Sarah
Kamenetz
Professor
Melanie Kohnen
Senior
Media Seminar: Global TV
7
April 2013
Research
Paper: Hulu streaming British television shows ‘safely’ diversifies and grows
its American television audience
The transcultural economy of broadcasting is shifting in the age
of new media to include internet television streaming for American audiences to
be able to watch more international television programs than ever before. In
the current digital media landscape, television audiences have greater freedom to
watch programs “anytime,
anywhere”[i]
(Lotz 21-28). The most popular legal internet television
streaming service Hulu[ii],
which broadcasts the British shows Misfits, Fresh Meat, and The
Only Way is Essex[iii], is a prime example of this phenomenon (Moscaritolo). Hulu is diversifying
and growing its simultaneously[iv]
globally-minded and locally-focused American television audience in a way that
traditional broadcast television networks[v]
are unable to perform by delivering ‘safe’ British programming.
Of course, the term ‘safe’ is loaded.
‘Safe’ here can be understood from both a socio-cultural and economic
perspective. From a socio-cultural perspective, ‘safe’ means that viewers are
sensitive but accepting of the ways in which British programs portray or
represent life in a way different than their own (Chmielewski). From an
economic perspective, ‘safe’ means that there is less of a financial risk
(Paul). Specifically, there would be a huge financial risk in broadcasting a
foreign program (Paul) that only has a niche audience on live television
because live television is dependent on ratings in order to profits from
advertising. On the other hand, the same network can safely prosper financially
by broadcasting the same show on a digital platform like Hulu because the
advertising model is different- not reliant on ratings, but click-through and
conversion rates for digital advertisements. Therefore, digital television
lends itself more to niche audiences because massive reach is less important
than strong loyalty of the viewer in that niche audience who is watching their
favorite foreign program none of their neighbors watch or know about
(Chmielewski). British television acts as ‘safe’ global
television programming because of the shared English language with the American
audience mixed with the underlying assumption that British programming is
“quality” television, as well as the spreadable nature of the legal digital
medium.
With the shared English language, American viewers feel ‘safe’
making the viewing leap to watching a foreign program, but still has the
lingual elements of familiarity. As British and American culture share the
English language (Hilmes 4), Hulu adds value for the both the globally- minded
consumer and the less culturally aware, American-focused consumers who had the
new ability to watch shows they either never knew or heard about (Thomas).
Nevertheless, the viewers who watch British television shows on Hulu may feel
more culturally aware, but this isn’t necessarily the reality. The English
language breeds familiarity and is less ‘foreign’ than global programs in other
languages or from places with non-Western cultures. All of Hulu is in English
except for ‘Latino’ or Spanish-language programs- likely because a majority of Americans
speak Spanish as a first or second language after English. By broadcasting
these British shows, Hulu ‘safely’
diversifies and grows its American digital audience (Paul) rather than merely
broadcasting American television shows or only offering other international
programs that might otherwise be considered ‘too foreign.’
Online social audiences have the ability to view programs that
they would otherwise be unable to watch on live television in their own
countries. For example, if RAI 1 in Italy only shows Italian programs and a few
dubbed versions of American programs like I
Simpson, that Italian audience has the ability to watch Bondi Rescue from Australia on Youtube
or illegally watch Skins from England
on an authorized website. Physical borders and legal contracts for broadcasting
certain types of international content have become much less important in the
current media environment (Crouteau and Hoynes 305). In December 2011, Hulu SVP
of Content Andy Forssell wrote on the Hulu blog about how the company sought to
provide its American audience with quality international television programs.
He wrote,
“We scour the earth to
find great content that we think can do just that, whether it’s top shelf U.S.
primetime shows, hard-to-find anime, popular British series or Korean dramas.
Today, we are offering another passionate, engaged and tech-savvy audience a
deep library of current season and classic content never before available
online and on-demand” (Forssell).
As American Hulu
viewers, we can legally watch a Korean drama or Australian soap opera episode
that we would otherwise not have access to on regular television (unless a
broadcaster decided to broadcast one of these shows and bypassed several
restrictions and implemented tons of editing). However, more ‘foreign’ programs
like those from Korea may seem to be much more ‘different’ than say a ‘safe’
British program because even though said program is from abroad, the shared
language of English maintains viewer comfort in viewing or venturing to view
such programs online.
