Contrasting Strategies

A Few Thoughts on Original Long-form Narratives for Subscription-Based Streaming Services

We might still refer to audiovisual long-form narratives as TV shows, but there is a growing number of companies developing shows for ways of consumption other than tuning into a broadcast on a given time. Technology is not only changing the delivery method, but the actual way of engaging with and consuming content.

Initially, I thought that binge watching was what’s new, as if consumers were longing for marathon sessions of House of Cards, but then I realised it is not. The real change is that audiences can access House of Cards episodes whenever they want.

It then follows that some will want to binge on them.

As ways of consumption change, it will probably follow that narratives, aesthetics, ways of producing shows and business strategies evolve, as well. These are aspects that change over time regardless of technological advances, but I think one can make the case that streaming and VOD will be the source of some of these changes.

Ways of producing shows are already changing. Amazon and Netflix are some of the main innovators in this regard, and are approaching this issue in very different ways.

Amazon has produced a slate of pilots, giving away free access to those single episode shows, and plans to order full seasons of their most successful ones.

What seems hard to do though, is to judge success based on a sample so small as a pilot. Traditional TV shows have tried lots of tactics, like focus groups, audience testings and such, to little avail. Why would it be any different for Amazon? Well, for starters, the sample audience will be much bigger and, therefore, be more representative of the level of interest these shows might or might not generate over time. Then of course, viewers are probably engaging in online conversations about these episodes in ways that are easy for Amazon to monitor and get general moods about them. Just do a quick Twitter search for “#amazonorginals”.

What I believe is Amazon’s real bet, though, is that regardless of the quality of the end product, viewers might develop a relationship with a show based on the feeling of being a part of helping it become a reality. Their marketing campaign puts it this way:

“Watch the shows, call the shots.”

Although I understand Amazon’s motivations for trying to generate an audience for a show before they create it, I find it ultimately a little dissatisfying because it feels somewhat opposite to what is so good about streaming and VOD: whatever I’d like to watch, whenever I want it. Right now, I’m getting a little bite of something I might (if it gets picked up) get somewhere down the line.

From a consumer’s stand point, I like Netflix’s strategy a lot more. Up to this moment, in developing original content they have been gambling on a couple of shows, ordering or licensing entire seasons from the get go. Once they wrap up production, Netflix releases all episodes at the same time, enabling viewers to watch these shows whichever way they would like. This strategy implies great risks in that it is always difficult to predict how audiences will react to shows, and it involves a huge investment upfront. What I like so much about it is that it reinforces not only brand attributes, but the idea that control over consumption should be on the viewers hand.