Audiences and Institutions Essay

Grace Watson

4 May 2020

Media Studies

Audiences and Institutions Essay

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My personal experience and patterns of media consumption parallel almost perfectly with the wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour.

A platform, in media studies terms, is any way in which media can be consumed by the public. Internet, now vividly available worldwide, has completely revolutionised the way in which we, as the audience, consume media. Before the internet, one did not have a choice as to what they “felt” like watching nearly as much as what we do today... In today’s society, there are countless platforms for audiences to consume media... YouTube, Netlix, cinema/theatre, film festivals, DVD stores, online broadcasting, Neon, linear television and so on. Where before audiences who were watching the media were unified or centralised with limited options, always absolutely captivated and directed towards only a few sources, this rise of internet has brought about the multiple new platforms. The vast variety of platforms provided for the audiences is known as fragmentation. Fragmentation describes how audiences are now split across many different platforms where there are endless options available for them to watch...

Not only have the multiple platforms caused the fragmentation, but the technological convergence as well. As technology has developed, different technological systems have come together and evolved to perform the same or similar tasks that they would initially have done individually. The new technological device is generally more easily accessible and therefore used more often. An example of this is the cellphone. Within the cellphone is a calculator, a camera, a torch, a calendar, voice recorder, social media, notes and the list goes on. Because one can download more, everyone has their own device. This affects audience trends and causes more separation and individual film-watching. For example, in one family, the brother may be watching ‘Cars 2’ on his iPad while the parents are in a separate room watching a more mature adult movie on the television screen. Personally, do not own a landline in my family household. We did about seven years ago, and as of 2013 no longer do... This is similar to the statistics which reveal that the home landlines have fallen in numbers between 2016 and 2018. In 2013, 85% of people owned landlines, which then dropped rapidly to where in 2018, only 65% of people owned landlines. This is thanks to the technological advance that of the cellphone. 

Personally, I consume media mostly through the watching of SVOD services such as Netflix, Neon and Disney +. My mom and I, for example, enjoy sitting down with a bowl of popcorn and watching “Anne with an E” on Netflix. On average, I spend about 1 hour watching this form of media per day. Compared to the results obtained from a survey I conducted on 20 recipients aged 11 to 68, my media consumption via SVOD services is low, with those aged between 10 and 20 years old averaging a whole 2 hours on these services per day alone. Although lower, it still matches the sort of trend of consuming quite a bit of media daily. Alternatively, as my SVOD media consumption has increased, my watching of DVDs has massively decreased, with me averaging a very low 0 hours of DVD watching per day. From the survey I conducted, those in the 10-20 years old category also averaged a low 0.2 hours a day. These stats prove that through the increase in internet, downloading content, live-streaming and proliferation have all been made more widely available, with many more people choosing to use them instead.

Both my brother and my father stream music on Spotify. We prefer Spotify as opposed to the radio, because we have complete freedom with regards to what we listen to - no adverts or interruptions from the radio hosts. Similarly, (although online radio increased from 8%-9%), radio dropped. As radio and line television consumption has decreased, digital channels such as YouTube and Facebook have increased in support, reaching 45% reach in 2918. Additionally, music streaming services on YouTube and Spotify and SVOD viewing increases in 2018 from 23% to 29% and 17% to 28% respectively.

Between 2014 and 2016, Subscription Video On Demand (SVODs) and online screening services were released in New Zealand. Just as I prefer consuming media via SVOD services such as Neon, many others wordwide do, too, with SVOD increasing from 34% to 37% reach worldwide in 2018. Netflix, for example, attracts more people than free-to-free air TV channels Three and TVNZ 2 in New Zealand according to a source. To prove that the above is true worldwide, are the following statistics... In 2016, Neon’s subscriber growth went “BOOM!” also according to sources, Netflix had over 75 million users world wide. Oppositely, linear Television dropped from 66% to 59% in daily reach. From the personal survey that I conducted, it is quite clear that the support and watching of DVDs is rapidly dropping, with my recipients spending an average of 0.77 hours watching DVDs in comparison to a whole 1.22hours of watching streaming services. The younger generations tend to consume more media than what the older generations do. I noticed that the 60-70 year old category actually averaged 2 hours per day watching DVDs and 0 hours on streaming services. In this case, my personal consumption of media (largely SVOD) is completely different to theirs as the older generation. However, they are a minority and do not ultimately affect the overall consumer trends. Their lower consumption of streaming services is most probably because they are unaware of these more modern, revolutionary ways, or simply because they prefer their usual DVD watching - what they are used to. Other than that, the younger generations as a whole seem to prefer SVOD because of it’s simplicity, flexibility and and hassle-free feel.

