Kati Lustyik (Media Studies, TVR) presents at International Media Industry Studies conference in London with former IC student, Daniel Haack on NetflixKati Lustyik (Media Studies, TVR) presents at International Media Industry Studies conference in London with former IC student, Daniel Haack on Netflix
Media Industries: Current Debates and Future Directions 18-20 April 2018 King’s College London
International conference hosted by the Department of Culture, Media and Creative Industries, King’s College London
Studies of media industries have formed a distinctive strand of media scholarship. Foundational traditions in this field are marked by the political economy of communications, sociology of media occupations and institutions, media economics, media industry historiography, and critical and cultural studies. Subsequently, insights drawn from critical legal studies, cultural policy studies, economic geography, creative labour, cultural economy, Internet studies, production cultures and informal media economies have diversified and enriched the field.
Abstract: Netflix and children: How streaming is changing the global children’s media game
Dr. Katalin Lustyik Ithaca College, USA & Daniel Haack, JibJab Bros Studios, USA
Unless you are a child growing up in North Korea, Syria or the territory of Crimea, Netflix has officially taken residence in your country. Since launching its walled garden-style children’s service in 2011, Netflix has become a major transnational influential player in what The Washington Post called the “big business battle for kids’ distracted attention” (Harwell, 2016). In 2017, the Internet television network offers more than 125 million hours of TV shows and movies per day for more than 100 million members. This paper proposes that while its international expansion follows the blueprints of other transnational media giants targeting children (e.g. Disney, Viacom), Netflix – as a subscription video-on-demand service (SVOD) – is more drastically reshaping key aspects of the global children’s television industry (Lustyik, 2010; Potter & Steemers, 2017). With the current mandate of "doubling down on kids and families," Netflix can roll out its carefully-tested big-budget original kid shows created specifically for a transnational audience, dubbed into 20 languages and often co-produced with well-established partners like CBBC, ABC Australia and Walt Disney Co., and accompanied by synchronised merchandise (Kidscreen, 2016). Meanwhile, not only are producers given a new level of creative freedom, but the nature of the platform allows for fundamental shifts in how stories are told, with Netflix rolling out interactive, ‘choose your own adventure’-style formats that let viewers control the narrative (Alvarez, 2017). In this presentation, we focus first on the global expansion strategies of Netflix, and specific ways the company connects to the youth audiences; second, on how Netflix has diversified its content targeting young people in the USA and internationally (e.g. original content, partnerships, interactivity); and third, on how it spearheads transformation in the relationships between young viewers and screen content in various markets (e.g. interactivity, etc.).
References:
Alvarez, Edgar. (2017, June). Kids control the story in Netflix’s new interactive shows. Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2017/06/20/netflix-interactive-shows/
Harwell, Drew. (2016, March). Netflix is coming for your kids. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/03/28/netflix-is-coming-for-your-kids/?utm_term=.575b23aad3bd
Kidscreen Hot 50. (2016, November). Kidscreen Magazine. http://s3.amazonaws.com/brunicoextranet/Matrix/Kidscreen/ulKAK2RROavkSZdVGK8G_HOT50_2016.pdf
Lustyik, K. (2010). Transnational children’s television: The case of Nickelodeon in the South Pacific. International Communication Gazette, 72(2): 171-190.
Potter, Anna & Steemers, Jeanette. (2017, May). Children’s television in transition: policies, platforms and production. Media International Australia. Vol. 163 Issue 1, p6-12.
Authors biography:
Katalin Lustyik is Associate Professor of Media Studies in the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College, New York, USA. Her current research focuses on media global and transnational media brands such as Netflix, the Walt Disney Company, the Sesame Workshop, and children’s media in Eastern Europe. Daniel Haack is the Emmy Award-winning Director of Marketing for the educational children’s brand StoryBots and its Netflix original series Ask the StoryBots and StoryBots Super Songs. His debut children’s picture book is being released by Little Bee Books. He is based in Los Angeles, California, USA.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20180509090226131