Longform articles for your leisurely reading pleasure.
After acquiring right to popular Chinese movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, does Netflix want to dominate the movie industry as well?
Ronak Hegde
Netflix is one of the rare companies who have not only managed to renew their business propositions but also reinvent themselves from time and again. It is remarkable to see a DVD-Mail-Delivery start-up achieve such economies of scales from constantly evolving and adapting to the changing times. Continue reading
by Norah Ababatain
The very first TV ad appeared in 1941 during a baseball game on a local New York channel. The 10-second ad cost a four dollars and completely revolutionized television! It was an ad for a luxury watch company called Bulova. Due to the great success of the Bulova advertisement, other companies began to realize that they needed to jump on board with their marketing and started creating TV ads as well. By 1948, many additional advertisers were using television spots to reach the large audience on television.
Good news my dear TV-lovers. With all those new shows out there, I know you might feel a bit lost, a bit overwhelmed and just a tiny bit tempted to throw your homework out the window, call in sick at work, or worse – decline your friends’ calls so you have enough time to check out every. single. new. premiere.
Anti-social much?
I sympathize. How, oh how, are we supposed to see EVERYTHING? I mean, we need to sleep at some point, right?
Well, we can’t see everything. But together, we can easily narrow down what’s worth our time and what… isn’t. So let’s not waste any more time! Read ahead for some special insider analysis. A warm thank you to this week’s contributor, Katharina Kandt, for providing AntennaFree with her perspective on which shows deserve a chance.
Procrastination is on… again! Instead of studying, I’ll admit that I spent my whole weekend devoted to watching this fall’s TV shows for you guys. So here we go with three shows you must switch on. Right now. Trust me, I’ve seen them all!
The first must-watch is the most highly anticipated ABC fall TV thriller, “How To Get Away With Murder.” Created by Peter Nowalk and produced by Shonda Rhimes (also the producer of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal). The show is aired on Thursday’s just after Scandal, at 10:00 p.m.
Absurd, jaw-dropping and stylish, HTGAWM does not disappoint. Without being as cautious as “The Good Wife,” it will instantly suck you in with Viola Davis owning the show, supported by an equally promising cast and a crazy, but great, storyline.
by Gabrielle de Mijolla
ABC’s Manhattan Love Story, cancelled after four whole episodes had aired.
Lately everyone has been wondering why no new shows have been cancelled so far for the fall 2014/2015 TV season. Various theories have been aired. Some believe that the reason why a lot of networks have been clinging on to tanking new shows is that there is a lack of confidence in mid-season replacement shows. In other words, some of the other shows in store might just be worse than those that have already premiered.
Another theory posited is that some of the shows that are bombing are bombing in one-hour blocks, making it more difficult to cancel one show without cancelling the second one. For instance, ABC’s Manhattan Love Story, which has received a lot of backlash, airs just before the equally unpopular Selfie.
By far the most widely accepted reason for this absence of cancelling is the role DVR plays in shaping networks’ decisions. DVR numbers can take a few weeks to come in which explains why networks are taking longer to evaluate their shows. While delayed viewing is something to take into consideration, it also seems like some networks are using it as an excuse to postpone the cancellation of shows that are clearly of substandard quality.
Take a look at our gallery of shows that are likely to be cancelled below.
Read ahead to find out what we think about HBO’s new stand-alone service and learn why you should care. And don’t forget to test your HBO savviness below… you might just be surprised!
You may have heard, you may have not – but for all those cable television subscribers out there who are simply sick and tired of having to pay for hundreds of channels that you never watch – the time has come!
Attention my fellow cord-cutters and cord-nevers, I have some news.
HBO CEO Richard Plepler recently announced that the company will be launching its very own “stand-alone, over-the-top HBO service in the United States” next year!
What does this mean for us? Basically that you’ll be able to buy HBO without having to pay for a cable subscription – so go ahead and say it: SAYONARA Dish Network, Comcast, DirecTV!
