“Everyone’s talking about the new battle for exclusivity, original content production, where the platforms fund and produce their own shows without the help of big studios. But this war is different. Instead of competing to produce the most content, the platforms are competing to produce the most relevant content for their specific user base,” Michael Grothaus writes for Fast Company. “Netflix’s directorial and casting decisions for House of Cards were famously based on data analysis of viewing habits, and Amazon’s pilot program lets users vote to fund their favorite new show.”
“This new battle for relevance shows an increasing understanding of how we watch video. Unlike music, most people don’t watch their favorite film or the last season of Lost over and over and over again for months on end,” Grothaus writes. “Eventually, we want to see new stuff–but given the massive amounts of content available on every service, we probably don’t know exactly what. The distinguishing factor in choosing an online video service could therefore come down to one important feature: discovery.”
Grothaus writes, “Discovery refers to a user’s ability to easily find new and interesting things to watch that are relevant to them… Apple bought a little company called Matcha.tv (a company most people had never heard of). We don’t usually think about Apple as being in the same market as Netflix, but remember that Tim Cook and others at Apple have said time and time again that the company is very interested in the TV sector, but they aren’t going to enter it until they feel they have something worthwhile to contribute. Their new acquisition might help them produce something worthwhile.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
Related article:
Apple acquires second-screen TV/video app Matcha.tv – August 13, 2013
Apple could build the finest studio on earth churning out great TV shows and in my opinion long form TV with a great premise, characters, acting and involving story trumps one-off self-indulgent CG movies that cost $$$$$$ to make and go see any day of the week. They could easily fuel their own media network needs. Build their own pipes too and wallah, their’s for the taking.
An NFL package of some kind would be as big a draw as anything.
They definitely could be doing more with their ties to Disney/ABC too.
These are the TV shows that I watch or will watch upon their return for a new season:
– Homeland (Claire Danes plays a slightly deranged CIA agent but it’s part of the charm)
– Breaking Bad (enough said)
– Continuum (the babe factor is high on this one with Rachel Nichols, although I prefer her with blonde hair rather than brunette)
– The Walking Dead (I love zombies, what can I say)
– Unforgettable (the chick who wears a push-up bra is dead gorgeous)
– Girls (aimed at gay men and chicks but I watch it for the chicks)
– Scandal (getting pretty boring lately with all the bullshit shenanigans and outrageous story lines)
– Mad Men (Jessica Pare is the only reason why I watch this – she’s a super duper hot Canadian import)
– Covert Affairs (Piper Perabo is pretty hot, not in a totally hot way, but tolerably watchable hot)
– The Newsroom (Jeff Daniels is outrageous)
– Falling Skies (I love sci-fi, what can I say)
Another insight into someone’s psyche that I’d rather not have had. Crass.
To be fair, Seamus, most men will admit that the chick hotness factor is one of the critical aspects of a show. It doesn’t make a bad show good, but it certainly doesn’t hurt and can tip the scales on iffy shows. Baywatch was popular for a reason, and it was not for the engaging plots. It had much more to do with the slow motion running along the beach.