Similarly, their other acclaimed show “Orange is the New
Black” also earned accolades, acquiring a Satellite Award for Best Cast in a
Television Series and a People’s Choice Award nomination.
Likewise, online retailer Amazon recently launched a foray
into television programming, achieving critical success with political comedy “Alpha
House,” which also secured Satellite Award nominations.
And Hulu has been a linchpin in the OTT industry for nearly
six years, continually reaching new heights.
As TV thrives
in the 21st century, these innovative businesses are completely re-shaping
the television landscape, for the better. Here’s a look at their techniques and
what they’ve been doing to shakeup the industry.
Netflix
The streaming service, which describes itself as a “movie
and TV series network,” brought binge-watching
to the mainstream, allowing viewers to use this television model to select and
choose how many episodes they watch at a time.
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| House of Cards |
"You can appreciate so much more, you can catch so much more, you can understand the inner workings of these stories if you view them in more concentrated chunks than you can if you watch them as they come out,” Robert Thompson, Director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University, told TechRadar.
In November, Netflix revealed a new interface in a
forward-looking exercise.
“We wanted to think about ‘What is the future of television?
Where is the future of television in an on-demand world?’” stated Chris Jaffe, Netflix’s vice president of product innovation, at the time.
The browsing system upgrade provided more images and program
information.
Additionally, Netflix has increased the value of a television
series finale – if a show is canceled before it’s obtained a true conclusion,
it’s probably not going to be purchased by the service (as viewers enjoy a show
with an actual final episode), which in turn deprives networks of a big payday.
It’s officially become important for networks to sell their properties to the
business – a great example being their recent deal with CW.
Amazon.com
Last month, Amazon.com announced 10 different new pilots for the public to
vote on, which gave ordinary people a chance to decide which concept(s) will advance
into development. In 2013, they did the same thing with 14 pilots. This form of
crowdsourcing allows them to simultaneously pick up publicity for their efforts
while also streamlining the traditional development process.
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| Alpha House |
The company also reviews what consumers are currently
checking out, and utilizes that data to inspire them.
“You can just see what’s working on the site, and then that
gives you a little context, you know? That these things are resonating,” said Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios. “It's not just a focus group. It's
thousands of people. It makes a difference.”
In summer 2013, Amazon Studios rolled out a groundbreaking tool,
“Storyteller,” that permits
screenwriters to submit their script into a digital system that transforms it
into a storyboard, complete with customizable characters that allows others to
learn about their tale in a more visual manner.
And anyone can be an Amazon Studios
screenwriter – all it takes is the click of a mouse to register an account and
send in a script via their website.
Hulu
In 2008, Hulu was listed as an invention of the year in TIME magazine, after previously overcoming denouncements and guffaws from the Internet
punditry.
After getting official backing from networks to stream their
shows on-demand, the company unleashed several innovations over the years.
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| The Awesomes |
These included new concepts for advertising and less advertising overall.
Originally known as a “disrupter”
of the television industry, the service hopes to work in tandem with cable and
satellite operators under the guidance of new CEO and former FOX executive,
Mike Hopkins.
Hopkins has been busy restructuring the management team, hiring NBC’s Peter Naylor as senior vice president of sales in February, and
announcing former Mouse House VP of digital distribution, Tim Connolly, as Hulu’s new head of distribution on March 4.
"A big part of realizing Hulu’s objectives is our platform strategy—our
goal is to be everywhere, on every device where our users want to watch TV,”
stated Hopkins.
One original show gaining traction at the moment is “The
Awesomes,” a 2013 animated series helmed by freshly-cemented “Late Night” host
Seth Meyers, and featuring a variety of “Saturday Night Live” players as the
voice cast.
Hulu trumpeted that it would be renewed for a second season back in September.
What happens next?
Time may or may not be a flat circle, but the
march ahead accelerates, regardless of its shape.
Zach Seward over at Quartz suggests that all three of these services should be “fully
integrat[ed]” into future television devices, which would let consumers avoid
switching inputs.
Netflix is already taking steps to become
involved with set-top boxes, with mixed results.
It will be intriguing to see if they’re ultimately rewarded in this endeavor,
and if the others follow suit.
Author: Brian Cameron
Author: Brian Cameron
Follow @FYITV
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