Netflix speaks Arabic, Arabs speak Netflix: How SVOD is transforming Arabic series screenwriting

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fadi G. Haddad ◽  
Alexander Dhoest
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Video On Demand ◽  
Target Audience ◽  
Cultural Narratives ◽  
System Framework ◽  
Scholarly Literature ◽  
On Demand ◽  
The World

While subscription of video-on-demand (SVOD) services has become increasingly popular across the world in recent years, the arrival of Netflix to the Arab world was transformational. As it stepped up to produce original Arabic series, Netflix-modelled services from the region proliferated, promising to challenge the existing Arabic series’ (musalsalat) routines in content and form. Since the Arab World is scarcely mentioned in the growing scholarly literature on SVODs, this article attempts to understand how the Arabic TV drama industry is recalibrating to this new transnational co-production context, particularly when it comes to developing series ideas and screenplays. Our aim is to analyse the creative interplay in which these ideas and screenplays are evaluated and developed. To this effect, we draw on original interviews with screenwriters, development producers and creative executives who have worked with Netflix on original Arabic series, as well as those who have worked with Shahid VIP, a Saudi-owned pan-Arab SVOD platform. Informed by the ‘Screen Idea System’ framework that suggests an understanding of the dynamics between the shaping elements of any new idea made for the screen, we explore whether the current business model results in certain cultural narratives and how this affects the perceptions of quality and success of the produced series. Our findings show that transnationalism is instigated by the writers’ perception of a transnational target audience, and is reflected strongly on the levels of production and creative decision-making. Moreover, the systems in which the series of both platforms are developed are in constant negotiations with the musalsalat conventions, while aiming to prompt novelty based on a Western perception of the idea of quality.

scholarly journals World Cinema, vod Platforms and the Western Demand

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Constantin Parvulescu
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Video On Demand ◽  
Ethical Business ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Global Cinema ◽  
World Cinema ◽  
The World ◽  
The Way

The article explores the concept of world cinema as an other to global cinema from a marketing perspective. Special attention is given to the way the world cinema universe is presented on video-on-demand platforms in Western markets. To demonstrate that the stories, scope and concerns of this universe vary according to marketing objectives, the article compares presentations on three platforms with contrasting business models and marketing algorithms: Netflix, Filmin, and FilmDoo. This leads to an important conclustion: presentations on platforms with an apparently more ethical business model are not necessarily more progressive and more advantageous to world cinema in terms of avoiding its “genre-fication”.

scholarly journals Beyond catch-up

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Johnson
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Video On Demand ◽  
On Demand ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Catch Up ◽  
Interactive Experience ◽  
Interactive User

The past 5 years have seen a rapid acceleration in the development of online television in the United Kingdom and beyond, with rise in ownership of Internet-connected television sets, smartphones and tablets, increased access to broadband and the growing penetration of transaction and subscription video-on-demand (VoD) services. This article asks how free-to-air terrestrial broadcasters are adapting to a media marketplace in which, according to Ofcom, on-demand television is becoming mass market, through an analysis of ITV Hub – the VoD player for the United Kingdom’s largest free-to-air advertiser-funded broadcaster. Focusing on the mature UK VoD market and the broadcaster whose business model is most threatened by online television, the article combines trade press and textual analysis to demonstrate how ITV has developed a VoD service highly structured by the logics of broadcasting. Centering its analysis on the interface for ITV Hub, the article argues that this increasingly quotidian form of television ephemera offers a vital site through which to understand the changing nature of television as a medium. The article concludes that with contemporary developments in VoD, the distinctions between linear/broadcast and non-linear/on-demand television (flow vs. file, passive viewer vs. interactive user) are breaking down in ways that challenge prevailing arguments that on-demand television can be understood as offering a distinctly different (and more empowered and interactive) experience for viewers.

scholarly journals House of Lords Communications Committee: Public service broadcasting in the age of video on demand

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petros Iosifidis
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Video On Demand ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
On Demand ◽  
House Of Lords ◽  
Streaming Services ◽  
Fierce Competition

This article is my response to the House of Lords Communications Committee Inquiry on ‘Public service broadcasting in the age of video on demand’, which was carried out in 2019. The inquiry was important and relevant as the successful UK public service broadcasters (PSBs) BBC, ITV, C4, C5 and S4C are currently facing major challenges from video-on-demand (VoD) services. These challenges primarily concern competition for content from VoD services in a highly competitive broadcasting market characterized by shifts in audience behaviour. Audiences are watching less scheduled TV as they are attracted by the business model of global streaming services like YouTube, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. Fierce competition from mainly US-based, unregulated global VoD players investing billions of pounds in content has escalated programming costs and made it difficult for tightly regulated PSBs with modest domestic UK budgets to compete. This article is largely in favour of sustaining properly funded, universally available PSBs, who can deliver quality and original programming, alongside impartial and trusted news in the era of fake news and post-truth politics.

scholarly journals TELEVISION MARKET DEVELOPMENT DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (86) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hennadii Mitrov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Video On Demand ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Main Requirement ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
The World ◽  
Streaming Services ◽  
Television Market

