Monday, 24 March 2014

New & Digital Media Case Study...

The Impact of New & Digital Media in the Film Industry...
1. Has new and digital media had an impact upon ownership and control of the media institution(s) involved in your case study area? Explain in detail any impact and what exactly has changed.
The campaign above features a range of films to watch, suggesting Netflix has all films available on the site for different demographic audiences to watch. The website is available to anyone subscribed to the network allowing them to watch as many films they wish. The film industry has developed it's technology by making block buster films to be watched at home rather than cinema's which is in good quality too. Furthermore Netflix has a one month free subscription for audiences to see how the network works therefore the audiences would have an insight and would like to pay the following month to carry on this subscription. Most of the Netflix adverts feature previous block buster films to attract the audiences attention so that they could be interested in the network. 

Moreover there are also other film providers such as LoveFilm another network were audience would have to subscribe to, to watch as many films they would want. Also the film industry has changed a lot over the years as DVD and Blu Rays were popular, audiences used to buy these products after a film was released onto DVD however now most audiences rather wait now for it to become available on networks like Netflix and LoveFilm, saving them more money as it's quite cheap too. 

Examples:
- Marxist Theory 

2. What impact has there been on the way in which the audience now consume the media products/ texts involved in your case study? How does it differ from what went before? Consider (SHEP)
Success often breeds copycats, and the rapid ascent of Netflix is no exception. Its initial model of sharing products by mail has attracted a wave of startups and big retailers hoping to be the Netflix of toys (Spark Box Toys), books (Booksfree), fashion (CoutureSqd, Le Tote, Rent the Runway), designer jewelry (RocksBox) and more. Some of these companies charge a membership fee, just like Netflix, while others offer pay-per-use online rentals. All are part of the sharing economy: they make money by sharing the same products instead of by selling more products. The sharing economy also includes Airbnb, which rents private rooms, apartments and homes; and Zipcar, which charges a monthly fee to members who share cars instead of owning them. Without doing credible lifecycle analyses, many of these companies that embrace the model are banking on the intuitive belief that it’s more environmentally friendly to reuse the same stuff over and over, by different people, rather than to sell new products that will most likely sit unused in a closet corner. The idea, simplified, is “less stuff is better.”

That is certainly a philosophy to which Max Gover, owner of Spark Box Toys in Newark, New Jersey, subscribes. The company, founded in 2012, charges members a fee for a box of toys designed for children under the age of four. A box arrives every four, six or eight weeks, and parents can opt to buy the toys.
“Educational toys have a short life because children develop so quickly, so what happens is you have this incredible amount of waste by accumulating them,“ Gover said. “A child could get attached to a teddy bear. But a toy that teaches scales will serve very little purpose after that [skill] has been acquired.“ A study by the University of Massachusetts found that streaming a movie requires 78% of the energy needed to ship a DVD, but accumulates a carbon footprint that’s roughly 100% higher. The higher carbon impact comes from the intensive energy use – caused by inefficient equipment – of data centers that store movies and pipe them into homes.

The study focused only on Netflix, however, which ships thin, lightweight DVDs or sends content electronically. But some entrepreneurs attracted to the Netflix model are often offering larger products, some of which come in odd, harder-to-ship shapes and sizes. Shipping goods over longer distances would certainly seem to require more energy, and a bigger carbon footprint, than driving to a local video store. 

The Guardian Article: Social impact
Aside from environmental impact, there’s also social impact to consider. The Netflix model does lead eliminate jobs, if it’s successful, Clinton said. In Netflix’s case, the company first beat competitors who operate retail outlets and then embraced streaming services that reduced the number of video distribution centers, she said. “It loses social sustainability on that front,“ she said.