There is also a strong underlying assumption of American audiences
who share the English language with the United Kingdom that British television
is ‘quality’ television. Scholar Hilmes explains, “the idea of British
television as ‘quality television’ remains a consistent thread underlying
American broadcast innovation” (Hilmes 20). Britain and for the United States
have a deep transnational relationship that provides a constant circuit of
influence and adaption that expand the cultural horizons of both nations given
that the nations are “bound by a common language” (Hilmes 4). Just as Hulu
broadcast British shows to American audiences, British television companies
broadcast American television programs in a “continuous flow of mutual
influence” (Hilmes 3). As an example of this continuous flow of
mutual influence,
The Only Way is Essex producer Ruth
Wigley said of the UK show being watch by an American audience, “I’d like to
think that Americans will enjoy The Only
Way is Essex. They’ll watch it and be really intrigued by these people”
(Krauss). Wigley’s comment points to the othering of the stars of the British
program to the American audience- they are not just interesting because the
characters are ostentatious, but because they are unfamiliar in the sense of
being from another country, but familiar in the ‘safe’ understanding of sharing
the English language.
More and more audience members are turning to the internet for a
partial or total television viewing experience. In other words, the internet is
disrupting the former mode of international television viewing and is pointing
a way towards the future of all television watching (for those with both
television and internet access) (Quail 1). A majority of the online television
experience is watched through illegal sites for both domestic and foreign
programs (De Kosnik 10). Piracy scholar Abigail De Kosnik argues that since
“illegal file sharing is a global enterprise” (De Kosnik 10) and viewers cannot
wait to view their favorite global programs within a desirable timeframe,
global digital television piracy runs highly rampant (De Kosnik 14). Hulu, on
the other hand, provides an outlet for American consumers to watch many of
their favorite programs- and programs they would otherwise not know about or
watch- legally (De Kosnik 4). Additionally, the internet has been considered a
major globalizing communication agent, meaning that online social audiences may
comment on one post from two different, far away places.
Given that Hulu
is a digital medium rather than broadcast medium that transmits television, it
has greater freedom to offer a wider variety of programs that will appeal to
many niche audiences. Television scholar
Amanda Lotz argues that the U.S.
television audience is most accurately understood as a collection of niche
audiences rather than a mass audience (Lotz 18). Lotz writes that the “development
and availability of the Internet substantially affected the circulation of
ideas and enabled distribution to even international audiences, yet the
Internet allows us to attend to even more diverse content and provides little
commonality in experience” (Lotz 18). Such niche audiences may span the
globally-aware Anglophile television viewer to the locally-focused American
soap opera television fan who will both watch a program like The Only Way is Essex on Hulu, but would
be unable to watch the same program on live broadcast television because the
program may not necessarily have the mass appeal that will lead to high ratings
that television networks need in the United States (Wigon). Lotz explains that
because the entire model of television viewing has been shifting over the
course of the last fifty years, television must be understood in a non-live
broadcast lens (Lotz 18).
Another television scholar, Jennifer
Gillan, would agree with Lotz that the American television model is shifting in
the current American media environment under what Gillan terms the “Must-Click
TV model” in which television is heavily integrated with digital viewing
(Gillan 4). Gillan’s model “emphasizes continual circulation of the
interconnected parts of a TV franchise in a network’s (and media
conglomerate’s) revenue stream” (Gillan 4). Hulu is the perfect example of this
because it is a digital company owned by major television networks (Stewart). In
such a media environment, Gillan argues it is unclear where, how and from which
country viewers will access a TV show due to such diverse viewing options
(Gillan 5). She also writes that U.S. broadcast networks (such as those that
own Hulu) adopted the Must-Click TV model in order to stop the loss of on-air
audiences to the expanded new media entertainment options (Gillan 9). This
shift towards digital in television watching has created a large global
footprint (Gillan 9). Hulu’s content is micro-segmented by large genres like
‘International’ into smaller subcategories like ‘British’ in order to “appeal
to the particular interests of different viewers who visit the sites to engage
with or watch current or classic tv series” (Gillan 23). Overall, broadcasting
British (and global) television through digital rather than broadcast poses a
smaller risk to losing ratings (and therefore advertising revenue) since
digital revenue is viewer-specific.
