Television industry contexts: Blog tasks

Read this Independent feature on foreign-language dramas. If the website is blocked or forcing you to register you can access the text of the article here. It features an in-depth interview with Walter Iuzzolino who curates Channel 4's Walter Presents programming. Answer the questions below:

1) What does the article suggest regarding the traditional audience for foreign-language subtitled media?

If you'd mentioned to a colleague that you'd spent Saturday night glued to a subtitled European drama, you'd have been quietly declared pretentious, dull and, possibly, a little odd.

2) What does Walter Iuzzolino suggest is the key appeal of his 'Walter Presents' shows?

To Iuzzolino, the buzz around foreign TV was so strong that, over the course of two years before the project's launch, he watched more than 3,500 hours of small-screen action; as the channel's curator, he was in a state of anxiety, convinced that someone would realise his idea before he could launch it.

But until the mid-Noughties, foreign language programming was on the periphery; as though, says Iuzzolino, the channels were "restaurants who had put a special on the board". Walter Presents makes the specials board the main offering – so you can't play safe with the televisual equivalent of a cottage pie.

3) The article makes an interesting claim for the popularity of subtitles in the multi-screen age. What does it suggest?

There may be something else in foreign TV's new popularity, too. It may sound prosaic but when we're frequently distracted from our TV viewing by Twitter feeds and a pinging WhatsApp, subtitles are a welcome enforcement for us to focus. "When you read subtitles, you have to be glued to the screen," says Deeks. "That concentration gives a particular intensity to the viewing experience. You just can't multitask when you're watching a foreign-language drama."

What this means is that when watching a drama with subtitles especially one in a foreign language it can be quite difficult to keep up with what is going on on the screen as your eyes fixate on the subtitles as it pops up straight away distracting you from the main scene which means you have to be quick reading the subtitles so you can then move your eyes and carry on watching the drama fully. 

4) What are the other audiences pleasures of foreign TV drama suggested by the article?

"We all love getting that insight into a different culture," says Deeks. "The unfamiliar setting gives a freshness to genre pieces."- Diversion 

You develop a love for the distant world because while you're watching, you're in Sweden," he says. "If you see something amazing set in Argentina, then Argentina itself, the houses, the people, what they wear, what their voices sound like, the language, is one of the biggest appeals. There is a huge pleasure in that." -  Entertainment 

Film School Rejects: The foreign TV dramas you're missing out on

Now read this Film School Rejects feature on the foreign TV dramas you're missing out on. This contains some particularly useful background on Deutschland 83's reception internationally. If the website is blocked, you can access the article text here. Answer the following questions:

1) What does the article tell us about Deutschland 83's release schedule?

Premiering on AMC Network’s Sundance TV in June 2015, the show was the first German-language TV series to premiere on a US network. The fact Germany’s commercial RTL channel received Deutschland ’83 five months after the US both signifies the series’ global appeal as well as foreshadows where the German crime thriller was (and is) to find its audience.

Whilst Deutschland ’83 received significantly fewer viewers in the US than Germany, with its US premiere garnering 0.066 million viewers compared to Germany’s 3.19 million, the series proved more successful in the US than its homeland.

2) The article contains important statistics on viewing figures in different countries. What were the German viewing figures for the first and last episode? What were Channel's 4's viewing figures for Deutschland 83?

*The German premiere had 3.19 million viewers.

*By the series’ conclusion the figures had fallen down to 1.63 million — it’s lowest figure.

*Channel 4 saw viewing figures reach a peak of 2.13 million viewers in a prime time TV slot, earning it the title of the UK’s highest-rated foreign drama.

This shows that the GERMAN drama Deutschland did not do well in its own country but did well in the UK instead. This is because of the Germans viewing the show and observing the cold war politics and “cool and sexy” style as factors that distanced them from the series. 

3) Who are the two production and distribution companies behind Deutschland 83 and what did they announce in October? 

After a period of uncertainty surrounding its renewal, SundanceTV and FremantleMedia finally announced in October that there will be a second series of Deutschland 83 (called Deutschland 86, more likely than not followed by the pivotal year of 89)

4) How does Walter Iuzzolino use social media to engage audiences in new international TV dramas? How does he suggest this has changed the reception of foreign productions in the UK?

Walter Luzzolino uses social media to engage audiences in new international TV drama as the Walter Presents streaming service is dedicated solely to foreign drama. Having launched successfully in the UK via Channel 4’s online streaming service All 4, Iuzzolino – the titular Walter — brought his world of dramatic subtitled TV to America with “USA” added to the end of the brand name. Walter Luzzolino suggests he has changed the reception productions in the UK as he was inspired by his childhood to because of being exposed to "a lot of different textures, types, and cultural perspectives" as he grew up in Italy and it grew to be his passion to want to spread his ideas to other people and showing them the true beauty and nature of foreign language TV.