3. What impact has there been on how the media institution now has to produce the texts and the way in which the texts/ products are distributed and exhibited? This should involve a detailed textual analysis of at least 3 texts to demonstrate the point.
Text One: Netflix
Netflix has been one of the most successful Film/TV product over the past year as the revenue for this product has increased by subscribers. Netflix was founded in 1997 an American provider of on-demand Internet streaming media available to viewers to watch as many films they would like. The provider is available to large demographic audiences targeting film fanatics and nuclear families, as it provides over five hundred films. Film used to be watched on normal television as scheduled and also available on DVD and Blu Ray CD's were audience would buy it, however in today's society there has been many servers/products created to entertain audiences like Netflix being available on TV by subscriptions. Moreover most film providers do not give the  opportunity to watch as many films on one provider however this provider allows this therefore attracts a large audience.
LoveFilm vs Netflix:


Text two: LoveFilm
LoveFilm is another film provider which allows audiences to subscribe and watch as many films too, it also has the one month free service for the audiences to see an insight of the provider and consider whether they should or not continue with the subscription however paying. It's provider of DVD-by-mail and streaming video on demand in the UK and Germany. The company has started a "watch online" service which offers over 4,700 films available to watch as part of a subscription. This online viewing is available free for subscribers who have opted for one of their unlimited monthly rental plans or the unlimited streaming-only account. In February 2014, Amazon announced that it would add LoveFilm's streaming service to its Instant Video service on 26 February 2014.

Text Three: Blinkbox
Blinkbox is a UK-based video-on-demand (VoD) service available on Macintosh and Microsoft Windows computers, games consoles, tablet computers and Smart TVs. On 20 April 2011, Tesco acquired an 80% stake in Blinkbox from Eden Ventures and Nordic Venture Partners. It intends to use the company to boost its digital entertainment offering. The service has around 2.8 million users a month according to comScore. Blinkbox has content deals with studios including Warner Bros., Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and 20th Century Fox and 16 independent producers including Fremantle Media, All 3 Media, Revolver Entertainment and Aardman Animations.

LoveFilm vs Blinkbox:

4. Is the size of the audience any different now than before the impact of new and digital media (or has the pattern of usage changed)? E.G. consider for the impact of new and digital media on TV broadcasting the change in audience ratings for programmes as a consequence of the deregulation of TV. (Prior to deregulation audience figures could be 20m+ for Eastenders etc to a situation today where, due to the massive number of channels now available, audiences are vastly reduced and fragmented).
Netflix: The provider was founded in 1997, however it did not get recognized a couple of years ago as the audiences impact on films changed. Netflix supplies a wide range of films from New to old for different audience demographics to enjoy watching films at home or wherever they are with their subscription. Cinema revenue's have decreased a large amount due to providers like Netflix as it provides better values towards the audience at an affordable price per month. 


For those of us who watch TV online, few irritations compare to the “five most recent episodes” rule. On Hulu and TV-network websites, only the last five episodes to air are typically available for internet streaming. Networks realize this is annoying to viewers, and they want to make binge-watching of current seasons easier. But there’s a surprising source of resistance: Netflix, which would be happy to keep the binge-watching culture it spawned all to itself. The binge-watching is another advantage to Netflix as audiences stated above get annoyed when they can not watch one of the last five programmes aired on television, therefore this would allow audiences to stream and watch previous seasons. The new and digital media has made Netflix a large provider since the new gadgets came out such as tablets, smartphones, anroid and more to allow the network to work of these devices a large audience would be attracted to this. Moreover an example could be a young child would be able to stream cartoons for entertainment and educational programmes through the provider by using their new digital device.

LoveFilm:

Blinkbox: Blinkbox is a UK-based video-on-demand (VoD) service available on Macintosh and Microsoft Windows computers, games consoles, tablet computers and Smart TVs. On 20 April 2011, Tesco acquired an 80% stake in Blinkbox from Eden Ventures and Nordic Venture Partners. It intends to use the company to boost its digital entertainment offering. The service has around 2.8 million users a month according to comScore. Blinkbox has content deals with studios including Warner Bros., Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and 20th Century Fox and 16 independent producers including Fremantle Media, All 3 Media, Revolver Entertainment and Aardman Animations.

5. Who are the primary target audience now and has this changed? Who was it before and how do you know?
The target primary target audience would be the age demographics of 16-25 year olds, as the younger teenagers and young adults would be more likely to be interacted by using these catch up social sites. More over the younger generation would be more interested in watching the latest films, TV programmes as they are more likely on new and digital media's. Furthermore I think there would also be an secondary audience of an age demographics of 26 and older as the older generation would watch catch up sites too for entertainment purposes such as nuclear families watching movies with their children.

