The advancing digitalization and media convergence demands TV broadcasting companies to adjust their content to various platforms and distribution channels. The internet, as convergent carrier medium, is increasingly taking on a central role for additional media. Classical linear TV is still important, but for some audiences it has been developing from a primary medium to a secondary medium. Owing to the growing melding of classical-linear TV contents with online offerings (e.g. video-on-demand platforms or Web–TV), a great dynamic can be seen which has triggered numerous discussions about the future of TV for some time now. This article will summarize the results of two different audience studies. Film and television shows are meanwhile distributed online via Video-on-Demand platforms such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. The first audience study has dealt with the use of VoD-platforms in Germany investigating user rituals, user motivation to watch films and TV shows on these platforms, and the meaning of VoD in everyday life. Most of the participants in this study reported that they mainly watch TV drama series at Netflix or Amazon Prime. Therefore, the second audience study focused the online use of television drama series of individuals and couples elaborating the phenomenon of binge watching. In relating the audience practice to the new structures of the television market the article will shed light on the future of television.
The global television landscape in the first decade of the 21st century is a complex terrain of contradictory developments and trends. Since the early years of television the United States has been the most important exporter of TV series, TV serials and game shows. But nowadays times have changed. Admittedly the USA is still the leading nation in selling TV fiction all over the world, but since the deregulation of the TV market in Western Europe in the 1990s Great Britain and the Netherlands are the leading exporters of non-fiction formats like reality shows, Australia sells its soap operas all over the world and Latin American countries are important exporters of telenovelas. At the beginning of the 21st century the Colombian telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea made its way around the world. Several countries bought the rights to produce a local adaptation of the format. For example ABC produced Ugly Betty in the United States, the German channel Sat.1 produced Verliebt in Berlin, and there is a Russian adaptation Ne Rodis’ Krasivoy. This article compares several local adaptations of the telenovela: the Colombian original and the adaptations in Germany, Russia, Spain and the USA. It looks at the dramaturgical and narrative proximities and differences of the adaptations and focuses on the textual conditions of international success.
The article discusses some developments in the audio- visual media industry in Germany that became apparent during the pandemic. Tendencies in the production, distribution and consumption of film, television and streaming are examined. While streaming platforms and linear television are becoming more important, cinemas are facing some problems.
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