Breaking Blog
The way we consume media has changed forever, and nothing exemplifies this more than the recently-ended and much talked-about series, Breaking Bad.
While changes in media consumption have certainly been gathering pace over recent years, the final series of Breaking Bad provided a perfect demonstration of how the changes have played out.
Gone are the days when the family gathered around the television to watch prescribed programmes at set times.
Since the advent of ‘video on demand’ in the late 90s, and ‘catch up TV’ in the mid-2000s, subscribers have been able to watch pretty much what they want, when they want. In recent years, many more people have joined the revolution as services spread from those who had satellite or cable TV to pretty much anyone with a set top box or a broadband connection, including my own family.
The advent of streaming-content service Netflix in the UK introduced the nation to Breaking Bad. I first heard of this series in late 2011, while travelling in Australia, and got involved pretty quickly. When Netflix came to the UK, complete with the (then) only legal way to watch Breaking Bad, I was hooked! Now, I’d say my family is pretty typical in that it uses streaming content services far more than it watches normal TV.
Changes in habits such as this have had major implications for advertisers, with people zapping through TVCs or bypassing them altogether, and combined with the diminishing of the newspaper industry, have given advertisers a completely new business paradigm.
Another major impact has been felt in workplaces all around the world. Discussions regarding what was on TV last night are no longer the norm when everyone is watching different seasons/episodes of the same programme. It makes pod conversations a little awkward sometimes. No-one likes to see a grown man with his fingers in his ears!
The changes are still spreading. Netflix is not only streaming others’ content, but producing its own – the US version of House of Cards, and Arrested Development stand out. So the landscape has changed, and will continue to do so, apace.