Netflix Age Demographic:
British Wrestling Historian John Lister pointed out an intriguing factoid that was published by Mashable on December 5: Netflix Is Almost as Popular as Cable Among Young Adults: Among 18-36 year-old adults, 46% subscribed to Cable TV while 43% subscribed to Netflix.

The inverse directions (by age) for Cable TV versus Netflix/Hulu Plus/Amazon Prime really say a lot about who is (and is not) embracing streaming technology. Combined with the information from Nielsen on how people are watching over-the-top video, the point has really been hammered home about how differently people watch streaming content (for instance, almost half of subscribers were watching Netflix directly on a computer).

- 10.4% of video watched in US homes that subscribe to Netflix is watched on DVRs, compared to 9.2% for homes without Netflix.

6. How have the audience responded to the changes? Is there more customer choice? Is there evidence of a more pluralistic model? What evidence do you have to support this?
The new and digital media has changed how audiences access social networks. Netflix is now access with a wide range of new and digital media's such as smartphones, tablets, iplayer and more. Audiences are able to interact freely at a time that suits them as they are able not to follow the time shifted programmes, moreover user generated content is available for audiences to share their opinions and interact too.

- http://blogs.ft.com/tech-blog/2014/02/old-media-v-new-media-hbo-and-netflix-battle-it-out/
- http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2014/02/21/House-Cards-New-Media-Crack-Netflix-Addicts

"This past weekend, while many Americans were snowed in their homes, over 5 million of them did the exact same thing (minds out of the gutter, kids) — they watched at least one episode of Netflix’s “House of Cards,” Season 2. Somewhat incredibly, over 1 million of those subscribers watched at least five episodes over the weekend, participating in the modern phenomenon we call “binge watching."

7. What concerns/ considerations are there (if any) for the media institutions involved in your case study as a result of the impact of new and digital media? (e.g. deskilling or multi-skilling of the workforce/ decline in workforce etc)
Netflix Turns a Blind Eye to Illegal Use by School Libraries:
"Schools have been illegally showing videos in schools for educational purposes forever. But now universities are taking advantage of Netflix rentals and streaming video to supplement their media collections. The practice recently gained attention after some first person accounts of the cost-saving wonders of Netflix showed up in a library trade…" Adrianne Jeffries September 20, 2010

Schools have been illegally showing videos in schools for educational purposes forever. But now universities are taking advantage of Netflix rentals and streaming video to supplement their media collections. The practice recently gained attention after some first person accounts of the cost-saving wonders of Netflix showed up in a library trade publication and on a blog. Apparently, letting faculty members rent DVDs to show in the classroom and allowing students to watch streaming video from a library Netflix account can save a school library thousands of dollars.

Scheele Memorial Library Concordia College in New York saved around $3,000 by buying two Netflix subscriptions, which gave the library 16 rentals at a time in addition to being able to stream content online. 

"The streaming movies have been a great success; instead of students waiting for the one DVD on reserve, they can go to the computer or into the library's film viewing room, where we have a Roku player set up, and watch the movies on our flat screen TV. The amount we save just having the instant play is significant; it's almost like having multiple copies of the movie on reserve," librarian Rebecca Fitzgerald said. The Netflix subscription takes care of popular titles that students want so the library can spend its budget on "more acadamic materials," she said. Netflix isn't thrilled about this. The films are protected by copyright against anything but "personal and non-commercial use," and Netflix does not offer institutional subscriptions, a representative told the Chronicle of Higher Education. 

Netflix "frowns upon" this type of use, said Steve Swasey, Netflix' vice president of corporate communications, but indicated no plans to enforce the rules. "We just don't want to be pursuing libraries," he said. "We appreciate libraries and we value them, but we expect that they follow the terms of agreement." But the libraries turning to Netflix are not just at small schools. The University of Washington, which has more than 47,000 students, is among schools advertising their Netflix subscriptions on library websites, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported (the page has since been taken down). With so many schools stuck for funding in the current recession, Netflix may feel pressured to act more aggressively to keep this from becoming a widespread trend - and that could end up costing libraries dearly.

