In addition to being the land of fast food and opportunity, the United States is the home of television. America is the safe haven for high risk contest shows, high grossing nature documentaries, bad reality TV, and the best programs to ever air. From its invention, Americans have been creating and consuming the most content, making them TV pioneers in both consumption and production.
The early years of television were dominated by Americans. The origins of the television itself are a bit hard to pinpoint,
due to the amount of inventors who were integral to its creation, but its agreed that the first working television was created by American
Philo T Farnsworth. In the early years,
TV coverage was limited to the news or sports events, but only took a year for original content to be created for the small screen. In 1928,
The Queen's Messenger was broadcasted as the first 'TV play'. The Queen's Messenger is of American Origin, but it is significantly less popular than the second TV play,
The Man With The Flower In His Mouth- an English program broadcasted a year later.
Despite this, Americans have had very little issue creating popular shows- but, since grossing statistics and viewership are restricted by country, I was forced to view popularity in a more subjective way.
Time's Top 100 Television Shows of All Time list provided in an extremely in-depth analysis of TV as a whole, including a
disclaimer of how all the shows were picked. I read the list in full and separated all the shows of American origin, which totaled up to a staggering 91 out of 100 programs. However, said list was created by just one man, so I sought out one that could be more accurate, settling on the
IMDB Highest Rated list, which is not curated by anyone, but instead made solely by averaging the user scores. At 30 to 20, the list was still dominantly American, but to a much less dramatic degree.
Americans are also revolutionizing the way television is approached now. The internet is making content significantly easier to find and watch uninterrupted, but Netflix is revolutionizing media in more ways than simply that.
How Netflix Reverse Engineered Hollywood is a six page article that borderlines on religious experience. It outlines Netflix's complicated method of tagging shows and tailoring suggestions for the user, also touching on how this information helps them create shows that are practically guaranteed to be hits. In the words of the article's writer Alexis Madrigal: "When [Netflix] create[s] a show like House of Cards, they aren't guessing at what people want."
The early years of television were dominated by Americans. The origins of the television itself are a bit hard to pinpoint, due to the amount of inventors who were integral to its creation, but its agreed that the first working television was created by American Philo T Farnsworth. In the early years, TV coverage was limited to the news or sports events, but only took a year for original content to be created for the small screen. In 1928, The Queen's Messenger was broadcasted as the first 'TV play'. The Queen's Messenger is of American Origin, but it is significantly less popular than the second TV play, The Man With The Flower In His Mouth- an English program broadcasted a year later.
Despite this, Americans have had very little issue creating popular shows- but, since grossing statistics and viewership are restricted by country, I was forced to view popularity in a more subjective way. Time's Top 100 Television Shows of All Time list provided in an extremely in-depth analysis of TV as a whole, including a disclaimer of how all the shows were picked. I read the list in full and separated all the shows of American origin, which totaled up to a staggering 91 out of 100 programs. However, said list was created by just one man, so I sought out one that could be more accurate, settling on the IMDB Highest Rated list, which is not curated by anyone, but instead made solely by averaging the user scores. At 30 to 20, the list was still dominantly American, but to a much less dramatic degree.
Americans are also revolutionizing the way television is approached now. The internet is making content significantly easier to find and watch uninterrupted, but Netflix is revolutionizing media in more ways than simply that. How Netflix Reverse Engineered Hollywood is a six page article that borderlines on religious experience. It outlines Netflix's complicated method of tagging shows and tailoring suggestions for the user, also touching on how this information helps them create shows that are practically guaranteed to be hits. In the words of the article's writer Alexis Madrigal: "When [Netflix] create[s] a show like House of Cards, they aren't guessing at what people want."
Props for doing your own footwork! Great research. That Atlantic article on how Netflix "reverse engineered Hollywood" is mind-blowing. Evidence that we're being played, for sure, but is it a good or bad thing in this case?
ReplyDeleteMaking TV is difficult because you have to balance self-expression with making a profit. Netflix's tagging system was created to better understand the audience, since you need to know what they want to watch, to know what will sell. I see no harm in creators researching their audience- especially not when it results in excellent shows.
DeleteI really like the article on "Reverse Engineered Hollywood", it was very interesting. I also like how you personally went through the Top 100 TV shows get data. However, do you think that it is a good thing that Americans are seen to being a " safe haven for high risk contest shows, high grossing nature documentaries, bad reality TV, and the best programs to ever air" ?
ReplyDeleteI, personally, am all for the television industry. Although I enjoy some programs more than others, I know that they all have their purpose. Studios need money to make shows and that usually means making a lot of really bad shows. But you need Dads to have Arrested Development and that's a price I'm very willing to pay.
DeleteI definitely agree with you on the growing popularity of Netflix. Do you think Netflix will still be dominant in 20 years or that a new T.V. service will have emerged. Or do you believe that T.V.'s will still be a popular way to spend your leisure time?
ReplyDelete