your favorite all-American chain restaurants like the authentic Applebee's and Buffalo Wild Wings and now Generation Z is murdering cable in cold blood. I'll give you a moment to recover.

RIP: Applebee's (1980-2018)

RIP: Buffalo Wild Wings (1982-2018)

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers,

"TV is headed the way of print media: It’s either migrating to the social networks as the main distribution channel or struggling to survive on subscription revenue and the scraps off the ad market leaders’ table.” 

So that leaves me in a bit of an issue. Documentaries made-for-TV tend to be distributed on....TV. You know, as the name would suggest. So, in order to combat the short-attention span audience that is Gen Z, my documentary needs to be distributed on a relevant platform to capture attention quickly. Enter the two contenders: Netflix Original partnership and YouTube Red.

Netflix Original

• Most popular streaming service 
• Lack of advertising draws people in
• Lots of established subscribers already
• While there isn't lots of published data on who has Netflix, there is enough evidence to suggest it is incredibly popular with audience age demographic I am targeting.
• Exclusivity

YouTube Red

• Lack of advertising as well
• Subscription also includes Google Play
• Originally released as YouTube Music Play to advertise streaming music
• Original content is mostly limited to established "YouTubers"
• Not as popular as Netflix, but YouTube is very relevant to Gen Z

Considering both methods, I think I am leaning towards my documentary miniseries to be released as a Netflix Original series (because if this was an alternate universe, Netflix would be reaching out to me to produce my work). This will help me with the marketing aspect of my documentary a lot considering Netflix itself is such an icon for my target audience. Phew. Glad I figured that out.

But it's still just the beginning.

Until then,

SLS

Sources:

• Once video killed the radio star. Now Gen Z surfers are becoming witnesses to social media’s murder of TV. Smart Insights, 15 Aug. 2016, www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/video-killed-radio-star-now-gen-z-surfers-becoming-witnesses-social-medias-murder-tv/. 
• Wang, Christine. "Overwhelming majority of people watching streaming services still choose Netflix." CNBC, 21 July 2016, www.cnbc.com/2016/07/21/overwhelming-majority-of-people-watching-streaming-services-still-choose-netflix.html. 
• Mitroff, Sarah, and Taylor Martin. "Everything you need to know about YouTube Red." CNET, 27 Oct. 2017, www.cnet.com/how-to/youtube-red-details/. 
• Taylor, Kate. "Millennials are killing chains like Buffalo Wild Wings and Applebee's." Business Insider, 3 June 2017, www.businessinsider.com/millennials-endanger-casual-dining-restaurants-2017-5.