Netflix, Inc. Institutional Ownership: $358.87* = 5.311.46%

Per the Netflix Terms of Use agreed to by any one subscribing to their service, “use of the Netflix service … is solely for your personal and non-commercial use.” This indicates that use of the Netflix service by an institution to circulate videos to their service population is a violation of these terms, which in essence is a breach of contract. Academic copyright expert and attorney Kevin Smith agrees. 
- As quoted in theChronicle, Smith states: “My personal opinion is that the risk of a contract problem makes it not worthwhile for us to have a program to lend discs that we borrow from Netflix. It’s not a copyright issue. It’s an issue of the contract between the user and Netflix.” Further, Netflix does not offer institutional subscriptions and “frowns upon” libraries loaning Netflix DVDs or video stream to faculty members to share with students.

The Internet killed the video store?: Netflix came and broke our heart. On-demand tore it apart. In my mind we lost the store. Be kind rewind forever more.

The display obscures the immense impact video rental retailers had in inaugurating a new era of home entertainment and the upheaval they themselves had ignited within the media and entertainment industries. 

With the success of this new service, Netflix amassed a subscriber base of more than twenty million, with seven million joining in 2010 alone. This made it one of the largest subscriber services in the country, comparable to cable providers such as Comcast and premium cable networks such as Home Box Office. The company’s size provided it with leverage both as it prepared to expand internationally and as it worked with manufacturers to establish its streaming software as a standard feature on hundreds of consumer electronic devices. The success of the new service also had its drawbacks as Netflix had to negotiate a new and very different set of distribution rights with content producers. The major media and entertainment conglomerates were eager to embrace the benefits of Netflix’s new streaming technology, but they were also extremely wary of the company’s instrumental position at the center of a rapidly changing and increasingly competitive home entertainment market.

The first Blockbuster video store opened in 1985. In 1992, after a period of aggressive expansion, there were over 2000 outlets and Blockbuster was the clear market leader in the rental business. It maintained its dominant position throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.




Beginning in 2008, Netflix initiated partnerships with several consumer electronics manufacturers to ensure that their devices supported streaming software. Set-top boxes like Roku serve as a digital media receiver, which allow customers to access Internet-based streaming services through their televisions.






In 2010, Netflix announced the launch of a “one-click access” feature whereby a red Netflix button providing direct access to the service would be physically integrated into the remote control for various consumer electronic devices.







By 2010, a growing number of televisions, following Blu-ray players and video game consoles, were able to connect directly to the Internet or to a Wifi signal. This new generation of smart TVs adopted the idea of the “app store” that had been popularized by the proliferation of smartphones and digital tablets.




8. What are the political and social implications of the new technologies and the methods of their consumption? E.g. moral panics etc?
"The motivation could be to get Netflix to pay fees to stop this degradation," the company said. 
"Were this draconian scenario to unfold with some, we would vigorously protest and encourage our members to demand the open Internet they are paying their ISP to deliver."
Success often breeds copycats, and the rapid ascent of Netflix is no exception. Its initial model of sharing products by mail has attracted a wave of startups and big retailers hoping to be the Netflix of toys (Spark Box Toys), books (Booksfree), fashion (CoutureSqd, Le Tote, Rent the Runway), designer jewelry (RocksBox) and more. Some of these companies charge a membership fee, just like Netflix, while others offer pay-per-use online rentals. All are part of the sharing economy: they make money by sharing the same products instead of by selling more products. The sharing economy also includes Airbnb, which rents private rooms, apartments and homes; and Zipcar, which charges a monthly fee to members who share cars instead of owning them. Without doing credible lifecycle analyses, many of these companies that embrace the model are banking on the intuitive belief that it’s more environmentally friendly to reuse the same stuff over and over, by different people, rather than to sell new products that will most likely sit unused in a closet corner. The idea, simplified, is “less stuff is better.”

That is certainly a philosophy to which Max Gover, owner of Spark Box Toys in Newark, New Jersey, subscribes. The company, founded in 2012, charges members a fee for a box of toys designed for children under the age of four. A box arrives every four, six or eight weeks, and parents can opt to buy the toys.
“Educational toys have a short life because children develop so quickly, so what happens is you have this incredible amount of waste by accumulating them,“ Gover said. “A child could get attached to a teddy bear. But a toy that teaches scales will serve very little purpose after that [skill] has been acquired.“ A study by the University of Massachusetts found that streaming a movie requires 78% of the energy needed to ship a DVD, but accumulates a carbon footprint that’s roughly 100% higher. The higher carbon impact comes from the intensive energy use – caused by inefficient equipment – of data centres that store movies and pipe them into homes.

