2020 RETROSPECTIVE
TH E T E LE VISION E VOLUTION ( W ORLDWI DE PANDEMIC EDITION) BY: MIA OGLE
Joe Exotic from ‘Tiger King.’ Photo courtesy of The New York Times
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ithin the past six months the demand for online entertainment has increased exponentially. Stuck at home and bored out of their minds, people have turned to television, the primary source of external amusement. Streaming services, of course, are the obvious answer; with access to hoards of preloaded television shows, consumers can acquire seemingly unlimited content, whenever they want. According to a new survey by Leichtman Research Group, 55% of U.S. households now have more than one streaming service, up from 43% in 2018 and 20% in 2015.
King and Outerbanks, that practically sustained us throughout the beginnings of the pandemic, were created well before coronavirus even existed. Now, according to Ampere Analysis, the pandemic has delayed at least 60% of scripted television programming worldwide, including at least half of the programming originally scheduled to air in the second half of 2020. We’re on the verge of a television rut. Having exhausted the majority of novel content created before pandemic restrictions kicked in, there is no sure way to know when new shows will be available. According to Variety, “Television development has slowed considerably across broadcast, cable and streaming in recent months. The reason: With production still largely
Perfect, right? It certainly appears that way. But, streaming service content isn’t limitless. Popular shows, such as Tiger
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