Jakarta Globe – AFP, Feb 22, 2015
New York. In the new age of American television, it pays to be original. But it also costs a bundle.
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| Cast members (left - right), British actor Liam Cunningham, British actress Maisie Williams and Dutch actress Carice van Houten attend the opening of an exhibition about the US fantasy television series 'Game of Thrones' at the Posthoornkerk in Amsterdam, Netherlands, 18 May 2013. The exhibition showing weapons, costumes and props from the TV series will be open to the public on 19 and 20 May as well as from 25 to 27 May. (EPA Photp/Robert Vos) |
New York. In the new age of American television, it pays to be original. But it also costs a bundle.
From Time
Warner and its HBO unit to streaming video group Netflix and online giant
Amazon, money is pouring in to produce new shows like “Game of Thrones,”
“Transparent” and “Marco Polo.”
With TV
viewing habits becoming fragmented as more people go online for new outlets,
the pressure is on to attract audiences with fresh, original programs.
Netflix is
planning to spend $3 billion on content this year as it pushes to grow
globally, expanding its offerings after successes with the political drama
“House of Cards” and comedy-drama “Orange is The New Black.”
Not to be
outdone, Amazon has stepped up its original production efforts with the
transgender series “Transparent,” winner of a Golden Globe, and others, with
famed director Woody Allen hired by the online giant.
Amazon
invested some $1.3 billion in television programming last year, according to
founder Jeff Bezos.
”Working
with Woody Allen is not cheap,” said James McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester
Research who follows disruptive technologies.
McQuivey
said more studios and outlets are bidding for these programs, pushing up costs.
”Suddenly,
instead of only having four or five studios to sell your TV shows to, you now
have 12 or 16, and some of them are very motivated because they’re looking for
the next big hit,” he said.
According
to Nielsen data compiled by the FX cable channel, there are 352 original
scripted dramas and comedies produced for US cable, broadcast and online
television this year.
The number
of original cable programs has doubled in the past five years. For online, the
sector has grown from non-existent to 24 original programs, the research
showed. That includes new efforts from Internet players such as Yahoo, AOL and
Hulu.
Traditional
cable and broadcast operators are not sitting still. Time Warner spent $14.5
billion on HBO programming, production and marketing in 2014, and chief
executive Jeff Bewkes sees that figure growing to $19 billion in the next few
years.
Viacom —
which owns Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central — said programming costs were up
15 percent in the past quarter.
At 21st
Century Fox, controlled by mogul Rupert Murdoch, investment is a priority as
well, with the broadcast Fox network having rolled out new blockbusters like
“Gotham” and “Empire.”
”The next year
will be a period of investments with priority focused on building hit shows,
not maximizing profits. The profits will follow,” said president and chief
operating officer Chase Carey.
”Our
competitors have already shown what difference a couple of hits can make.”
These TV
operators are looking for the next hit in the manner of HBO’s “Sopranos,” or
the AMC programs “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad.”
James
Murdoch, the co-chief operating officer at 21st Century Fox, said finding the
next big success is not easy.
”There’s
just an absolutely enormous amount of original production going on right now,”
he said.
”The total
volume isn’t really the question. The right question is what are you making?
How do you make it great? How do you stand out? And can you be a place that can
attract the great show runners, the great writers, the great talent to come and
do incredible work?”
It’s not
clear if the television companies can maintain the pace of investment, or
whether consumers will turn away when faced with higher subscription costs.
McQuivey
said there is now “an oversupply of funding” because the old model companies
are still flush with cash from their more profitable years.
”That’s a
very temporary phase,” he said, noting that companies will have to tighten up
as profits are squeezed.
”You can no
longer start 20 new series knowing that each of these series is going generate
half as many viewers as they used to,” McQuivey added.
”For now,
people are making their last bets because they know the time is coming when
some of them are going to be gone. They don’t want to be the ones that don’t
make it across that transition.”
Agence France-Presse
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“…6 - The News
Number six. I'll be brief. Watch for your news to change. It has to. When the media realizes that Human Beings are changing their watching habits, they're going to start changing what they produce for you to watch. Eventually, there's going to be something called "The Good News Channel," and it will be very attractive indeed. For it will be real and offset the drama of what is today's attraction. This is what families at night, sitting around the table, will wish to watch. They'll have something where the whole picture of a situation is shown and not just the dramatic parts. You will hear about what's happening on the planet that no one is telling you now, and when that occurs [we have no clock, dear one], it's going to compete strongly with the drama. I keep telling you this. Human nature itself is starting to be in color instead of black and white. Watch for it. And that was number six ….”
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