TV industry contexts

 Independent: British viewers can't get enough of foreign-language dramas

Read this Independent feature on foreign-language dramas. If the website is blocked or forcing you to register you can access the text of the article here. It features an in-depth interview with Walter Iuzzolino who curates Channel 4's Walter Presents programming. Answer the questions below:

1) What does the article suggest regarding the traditional audience for foreign-language subtitled media?

Foreign television tastes have focused predominantly on Scandinavia and France, our tunnel vision is widening: one of Netflix's biggest shows in 2015 was Narcos, the story of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, told in a combination of English and Spanish.

2) What does Walter Iuzzolino suggest is the key appeal of his 'Walter Presents' shows?

Walter Presents makes the specials board the main offering – so you can't play safe with the televisual equivalent of a cottage pie.

3) The article makes an interesting claim for the popularity of subtitles in the multi-screen age. What does it suggest?

Subtitles are a welcome enforcement for us to focus.

"When you read subtitles, you have to be glued to the screen," says Deeks. "That concentration gives a particular intensity to the viewing experience. You just can't multitask when you're watching a foreign-language drama."

Film School Rejects: The foreign TV dramas you're missing out on

Now read this Film School Rejects feature on the foreign TV dramas you're missing out on. This contains some particularly useful background on Deutschland 83's reception internationally. If the website is blocked, you can access the article text here. Answer the following questions:

1) What does the article tell us about Deutschland 83's release schedule?

The fact Germany’s commercial RTL channel received Deutschland ’83 five months after the US both signifies the series’ global appeal as well as foreshadows where the German crime thriller was (and is) to find its audience.

2) The article contains important statistics on viewing figures in different countries. What were the German viewing figures for the first and last episode? What were Channel's 4's viewing figures for Deutschland 83?

The German premiere had 3.19 million viewers. By the series’ conclusion the figures had fallen down to 1.63 million — it’s lowest figure.

Channel 4 saw viewing figures reach a peak of 2.13 million viewers in a prime-time TV slot, earning it the title of the UK’s highest-rated foreign drama. 

3) Who are the two production and distribution companies behind Deutschland 83 and what did they announce in October? 

Sundance TV and Fremantle Media finally announced in October that there will be a second series of Deutschland 83.

4) How does Walter Iuzzolino use social media to engage audiences in new international TV dramas? How does he suggest this has changed the reception of foreign productions in the UK?

The UK aired the show on a well-known channel during prime-time television, along with plenty of idents and trailers promoting the German thriller, while America rebranded the show’s posters and promotional materials. Yet, by bringing Walter Presents with it, it was not just Deutschland 83 that the UK audiences were being introduced to, but foreign drama as a whole.

The Guardian: How tech is changing television

Read this Guardian feature on how tech is changing television. This has some particularly useful aspects from an industry perspective - how TV is made, the different formats of TV drama and more. Answer the following questions:

1) How have streaming services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime changed the way TV drama narratives are constructed?

Streaming networks, including Amazon, are also working on “choose your own adventure” shows. Such developments remain at the far edge of thinking but are merely an example of how radically digital technology is changing storytelling.

2) Why has the rise in streaming led to more complex storylines and an increase in cliffhangers?

With many viewers of mainstream TV shows now waiting until all the episodes can be watched as a box set – producers of TV fiction have had to rethink.

3) How have the "economics of production" kept TV drama largely sticking to the 45- or 60-minute episode format?
Although streaming dramas can theoretically last anything from 60 seconds to 60 hours, there has so far been little structural experimentation. Episodes within a series may have unequal lengths, but the biggest hits of this revolution – The Crown, Stranger Things, House of Cards, Transparent – have chapter lengths that stay close to the half-hour or hour of traditional scheduled television. This, it turns out, results not from creative conservatism but from the economics of production

4) How has "permanent 24/7 connectivity" changed both the production and consumption of TV drama?

Permanent 24/7 connectivity has radically altered viewer responses. Live tweeting by audiences has usefully democratized criticism, but the downside of this new media interaction has been in giving the old media a stick with which to beat broadcasters.