In our last guest lecture, Dr Ramon Lobato spoke to us about television changes with an emphasis on Netflix.

He gave us a rundown on online TV ecology which includes:
–SVOD: Subscription/streaming video on demand
–TVOD: Television on demand
–AVOD: Audio/video on demand

For some reason, I was actually kind of surprised at the statistics that were presented to us about how we consume television. 25% of Australian households are subscribed to Netflix, with only approximately 2.5 hours a day spent watching broadcast TV and .5 hours spent watching online videos. While I rarely watch broadcast TV (if the TV is on in my room, it’s likely just for background noise), I have always held the presumption that other households would be watching it daily. This is perhaps, an archaic way of thinking.

We also went into how Netflix’s suggested titles are based on data that the service has garnered from the individuals account. This is far less surprising, as the movies suggested on my account are so terrible it could surely be based solely on my poor taste. I think this is beneficial, both for the platform and the user, as we no longer have to waste time sifting through titles we don’t care about- and Netflix can grow exponentially stronger knowing it has a surefire way to capture attention.

The lecture today reminded me of an article I read a little while ago in the New Yorker. The piece, written by Richard Brody, describes the innovative way in which Netflix releases and distributes films solely online.

“There have always been smaller theatres, independent theatres, and art-house theatres that show low-budget independent films and foreign-language films—and the success of such films has almost always depended upon reviews and viewers’ word of mouth. Those two things are now more closely related than ever, thanks to social media, which makes the work of many more writers instantly and widely available. But now, through streaming video, the movies themselves are instantly and widely available, as well. Instead of awaiting the snail’s pace of gradual nationwide rollouts (which still leave many viewers underserved), an overwhelming number of viewers have access to films that critics write about at the time of online release. In effect, online viewing helps critics connect readers with movies—if the critics themselves pay attention to the right movies.”