The article covers the issues surrounding the global Internet TV market’s evolution during the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid changes in the modern Internet television market mean that an in-depth analysis of its development strategies is necessary for further development. The article goes over current trends that affect the development of the industry, and the factors that have led to its changes listed. Today, the main directions of the development of Internet television include multi-screen, video on demand, and the evolution of streaming platforms. This phenomenon became possible by the growing convergence of the Internet and television. The main driving force of the industry has become the so-called streaming services that provide content to subscribers anywhere and anytime — the main requirement to access it being the Internet. The battle for audiences has become truly international. But due to quarantine in many countries, most viewers have drastically changed their habits. Home entertainment has been taking first place, and television became one of them. For the first time in years, TV channel ratings have doubled, movie premieres have been delayed, and sports events around the world have come to a standstill. Audiences turned to those who could offer them the best content. The article examines trends caused by the pandemic, such as a significant increase in Internet traffic, the halting of movie and TV series production, a decrease in the number of sports games and related events, streaming services changing their tariff plans, and the subscription payment model taking leadership in the video-on-demand market. Both the negative and positive effects of these factors on television service providers’ activities, as well as the new habits of subscribers are analyzed. This situation has completely changed the industry, but it has only helped the business of large and local operators. Companies around the world have had to improve their service in a matter of weeks. These changes in the market would have taken years under normal conditions, but the pandemic has significantly accelerated the progress of Internet television and made it possible for end-users to get high-quality services.

Implications of the Nigerian Broadcasting Code on Broadcast Copyright and Competition

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ifeoluwa A Olubiyi ◽  
Desmond O Oriakhogba
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Video On Demand ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Rome Convention ◽  
The World ◽  
International Obligations ◽  
Pay Tv ◽  
Limitations And Exceptions ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) in Nigeria recently released an amendment to the 6th edition of the Broadcasting Code. Its aim is to increase local content, generate advertisement revenue and prevent anti-competitive practices in the Nigerian broadcast industry. To this end, it prevents exclusivity or monopolisation of content by broadcasting organisations, including Pay TV and Video on Demand (VOD) platforms. Drawing from European and South African experiences, this article begins by examining the provisions of the Broadcasting Code, particularly the amendment vis-à-vis the Nigerian Copyright Act and Nigeria’s international obligations under treaties such as the Rome Convention and the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). It then looks at the impact of the amended Code on the broadcast industry. The article seeks to determine whether the provisions of the amended Code can qualify as limitations and exceptions to exclusive rights allowed under the treaties and the Nigerian Copyright Act. It also examines whether, in attempting to foster competition in the Nigerian broadcast industry, the amended Code has taken away the exclusive rights granted by the Copyright Act to owners of Pay TV and VOD platforms and thereby runs contrary to Nigeria’s international obligations. Where appropriate, recommendations are made for consultation among relevant stakeholders for review of the amended Code to align it with the Copyright Act and Nigeria’s international obligations.

Innovation Challenges and Opportunities in Biopharma, MedTech, Digital Medicine, and Their Emerging Convergence: User & Patient Centric Applications in the “Pharma 3.0 Business Model Paradigm”

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur A Boni
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Business World ◽  
Digital Medicine ◽  
The World ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Industry Applications ◽  
Patient Centric

In the first section of this monograph, titled “Bridging Theory and Practice for Commercialization and Innovation – a market-centered perspective for cross-industry applications”, we outlined a number of overlapping theories or models dealing with innovation. Theories, when well stated and proven, are basically statements of causality. Scientists and technologists use them all the time to predict physical or chemical phenomenon for example. However, whether or not we explicitly recognize them as such, theories also exist in the business world and can be useful as guides to behavior and decision making. These models serve as lenses through which “the world” is viewed and that enable predictions, or forecasts to be made. However, they may also act as “blinders”, limiting our ability to see that which may not fit into our existing models. As the famous statistician, George Box said in an often-repeated quote, “essentially, all models (theories) are wrong, but some are useful.”

‘Dear Netflix…’: Informal local intermediaries on the periphery of the global VOD market

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr Szczepanik
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Video On Demand ◽  
On Demand ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Type ◽  
Academic Discussion ◽  
New Distribution

Academic discussion of Netflix has already highlighted the labour of localization that the global service has had to carry out or contract in order to operate smoothly across borders. But not much has been said about independent local players who help to align the service with local audiences, doing so often without any authorization or recognition, and who are still looking for a place in the new distribution ecosystem. Employing the perspective of valuation studies, this article discusses the changing business model of a Czech video-on-demand (VOD) directory, Filmtoro, as an example of a new type of local intermediary contributing to the social construction of the global VOD market.

Medical Diagnosis from a Clinician’s Point of View

1978 ◽  
Vol 17 (01) ◽  
pp. 28-35
Author(s):  
F. T. De Dombal
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Medical Diagnosis ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Joint Research ◽  
The World

This paper discusses medical diagnosis from the clinicians point of view. The aim of the paper is to identify areas where computer science and information science may be of help to the practising clinician. Collection of data, analysis, and decision-making are discussed in turn. Finally, some specific recommendations are made for further joint research on the basis of experience around the world to date.

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