A deeper explanation to how Hulu as a digital medium is a ‘safe’
way to broadcast British television programming to an American audience is the
“spreadability” of digital content. Spreadability is how media scholars
Jenkins, Ford, and Green describe the “increasingly pervasive forms of media
circulation” (Jenkins, Ford, and Green 3)- whether than be finding the link to
watch Misfits on Hulu through a
social network or basic search engine search. Hulu’s international content is considered spreadable media
because it consists of widely circulated texts that fit within a niche
community (Jenkins, Ford, and Green 22). Spreadability “values the activities
of these niche audience members and therefore generates interest in particular
brands or franchises like British television” (Jenkins,
Ford, and Green 7). More so,
spreadability is becoming increasingly relevant as the media environment is
shifting to becoming even more saturated with images, sounds, and information
(Crouteau and Hoynes 371). As evident in the Appendix, some social viewers like Tyson
Madding comment on Hulu that
after watching the British program Misfits,
they felt they would enjoy watching other British programs (“Misfits”). Hulu’s
spreadable media practices of providing an American audience with legal access
to international programs expands points of contact between countries that
create an unexpected mixing and mingling of cultural materials (Jenkins, Ford, and Green 263).
British television
programs are safe for networks to stream online (in the sense that the big
networks ABC, NBC, and FOX own Hulu (Stewart)) that would not necessarily air
because they are too niche. The socio-cultural risk of broadcasting ‘foreign’
global programs to an American audience influences the economic risk of losing
high broadcast ratings and therefore advertising revenue. Given that the
digital advertising model is different than the broadcast advertising model,
ratings are not necessarily a problem for Hulu. Overall, the global digital
television context is shaped by large television networks and international
distribution deals (Quail 11). Despite big network ownership, Hulu is emerging
as the premier television network innovator.
Appendix[vi]
Hulu Genres page with genres in alphabetical order.
“International” is Hulu’s genre label for global television (“Hulu TV Genres”).
Hulu’s “International” page. The five most popular Hulu
International shows of all time are animes, with the exception of the UK show Misfits (“Hulu International”).
The sixth through thirteenth most popular Hulu International shows
of all time are also mostly animes, with the exception of the UK shows Downton Abbey and Spy (“Hulu International”).
The most popular Hulu British shows of all time include Misfits, Downton Abbey, Spy, The Office, and Mr. Bean (“Hulu International”).
Hulu show page for Misfits,
which is exclusively available on Hulu (“Misfits”).
All show pages and videos on Hulu have a comment section that is
tied to Facebook. On the Hulu show page for Misfits,
fans like Tyson Madding expressed interest in watching more British television
after viewing this British television program on Hulu (“Misfits”).
Hulu show page for Fresh
Meat, which is exclusively available on Hulu (“Fresh Meat”).
Hulu show page for The Only
Way is Essex, which is exclusively available on Hulu (“The Only Way is
Essex”).
Works Cited
Chmielewski,
Dawn C. "MONDAY BUSINESS; Hulu Bulks Up for Summer; Online
Video Service Adds Two British and a U.S. Television Series to
Help Combat the Typical Seasonal Decline in Viewership." Los Angeles
Times: A.13. ProQuest. Jun 13 2011. Web. 12 Mar. 2013.
Croteau, David,
and William Hoynes. Media Society: Industries, Images, and Audiences.
Thousand
Oaks, CA: Pine Forge, 2003. Print.
De
Kosnik, Abigail. "PIRACY." University of California, Berkeley
(2010).
Forssell, Andy.
"¡Viva Hulu Latino! Spanish-Language Programming Now Live on Hulu
and
Hulu Plus." Hulu Blog. Hulu, 13 Dec. 2011. Web. 02 Apr. 2013.
<http://blog.hulu.com/2011/12/13/viva-hulu-latino/>.
Gillan,
Jennifer. Television and New Media:
Must-Click TV. New York: Routledge,
2011. Print.
Hilmes,
Michelle. "Introduction: Thinking Transnationally—The Anglo-American
Axis."
Network Nations: A Transnational History
of British and American Broadcasting.
Routledge, 2012: 1-27.
