How does your own experience of audience consumption illustrate wider patterns of audience behaviour?

 In the past twenty years there has been extreme change in the media consumption habits of younger audiences. There are many reasons for this  including the introduction of web 2.0, social media, streaming platforms and the ongoing effects of the Covid-19 global pandemic.  These effects have been particularly noticeable in my own generation, generation Z. Older audiences' habits have not changed nearly as rapidly and extremely as their successors.

Streaming platforms, also known as "SVOD'' (subscription video on demand) have arguably caused the greatest change in audience behaviour in recent years. No longer do people have to go to theatres or buy seperate DVDs to see movies. Now, people can watch hundreds of films and tv shows online by paying a monthly subscription. Platforms such as Disney+ and Amazon Prime now have well over 100 million subscribers. Netflix is the market leader with over 209 million subscribers as of 2021. The majority of Gen Z, cannot drive yet, so a huge amount of their movie intake will come from watching streaming platforms at home. The big conglomerates have definitely picked up on this trend. Disney  has been releasing their own content specifically on Disney+  non-stop since the launch of the new venture in 2019. So far in 2021 Disney has released 22 new films/TV shows on Disney+ and has even added premier access (with the payment of an extra sum) to anticipated blockbusters such as Black Widow and Cruella, while they were showing in theatres. This has caused the rate of media consumption to skyrocket, because the availability of films has resulted in an unquenchable demand for more content.

Another factor to consider is the introduction of Web 2.0 and social media. In the 2021 anual “where are the audiences?” survey in New Zealand, 91% of people aged 15-24 said that they regularly consume online video.  In contrast, only 24% of the same age demographic admitted to regular use of cable TV.  This shows that online platforms such as YouTube, Tik Tok and perhaps Instagram reels, dominate the attention of younger audiences. What is interesting to note here is that the common thread between all of these online platforms is that they provide short videos ranging between 30 seconds and 30 minutes. Younger audiences gravitate towards watching shorter pieces of content and more of them, meaning that in order to satisfy demand creators sacrifice quality for quantity. Videos from press tours to promote blockbuster movies are also posted to youtube so they will reach a wider, and perhaps younger, audience. This also creates an equal playing field because indie films have just as good a chance as any blockbuster to create a successful viral marketing campaign. 

Young audiences have also been known to create their own content as well. In 2000, Clay Shirky, a leading voice on the impact of internet technologies, stated that “Audience behaviour has changed due to the internet and the ability for audiences to create their own content due to the low cost of technology”. He then coined the term ‘Prosumers’ (Producer + Consumer)  as the vast majority of audiences have the power to not only watch content, but also produce their own and post it on the internet for anyone to see. Examples of this include movie franchise fandoms, youtube reaction videos to trailers and endless twitter feuds among fans regarding anything regarding a movie of interest. The majority of internet content is actually produced by thousands of ordinary people and posted to platforms like youtube and TikTok. Conglomerates are now moving towards taking advantage of this change, and listening to what the masses want for their entertainment. Recently Disney has employed a Star Wars fan to work on the hit TV series ‘The Mandalorian’ after he made an alternate ending that went viral on youtube and was well received. This is a great example of a conglomerate listening to a prosumer in order to connect with what their audience wants and supporting a new generation of Star Wars fans. 

As a result of the endless variety of content to be consumed, every person is able to find TV series, movies and videos that suit their age demographic and interests. According to the most recent 2021 study, 97% of New Zealanders have access to at least one device in which they can access the internet. This has resulted in what is known as fragmentation. This is when each member of a family is watching their own content on separate devices. Gone are the days where families used to sit down and watch a movie on cable TV together. Due to the covid 19 pandemic, this trend has increased as theatres are closed and watching content on devices at home is/was the only option. The pandemic has also encouraged streaming platforms to release more content as their subscriptions have con up. Netflix has gained over 16 million subscriptions since the beginning of the pandemic and research suggests that by 2022, Disney+ will catch up to Netflix. This shows signs that not only the younger generations are subscribing to streaming platforms, but the older generations are starting to gravitate towards them as well.  Cable TV is not exactly dying away, but the type of content that it provides is changing due to other platforms dominating in entertainment.

There is one extreme downside in the changes in audience behaviour. Piracy has increased exponentially since the rise of SVODs. According to worldwide piracy statistics 34% of Gen Z use stream-ripping to watch movies online, whereas only 23% of older people use this method. Unfortunately the 19th most popular website in New Zealand is Pirate Bay, a movie piracy website. With this problem only getting worse, it is hard for New Zealand filmmakers to avoid their films being pirated. Taika Waititi’s film “What we do In the Shadows” has been pirated in New Zealand almost 300,000 times, a reflection on the watching habits of many young New Zealanders.

In conclusion, the young and emerging generations have access to unlimited content, unlike their parents who definitely did not. The amount of time that any person spends watching video media is continually skyrocketing, and with the ever increasing number of ‘prosumers’ and the response of the dominant filmmakers who are producing more content than ever, this trend is by no means going to change anytime soon. This never ending cycle of supply and demand threatens to kill creativity and quality film in exchange for business and brand exposure. Unless key influencers in the industry choose to make a serious change to this new direction, from now on the majority of content will be dictated by changes in audience behaviour.