9. Consider the effects so far, and possible effects in the future, on media institutions involved in your case study (media production).
A federal appellate court decision on Tuesday raises the prospect that Netflix Inc.NFLX -5.20% and other bandwidth-hogging websites may have to pay tolls to broadband providers to ensure quality service, a change that would throw a wrench into their business models and potentially raise prices for consumers.

The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia struck down the Federal Communications Commission's so-called "open Internet" rules that had required equal treatment of Internet traffic and prohibited broadband providers from blocking traffic, favoring certain sites or charging special fees to companies that account for the most traffic.

"A year and a half ago, we found out that Walmart.com doesn't want to work withus, but work on us," - Hastings.

Today, about 30 million Netflix accounts exist, serving about a quarter of America. Netflix’s first round of original series won critical plaudits and were the first purely video-on-demand television series to win Emmy awards. The concept of “binge watching” became popular largely because of Netflix. Because it offers a rich library of old and new TV shows for a modest sum per month, the service has even helped grow the number of “cord cutters,” who watch “television” only through the Internet. 

10. What issues may there be regarding media effects and /or regulation/ censorship as a result of changes due to new and digital media?
In terms of Regulation and Censorship the BBC are still in control because people pay for the content that the Netflix provides. Netflix has a one month free trail for audiences to experience the provider which allows you to experience the same results as a normal subscriber. In addition after the free trail, you would obviously have to pay every month to access the site to view films whenever, therefore Netflix do charge for their content provided. Netflix is normally targeted for a wide range of audiences to enjoy and watch films at a time that was suitable for them (Time-shifting).

Netflix has warnings as every film has a age certificate alerting audiences what films are suitable, responsibilities such as religious content, violence abuse, and gruesome content etc. would be alerted before films before audiences watch it.

11. Are there any cross-cultural factors and /or effects of globalisation involved in the impact of new technology on your case study? E.g. the internet has been said to be ‘globalising culture’ through its promotion of the English language.
The internet being the new way audiences watch Television means our content has become viral, being able to watch programmes from all around the world. Netflix has become one of the most subscribed film sources across the globalisation, providing entertainment for many demographic audiences. 

“Internationally, we’re starting to get better in every country, whether it’s Brazil, Ireland or Sweden, there’s a lot of stuff we’re learning and doing better at as we expand.” - Hastings.

Netflix Instant has more streamable movies available than you could watch in an entire lifetime, but depending on where you are in the world, that selection of movies might only be available in that country or region. Programming on Netflix varies from region to region because of how TV shows and movies are licensed. Organizations that own the rights to different TV shows and movies license the rights by geography, so Netflix has to acquire rights on a territory-by-territory basis. For this reason, what’s available in the U.S. isn’t always the same as what’s available in other countries, and vice-versa.

However, thanks to the technological magic of the Internet, you can easily trick Netflix into thinking you’re in a different part of the world, and thereby gain access to hundreds – if not thousands – of different movies that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to see. There are a number of different ways to do this, but when you get down to it all they all do the same thing, which is change your IP address so it looks like you’re in another country. Some use proxy servers, others use VPNs, and there are hundreds of different options in each category. But arguably the easiest way to unblock movies on Netflix and take a peek at what’s available in other regions is to install a browser extension called Hola.


12. Consider theoretical perspectives in relation to the impact of new/ digital media in your case study. E.g. Representation of certain groups as a result of changes, Marxism & Hegemony, Liberal Pluralism, colonialism, audience theories etc.
Marxism is a hegemonic leader that has control over the audience, the power of the media and society takes control of different audiences to influence the media is under their control. On the other hand a Pluralist's perspective would be the audiences believing what they want to watch and having full control over the media, allowing them to watch programmes and more at any time they want such as time-shifting. Moreover audiences are able to access media sites Netflix to watch movies of their choice at any time.
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