Article Netflix tells writers to dumb down its shows (fashions in distracted viewing)

[C C]

One more reason to curse smartphones. In another decade or two, television will probably return to the style of its vintage days. When non-evolving shows and characters rebooted each week to the same starting situation. (Excluding daytime soap operas.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Netflix is telling writers to dumb down shows since viewers are on their phones
https://uk.pcmag.com/video-streaming-ser...eir-phones

INTRO: Compelling content can be hard to find on Netflix these days, and a new report suggests the streaming giant wants it that way.

Executives are pushing writers to develop simpler, less complex scripts to keep distracted viewers engaged, according to N+1 magazine. Multiple screenwriters report that company executives are sending back scripts with requests to narrate the action, such as announcing when characters enter the room.

Netflix knows we are on our phones all the time, with as many as 94% of people tinkering on their devices while watching TV, according to a 2019 study commissioned by Facebook. Dumbed-down scripts that lack nuance and visual cues can help viewers with divided attention follow along, making them less likely to turn the program off... (MORE - details)

[Syne]

The only reason a subscription streaming service would care if you quit watching a particular show is if they're running ads.
Apparently Netflix has an "ad-supported" subscription price discount.

So no-ad subscribers seem to be the ones to suffer.

[Magical Realist]

I'll never subscribe to Netflix and I'll never buy a cellphone. So dumb away you soulless corporate profiteers..

[stryder]

I'd think that the reason for dumbing it down is a bit beyond whats written. If you keep series simplified then people can drop in an episode without knowing any backstory and consume it. It puts less concern on whether there is future threats to a series cancellation since it's scope of complexity is limited per episode to begin with. So in essence it's a corporate model to generate cheap consumables for the masses.

Do we have issues with it?!?.... Read a book.

[Zinjanthropos]

Here’s the Netflix premium package from Google……..

Premium subscribers have unlimited ad-free viewing and can use up to four devices simultaneously, with the capability to download content onto six devices. Enhanced viewing features, such as ultra HD and Netflix spatial audio, set Premium subscriptions apart from the other options.

$22.99/month CDN. I think there’s a lot of people dumb enough to buy it but also too dumb to make it work the way it should. Did people suddenly become good at multi-tasking? But I guess Netflix figures we’re too dumb to know watching and listening to more than one device is difficult. Somehow complicated scripts make viewers worse at multi-tasking but simpler scripts means viewers will still continue failing but at a more comfortable level. Personally I got rid of Netflix years ago.

[C C]

Netflix is also infamous for abruptly cancelling shows that end on cliffhangers or other unresolved matters, without giving them a chance to hurriedly wrap things up in even an extra episode or two the next year. (The Oa is one of several blatant examples.) This in turn can cripple the appeal of binge-watching old series like that, which were prematurely aborted. Many people understandably avoid those like the plague, if they become aware of such having that status.

So if "dumbing down" because of a multitasking audience includes ceasing to feature long story arcs and mysteries in a series that take multiple seasons to conclude, then they've unintentionally cured that problem above (which their bean-counter mentality didn't seem bright enough to discern to begin with). And this again goes back to reviving the primitivism of totally self-contained episodes of shows back in the 1950s to late 1970s, where you never had to worry about "catching up" because the monotonous basics of the TV series rarely or never changed.

[Magical Realist]

“In the winter she curls up around a good book and dreams away the cold.”
― Ben Aaronovitch, Broken Homes

[Image: IEWFVRd.jpeg]