Intro To Media Studies Quiz 5

Module 14

The ways gatekeepers buy TV

1) Import/Export

2) Formats

3) International co-production

4) International co-financing
5) Pre Sales

6) Repurposing

Import/Export

A completed season (or more) of TV is produced in one country and is sold to another country. For example, the popular American produced TV show friends was purchased by many international streaming countries due to its popularity. There is little to no editing the series once it is purchased, the only thing that may change is the addition of language dubbing.

Strengths and limitations of Import/Export

Strengths for company who buys rights: there is no need to produce your own sitcom, there is a lower risk because you know it is either already popular and/or it is cheap

Strengths for company who sells the rights: they are able to charge a premium and can negotiate prices

Limitations for company who buys rights: the show many not be as popular in another country

Formats

When a media outlet does not buy the episodes that are already aired but buys rights to the branding, concept, premise, and format of the show. The company who buys the formating rights does their own local casting, produces the show in their local language, and often has a group of consulting producers from the company who sold formatting rights. Formatting is the most popular TV trade deals for reality tv shows. One example of this is Love Island USA. In 2015 Love Island UK released a more modernized version of the 2005 celebrity love island. In 2019 the United States produced their own version of Love Island in 2019.

Strengths and Limitations of Formatting

Strengths for company buying the rights: If a show is already popular and has a recognizable brand name then risk is minimized, the formatted show decreases cultural gaps

Strengths for the company who sells the rights: gets money without having to produce a show, cam sell formats to different international companies

Limitations: Market saturation, prestige or artificial scarcity can be watered down

International Co-Production

When two or more production studios from two or more countries co-produce a media show; this means that every company contributes monetarily and creatively. For example, the show Squid Games was co-produced by the United States (Netflix) and a South Korea production company

International co-financing

When two or more media platforms from two or more countries partner in funding only to produce a TV show. This means that one party has complete creative control over the production of the show. One example includes the night manager which received funding from AMC but was produced entirely by BBC.

Strengths and Limitations of International Co-production

Strengths: reduces financial risk, more resources, wider audiences

Limitations: split profits, limits idea of artificial scarcity

Strengths and Limitations of International Co-financing

Strengths for those producing the show: lower risk because they receive financial support, creative autonomy

Strengths for those financing the show: if successful the company gets money without spending production costs

Limitations: One company has no say in the creative process, both parties have to agree where to sell

Pre-Sales

Securing funding by selling rights prior to production. One company has likely shot a pilot or has a concept and will give streaming rights to another company when produced fully. The company who purchases a show presale purchases the right to stream the show in a particular area for a certain time. One example is when Hulu purchased pre sale rights to stream The Bravest Knight made by Big Bad Boo Studios.

Strengths and Limitations of Pre-Sales

Strengths for company who purchases rights: gives audience more options, paying less money for a show than if it were already produced and popular

Strengths for company who sells rights: gives them funding to produce the show

Limitations for company who purchases rights: If the show does not make money, you lose money; there is a risk factor because you don’t know if the show is popular and you don’t have rights to the entire show

Repurposing

A company buying segments of already produced content and using it for new purposes. This TV trade deal is the most popular for news and documentaries. One example is Al-Jazeera news company selling video and audio footage of Gadhafi exclusively to CNN.

Strengths and Limitations Of Repurposing

Strengths for company buying rights: has the ability to do whatever they want with the footage

Strengths for company selling rights: gets a price premium, gets credit/brand recognition via watermark

How did TV streaming shift global TV trade?

In the age of streaming services, there is no linear TV (or a set time schedule to fill) which allows for time shifting. The new strategy is to build a library of content.

Netflix’s Three Stage Expansion process

1) One country first

2) Expand to a select few countries around the world

3) Launch into countries that are less developed

Netflix’s first expansion step

One country first. Netflix chose Canada due to it’s proximity to the USA, similar cultural cultural aspects, and favorable trade conditions. Netflix figured out how to manage data in a different country and learned how to gather data research on countries outside of the US.

Netflix’s second expansion step

Expand to a select few countries around the world. Netflix chose: UK, Spain, Italy, France,Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. Netflix chose those countries due to favorable trade relationships, they are all developed nations (which had people with disposable income), and were familiar with the US film industry. In the second stage, Netflix had to deal with brand recognition issues. There was no cold launch of Netflix, they worked with existing TV platforms/on demand services to attract early adopters and drive new subscribers.

Netflix’s third expansion step

Launch into more than 100 countries that are not as well developed. In this step Netflix used a combo of local productions and international co-production and acquiring global streaming rights to content to make available to all users. Netflix would partner with production studios in other countries and buy global streaming rights that make it available to watch world wide (ex: Squid Games) .