Another reason why SVOD services are flourishing to such an extent, is because of the rise of technology, cross-media convergence and synergy. Many conglomerates, such as Disney, partner with other large companies/platforms, such as YouTube, to advertise their media and sell their product or film. A distinctive example of cross-media convergence is how Disney broadcasts adverts across social media such as Instagram and YouTube advertising Disney +. An example of synergy are the numerous toys that resemble characters from Disney films, sold in various stores. As mentioned above, Disney is a conglomerate. A conglomerate is a large, parent company which owns many smaller companies. These smaller companies are subsidiaries. An example of one of Disney’s subsidiaries is Marvel which was purchase by Disney in 2009 for $4 billion.

Large Hollywood blockbuster films advertise their films over YouTube, Spotify and Instagram adverts, as well as on large billboards. An example of this is one of my case studies, Jurassic World, which was released on the 12th of June 2015 and quickly reached a record breaking opening weekend, becoming the first film to gross over $500 million USD in Box Office (this was the commercial success of the film). Jurassic World’s marketing campaign/plan was to build up a large sense of anticipation within possible viewers of the film in any way possible, to lead/convince them into buying a movie ticket. Because of how large and wealthy this film and it’s production team was, with a massive production budget of $150 million USD, it was able to have a MASSIVE release in most cinemas. In comparison, a local NZ film, Broken, which is not nearly as large or well-supported as the Hollywood blockbuster, was simply advertised in a few Facebook posts and YouTube videos and released in a few cinemas in New Zealand before it went internationally.... Large blockbuster films have larger marketing and production budgets to research and work with audience trends in comparison to smaller Indi films which may have lower budgets and less finance available for their advertising, causing them to revert back to the cost-effective use of social-media to promote their film (hence why Broken was only advertised on YouTube). In both cases, the films were advertised on some sort of social media, as social media users are rapidly increasing in numbers, with the number of internet users in New Zealand alone having increased by 37000 as of January 2019.

For most people, SVOD services, online services and online-streaming is simply easier and more practical - it enables them to watch whatever they please whenever they please, and is one click away on their cell-phone. Cinema/theatre attendance has also decreased (specifically in the US where it dropped to its lowest level), whilst Netlix reaches 125 million subscribers in NZ along. Many students were interviewed saying that they prefer watching media from the comfort of their own home with the ability and freedom to choose their own drink, food, and when they feel like a break. Overall, the old ways of media are outdated and seem to be losing support, from both me and those around me. Flexibility, choice and the comfort of our own home are all great contributors to our preferring SVOD services.

Personally, myself and my family do not pirate films, we do not even know how to do so. However, when researching larger audience trends, it is quite evident that, especially during lockdown, illegal downloading of films is on the rise, most specifically in the UK and US. Because piracy enables people to “tie everything together” and find as many movies as possible for FREE, it seems to be gaining quite some adoration, according to a source. In the UK alone, the illegal downloading of films has increased by 60% between now and the beginning of lockdown, with there being more than 300 million visits to sites allowing films to be illegally downloaded. The US, too, has experienced a spike of 43% with Americans visiting illegal sites. Although my family do not do so, the illegal downloading of these films is predominantly thanks to the current situation of lockdown where people are looking for more content to get through the countless hours at home. Despite the rise in pirating of films.