| Abstract [eng] |
In 2007, the US-based DVD-by-mail service Netflix started offering digital streaming service. In 2016, the company completed a mass global expansion campaign, becoming available in nearly 200 territories across the globe. The company started producing more foreign-language content on equal terms with its anglophone productions. The expansion caused a shift among consumers that embraced streaming as a new personalised way to interact with content. The ripple effect led to the development of new streaming platforms and the transition from traditional analogue television age to the new era of SVOD platforms. As other American streaming platforms started their expansion projects, the regional broadcasting networks developed services that allow users to cater their content while maintaining access to the digitalised television. The following research explores how Netflix’s global expansion and subscription video on demand (SVOD) streaming model triggered a new media transformation. Theories of globalisation and glocality, network society, and media transformation are applied to the context of Netflix’s development. Furthermore, the use of algorithms and user interface/user experience design are explored. To determine the direct influence that Netflix has had on media distribution outside of the US market, three digital television and SVOD platforms – NRK in Norway, RTL+ in Germany, and Go3 in the Baltic States – are analysed based on their content and development strategies. Netflix’s user interface is seen as the benchmark of digital streaming platforms, and the research analyses how regional market competitors expand on the services and capabilities of the platforms. It is determined that Netflix had significant impact on the user interface and user experience provided by its competitor platforms. Furthermore, an uneven distribution of local recognition is noted. While Netflix is localised in the Norwegian and German markets and offers some productions, the Baltic region has been overlooked. Netflix does not offer any original content from said region and the user interface has not been localised in the Lithuanian, Latvian, or Estonian languages. Despite Netflix’s influence, each of the three competing platforms have shown to offer unique services unavailable on the American platform, such as linear TV streaming or transactional video on demand. It is finally determined that while Netflix remains an impactful platform for the processes of media transformation, other platforms may withstand against it in their respective markets and even expand into new territories with a wider range of services. Finally, the process of media transformation triggered by Netflix’s development of the SVOD platform is considered to be ongoing. The analysis has revealed that a hybridisation of linear television and SVOD services can be observed, leading to a new type in media consumption. It is unlikely that television has been defeated by Netflix. Instead, it has been adapting to fit the mold of the new digital model of entertainment. |