Or wait a second… maybe cable companies shouldn’t start digging their own graves quite yet. Continue reading
Ads.
Ah, that terrible, terrible word. Who hasn’t researched a million ways online to try to avoid those little interruptions during their season catch-up binge-watch?
The fact is, online video ads are here to stay. Not only are people apparently more receptive to them, but they also have a higher impact on viewers. This makes them great for marketing folks at your lovely local conglomerate. In fact, online video ad revenue spend is growing faster and faster, having overtaken broadcast TV in April this year (and cable TV before that).
Honestly, though, most of us wouldn’t mind a few strategically placed, well-targeted, or entertaining ads. After all, we understand that the episode that we’re streaming free has to be paid by someone, somewhere, and ads are a relatively harmless form of currency.
Still, that doesn’t excuse advertisers for just slapping them on every available surface — or even, at times, creating artificial breaks in episodes just to serve ads. Continue reading
Fall, otherwise known as the season when leaves slowly change into magical shades of reds, oranges and browns… while we stroll peacefully outside, our pumpkin spice lattes keeping us warm…
Wait! It also happens to be the season of every television premiere you’ve been waiting for since spring ended.
That’s right – you heard me. You can forget about that stroll outside for the next few days, or maybe weeks… it’s TV time!
“Mommy, where is everybody…?”
“Honey, didn’t you hear, Scandal’s BACK!”
Television. Otherwise known as that colorful, animated world that we are separated from by merely a thin screen.
A world of endless stories and boundless emotions.
For decades this mysterious rectangular shaped object has let us live vicariously. It has naturally become a staple in our daily lives—an escape from reality, a way to connect with someone else. A source of news and entertainment. Television has become this object, this experience, this thing that many of us can no longer live without.
How did we get here? How did television find such a meaningful place in our minds, bodies and souls?
The story of television’s rise is a worthy tale to tell—it is a story at the heart of the digital revolution. Understanding television’s evolution is not only evidence of technology’s mark on modern society, but it grants us a glimpse at what the future of our digital society may hold.
After all, they say that both television and Internet were the causes of print journalism’s remarkable decline. They say, now, that the newspaper is near its death. This makes us wonder—will Internet itself trigger the death of television? With the Internet’s force growing at every second, there is already evidence that makes us question television’s future. The TV industry that exists today may be at serious risk.
We are here to speculate on the changes that the industry will be facing—particularly in light of the Internet and the many emerging means of obtaining television. On Demand, Netflix, Hulu, DVR—the choice is yours.
How do we define television in the modern context then? We must first begin by looking at the American television industry and understanding how it began. Continue reading
You’re sitting on your couch with laptop ready, candy on the side, gearing yourself up for some marathon TV watching. Today, you decide, is the day. You’re finally going to watch all of Season 1 of that hilarious new comedy that all your friends have been raving about.
You open your internet browser, and pause. Wait, what now? You know that most shows are available online completely legally, but you’re not really sure of how to make your way around the proliferation of services.
House of Cards, Orange is the new black, Game of Thrones… All these big titles we bet you all know and probably each one of you has already watched. Nowadays, we are lucky to have more and more well-produced (costly perhaps) and fascinating TV series for our daily entertainment. Taking Game of Thrones as example, the average cost of making one episode is $6 million, whereas this year’s (and last year’s) Emmy winner Breaking Bad episodes cost around half of that figure. As we are enjoying these cinema-quality hours of TV shows via TVs, tablets or even smartphones, there’s always a question about how we could do in order to make our watching experience easier and more enjoyable?
Everyone understands that we are now living in the so-called multi-screen age.People find it harder and harder to get undivided attention and stay focused on one screen at a time. You want to watch House of Cards on TV while chatting with your mates on Twitter using your phone? No problem! Because it is the time for connected TV to redefine the home entertainment and rebuild your living room (or dorm room). Continue reading