The Guardian: How tech is changing television

Read this Guardian feature on how tech is changing television. This has some particularly useful aspects from an industry perspective - how TV is made, the different formats of TV drama and more. Answer the following questions:

1) How have streaming services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime changed the way TV drama narratives are constructed?

The California-based network Twitch – which began as an interactive gaming site before moving into original programming – is exploring the possibility of viewer-influenced TV dramas. Its boss, Kevin Lin, says: “The studio would script a drama to be performed live and – at certain points in the plot – there would be forks, where it could go in different directions, scripted or improvised. We’ve had it to some extent in reality TV formats, where the audience might decide whether someone turns left or right in a maze. But the idea of incorporating that technology into quality TV drama is very exciting.”

Other streaming networks, including Amazon, are also working on “choose your own adventure” shows. Such developments remain at the far edge of thinking, but are merely an example of how radically digital technology is changing storytelling.

2) Why has the rise in streaming led to more complex storylines and an increase in cliffhangers?

Due to the increase of binge watching shows producers have to find a way to keep people watching their show instead of swapping off to another series as now if they are no longer interested in a show they never have to interact with or watch it ever again.

3) How has the "economics of production" kept TV drama largely sticking to the 45- or 60-minute episode format?

This, it turns out, results not from creative conservatism but – as with Greene’s rationed narratives – from the economics of production. Shindler explains that dramas – regardless of how they will ultimately be screened – are usually shot in blocks. In order to maximise the use of time, and minimise the cost of actors and crew, while part of a drama is filming, another team is prepping the next section. So, while a streamed drama theoretically need not be divided at all, it still makes logistical and financial sense to hire on episode basis. “I think we’ll always have to split productions into time-groups,” says Shindler. “Although the complication is that, in order to attract directors to film a block of episodes, they have to feel they are telling a whole story. So that affects structure as well. The trick is to have big story arcs within the overall story.”

4) How has "permanent 24/7 connectivity" changed both the production and consumption of TV drama?

Permanent 24/7 connectivity has radically altered viewer responses. Live-tweeting by audiences has usefully democratised criticism, but the downside of this new media interaction has been in giving the old media a stick with which to beat broadcasters. Stories about alleged outrage over incomprehensible actors or violent action often turn out to be based on the fact that, from among millions of viewers, a tiny handful tweeted disagreeably.

Media Magazine: Netflix and the Cultural Industries 

Finally, go to our Media Magazine archive and read the article on Netflix and the Cultural Industries (MM63 - page 45). Answer the following questions:

1) What does David Hesmondhalgh argue with regards to how the creative industries have changed since the 1980s?

Hesmondhalgh, broadly speaking, argues that since the 1980s there’s been a significant shift in cultural production. 

• Cultural industries have moved closer to the centre of economic action.

• There has been an increase in media corporations owning companies in different sectors of the industry.

• Globalisation has meant media texts can circulate more easily across borders reducing North American dominance.

• Deregulation has reduced public ownership.

• Advertising ‘dollars’ have significantly increased as has cross promotion within texts.

• Digitisation has allowed the technology sector to compete directly with traditional media companies.

• Niche audiences are increasingly targeted.

2) What is technological convergence? 

Technological convergence is the digitisation of the media which means that every form of media can be accessed on computers.

3) How are technology companies challenging traditional broadcasters in the TV industry?

Digitisation, and the ability to distribute texts via the Internet, meant that technology companies could challenge traditional broadcasters. For example, Amazon (originally an online book seller) is now producing its own ‘television’ programmes. In doing this it followed Netflix, which began as a postal DVD service, in ‘liberating’ television programmes from broadcasters’ schedules with on-demand viewing. Netflix understood their business was distributing audiovisual texts and so realised that it needed to create its own online subscription service.

4) The global nature of modern television means producers are having to consider international audiences when creating content. What example from Netflix does the article use to explain this?

In order to address such diverse audiences with the same programmes producers have to take great care to ensure their productions can be understood widely.  For example, take the monster in Stranger Things named (by the kids) the ‘Demogorgon’ after a Dungeons & Dragons demon prince. To ensure that connection transcended language barriers, Netflix’s team dug into old D&D materials to nail down how various cultures translated ‘Demogorgon’ in the mid-1970s. (Barrett 2017) Consequently the Demogorgon was renamed in some parts of the world based on what the demon prince of Dungeons & Dragons was called. In addition, they try to use the actors that regularly voice particular performers in foreign language versions. So, the actors who dubbed Winona Rider (Joyce Byers) in Beetlejuice and Bram Stoker’s Dracula are used for Stranger Things.