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The Youngification of German Public Service Television: Multiplatformed and Transnational Drama

This article explores the noticeable shift in German TV drama production, from well-established genres and actors to greater play with genre conventions and a heavy influence from German film and younger stars and actors. It situates these changes within the larger development of multiplatforming and transnationalisation, and examines how this relates to changing perceptions of audiences in Germany and beyond. The article also discusses the impact of global streaming services on the youngification of German public service television.

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The Youngification of German Public Service Television: Multiplatformed and Transnational Drama

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  1. The Youngification of German Public Service Television via Multiplatformed and TransNational Drama Elke Weissmann Edge Hill University

  2. What’s happening • Noticeable shift in German TV drama production • From well-established genres and actors and stars • To greater play with genre conventions, heavy influence from (German) film and younger stars and actors

  3. Today • Situate changes in larger development of • Multiplatforming and • Transnationalisation • Conceptualise this in relation to changing perceptions of audiences in Germany (and beyond)

  4. Germany and its Multiplatform environment Strong public service tradition 1980s: development of cable and satellite Key players: RTL Group (Luxembourg) and ProSiebenSAT1 TV Deutschland (Germany) Satellite: Premiere becomes Sky in 2009 Online: originally a lot of piracy (see Bruce 2009), particularly for series But also a mix of BVoD and SVoD ‘In particular, the streaming services in the area of video (Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.) and music (Spotify, YouTube, etc.) are pushing the development forwards [of increased media-related internet use]’ (ARD/ZDF Onlinestudie, 2019)

  5. German TV And Transnationalisation Since 2009: Sky Deutschland, owned by Sky Limited owned by Comcast Netflix and Amazon US companies Distinct local offices or companies or commissioning from local indies (see Doyle 2019) Historically and continuously: German PSBs heavily involved in European transnational television productions (Bondjeberg et al 2017: 89) ARTE and 3Sat – PSB channels that operate transnationally

  6. pSbs and their Traditional Transnational-Local Productions • Outward looking: co-financing with neighbours, co-productions within geo-linguistic market, particularly Austrian ORF • Surprisingly often stories are not set in Germany (Pilcher adaptations, Das Traumschiff, ZDF, since 1981) • Prevalence of generic series (crime, medical, prime-time soap, etc.) and TV movies • Naturalistic style, emphasising the location as a key attraction (Urry and Larsen 2011) • Importance of Tatort (ARD, since 1970), as local drama (see Eichner 2018)

  7. PSBs and their More recent Transnational-Local Productions • Collaboration with internal transnational players (e.g. ARTE, Sky) and more inward looking, but also made for international distribution • Focus on urban environments, usually in Germany (role of Berlin, see Mikos, Eichner, 2017, Mikos, forthcoming) • Role of generic mixing or film genres: period drama-detective story, gangster, thriller • Shift to serial storytelling • Role of film makers and institutions (Tom Tykwer, Sonke Wortmann, UFA Fiction, Constantin Film, etc.) • Very stylised, more akin to US TV (also in production, see Tykwer, 2018)

  8. How does this relate to the Youngification of TV Drama? Internally in Germany Externally Globally ‘Local content is now in high demand from global players, thus presenting enormous opportunity for local production companies with international ambitions’ (Moritz Polter, exec. producer, Bavaria Fiction, 2019) ‘New content providers are stimulating the market and enhancing the audience acceptance of exceptional shows with a specific cultural independence/autonomy’ (Simone Emmelius, editorial lead, Spielfilm) Recognition that young adult audiences do watch TV – just not the TV ARD and ZDF were offering Instead pirating and (over the years increasingly) streaming US and US-style serial drama

  9. To conclude: Youngification of German PSB • Not just driven by recognition of (previously ignored) internal market • But by recognition of opportunities offered by global streaming services • Authentically local for international audiences • Universally presented stories for young local ones

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