Is TV a dying industry?

By: Gigi

Image Source: Business Insider

From the 11 of September 1928, when the Queen's Messenger, a one-act play marked a new era as the first live drama broadcast on television. It marked an era where 87 years later Big Bang Theory a show produced by media giants CBS would have a total viewership of over a twenty million, as reported by The Wrap a digital news organization. The high ratings that were recorded last year would make it seem obvious that the TV business still has a lot of people wanting to interact with it and thus, it has room for growth. However, as reported by business insider three years ago “Nearly 5 million cable TV subscribers have gone elsewhere in the last five years. The number of cable TV-only subscribers remaining could sink below 40 million later this year, according to this data from ISI Group, an equity research firm.” These stats show that viewers are no longer tuning into the conventional Cable TV to get their daily dose of entertainment. These stats lead to the assessment that the TV industry for producers and directors is not declining however the environment in which viewers are consuming TV shows, is rapidly evolving.

Einav Gali and John Carey capture the notion of the shift of Television watching perfectly in their paper “Is TV Dead” in the paper they state “Television viewing is breaking out of the conventional box that marked our expectations for how people utilize TV. New viewing platforms and behaviors such as time shifting with the help of a DVR, streaming online via broadband and watching TV over bigger and smaller screens are all legitimate forms of viewing television content.” Here they clarify the point that the TV industry is bustling with viewers and content its just not on a conventional box set instead its on Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, on laptops and cellphones. Hence a company like Netflix boasts of 83,278 paid membership subscription as of their 2016 Third Quarter Financials Statements (October 17, 2016).

Overall, the change in the TV environment has been marked by the birth of new spaces that are easy to access and thus, more convenient to watch your favorite show. It has allowed for more content to be released meaning people such as myself who dare to venture into the Television space are given more opportunities and different spaces to exhibit our work.

Works Cited

Einav, Gali, and John Carey. "Is TV Dead?." Television Quarterly 38.2 (2008): 19-24. Readers'      Guide Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson). Web. 23 Oct. 2016.

Edwards, Jim. "TV Is Dying, And Here Are The Stats That Prove It." Business Insider. Business              Insider, Inc, 24 Nov. 2013. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.

"Quarterly Earnings." Netflix :. Netflix, 17 Oct. 2016. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.