The New Golden Age Of TV
The coronavirus pandemic has changed a lot of the things people have gotten used to in their daily lives, but maybe one more than anyone could have expected. The huge losses at the box-office brought on by social distancing have opened up the online distribution of new major feature films.
All the Warner films will be released in theaters and on the stream simultaneously. Movies like Wonder Woman 1984 and NBCUniversal’s new movie releases , The Invisible Man, The Hunt, Emma, and the Trolls World Tour were available to rent at home only a few days after theatrical release. This is a break from normal theatrical window periods that come as the entertainment and film industries deal with the effects of the pandemic.
This is the new normal and will continue even after things get better. These movies will be available on iTunes, Amazon Prime Video and FandangoNow and more for $19.99. The titles will be available to stream for 48 hours after payment, some will be there longer.
Other studios will surely follow suit. Disney has already announced a similar release strategy for Frozen 2 by putting it out 3 months ahead of schedule on Disney Plus.
And the movie business isn’t the only one that’s harnessing the stream. Because the nature of “Working From Home” requires creative ways to operate, canceled meetings, and conferences can go on as live streams.
The nature of current software and apps, such as Zoom, will not only let your event happen, but the two-way nature of the software makes them completely live and interactive. This will help webcasting and video blogging find whole new audiences of home viewers. And now that Clubhouse has entered the picture, voice will only surge.
And the streamers aren’t the only winners. If you’re stuck at home, it’s easy to get great movies, TV shows, news, documentaries, how to’s, and more from the usual suspects like YouTube, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Apple, Disney, and Hulu.
The onslaught of new outlets is seemingly endless. Just a few months ago the industry was asking if it was robust enough to support all the new services, but that seems like a long, long time ago (in dog years), and that premise is a forgone conclusion. Not a day goes by that someone on social media doesn’t ask for suggestions about what to watch, and where to watch it, because they’ve seen everything on the better-known services.
All of this is a boon for the stream, and will surely develop into an even more powerful medium/tool. This tragic virus may be the thing that stimulates the beginning of a whole new “golden age” of Television.
Need more proof? TV usage is rising: “Total day TV use, which had been down all year, was up +14% as tens of millions of Americans began to work and study from home,” Fox’s Michael Mulvihill noted. And along with all that television watching, a growing number of guests are joining TV discussions via Skype, Cisco Webex, and other video conferencing methods.
Oh, and if you’re looking for one more way to spend your time at home, you can also find a ton of online concerts and Broadway shows.