Hulu. Hulu.com,
2013. Author’s screenshots. 2 April 2013.
---.
“Fresh Meat.”
---. “Hulu
International.”
---. “Hulu TV Genres.”
---. “Misfits.”
---. “The Only Way is
Essex.”
Jenkins,
Henry, Sam Ford, and Joshua Green. Spreadable
Media: Creating Value and
Meaning in a Networked
Culture.
New York: New York UP, 2013. Print.
Krauss, Rachel.
""The Only Way Is Essex" Co-Creator Ruth Wrigley on What Makes
Reality
TV Awesome." Hulu Blog. Hulu, 7 Nov. 2011. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.
<http://blog.hulu.com/2011/11/07/“the-only-way-is-essex”-co-creator-ruth-
wrigley-on-what-makes-reality-tv-awesome/>.
Lotz,
Amanda D. The Television Will Be
Revolutionized. New York: New York UP,
2007. Print.
Moscaritolo,
Angela. "Hulu Tops All Other Free Streaming TV Providers." PCMAG.
Ziff
Davis,
Inc., 4 Feb. 2013. Web. 02 Apr. 2013.
<http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2415058,00.asp>.
Paul, Ian.
"Hulu Goes International (a Little)." PCWorld. IDG Consumer
& SMB, 8 May
2009.
Web. 12 Mar. 2013. <http://www.pcworld.com/article/164572/hulu_goes_international.html>.
Quail,
Christine. "Television Goes Online: Myths and Realities in the
Contemporary
Context." Global Media Journal 12.20 (2012).
Stewart,
Christopher S. "Hulu CEO to Depart as Site Ponders Strategy." The
Wall Street
Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc., 4 Jan.
2013. Web. 2 Apr. 2013.
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323374504578221981573488120.html>.
Thomas, June.
"Foreign Telly on Hulu: A User’s Guide." Slate. The Slate Group,
14
Dec.
2011. Web. 12 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2011/12/british_tv_online_on_hul
u_and_netflix_misfits_the_librarians_and_more_.html>.
Wigon, Zach.
"How the Growing Availability of International TV Shows Online Could
Provide
U.S. Programming With Tough Competition." Indiewire Home. SnagFilms
Co., 21 Dec. 2012. Web. 12 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.indiewire.com/article/television/international-tv-and-the-end-of-genre>.
[i] This paper is not asserting that borders
or licensing agreements are less powerful due to the internet. A lot of global
television content is geo-blocked on various websites, which means that it
cannot be accessed from everywhere in the world. However, there is greater ease
of access to global television programming across international borders through
use of the internet.
[ii] This paper is only going to focus on the
free version of Hulu and not the subscription-based model Hulu+. Some
programming on Hulu is blocked and only available on Hulu+ in order to generate
additional revenue for the otherwise advertisement-based business model of the
online streaming service. While many American programs have regularly updated
episodes available through Hulu+, most global programs are only available on
Hulu- likely because there is not as strong of a demand to watch programs
immediately when they air because global programs are not available on
broadcast American television (with the exception of the niche anime programs Dragon Ball Z and Naruto Shippuden, which are not part of the Hulu+ pay wall). The
few global programs that have the Hulu+ paywall include the popular British
show Downtown Abbey (also available
of the subscription-based streaming service Netflix), British children’s show Thomas and Friends, and a few
Spanish-language soap operas. Otherwise, Korean and Japanese programs are
entirely free on regular Hulu. It should also be noted that Hulu makes money by
both displaying video advertisements and through subscriptions fees (Hulu+),
but most international shows aren’t on Hulu+ and only generate revenue through
displaying advertisements to viewers. Indirectly, Hulu is placing a higher
value on British and Spanish-language programs than Korean or Japanese programs
for an American audience given the are not at all a part of Hulu+ (in other
words, worth paying for). While this discussion is interesting, it is not
relevant to the main discussion of this paper.
[iii] The purpose of this paper is not to
describe individual television programs, so the specific content of these UK
shows will not be explored in depth in this paper.
[iv] American digital television audiences
are not exclusively globally-minded or
locally-focused. Similarly, these terms are generalizations that make
considering how audiences watch local American programming and have the option
of viewing global programming simple for the reader.
