Teasing apart television industry disruption: consequences of meso-level financing practices before and after the US multiplatform era

Abstract

The emergence of Internet-distributed television services such as Netflix has led viewers and legacy television companies to rethink the norms of television. Internet distribution is often presumed as the source of Netflix’s market differentiation, but the contemporary competitive field has simultaneously been adjusted by shifts in revenue model and ownership regulations. This article examines the multiple shifts in the US television industry to illustrate how adjustments in the underlying financing practices of series production and revenue sources also structure the multiplatform environment. Distribution technology is not reshaping the boundaries and norms of television texts and industries alone, but adjustments to industrial practices such as financing must also be examined. Comparison of the financing practices of subscriber-funded, linear, HBO, and nonlinear Netflix ground the analysis.