Streaming services disrupted awards in 2018, now it’s the status quo [Pulse Explainer]

The cinema culture was disrupted globally a few years by streaming platforms and there has been no going back for the new 'cool kids' in the block.

When made-for-Netflix-drama House of Cards snagged nine nominations at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, it started the shift in the culture of something new, fresh and disruptive.

The series took home the Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series award during the awards’ show making the record as the first series from a streaming platform to get such recognition.

Since then, movies and series from streaming platforms have now started getting nominations and awards.

House Of Cards were nominated for 9 categories during the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards [Wikepidia]

Although it didn’t matter from the consumer point of view, getting recognition mattered to the creators and also sent a message that the platform mattered.

The governing bodies of all the major awards got the hint of what the streaming platforms like Netflix and Showtime offered and decided to offer them a seat on the table.

Amazon’s 'The Marvelous Mrs Maisel' which took home the award for Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy at the 75th Golden Globe [IMBD]

At the 75th annual Golden Globes in 2018 streaming services won five of the 11 television categories including Amazon’s 'The Marvelous Mrs Maisel' which took home the award for Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy, while Hulu’s 'The Handmaid’s Tale' won for Best Series, Drama. This signalled the beginning of an era.

The dominance of legacy studios

The likes of Universal Studios have remained influential in the movie business for decades and still counting [Istock]

Before the advent of streaming services, legacy studios had control of everything. From production, marketing and consumption, they called the shot on how everything about movies and series happened.

We are talking about the likes of Universal Studios and Warner Bros, home to some of the biggest blockbusters.

With their influence and monopoly, they dominated the awards for years before streaming services disrupted the TV and movie industry. Aware of the huge changes, these big boys have also joined in. In 2019, The Walt Disney Company announced that it was establishing its streaming platform, Disney Plus.

In 2019, The Walt Disney Company announced that it was establishing its streaming platform, Disney Plus. [CreativeBloq]

Since its birth, Disney reported that Disney+ had 26.5 million subscribers by the end of 2019, and 28.6 million by February 3, 2020.

How streaming came about

The Lonely Island's 'Lazy Sunday' Goes Viral On Youtube (2005) | SNL In The 2000s (2010)

Today you can simply open the website of these numerous streaming platforms, login, and pick from the array of movies, series, and documentaries of your choice. This didn't just happen in one day.

YouTube, launched in 2005, was the first popular streaming platform. Youtube’s popularity soared due to the virality of a couple of videos including Saturday Night Live digital short ‘Lazy Sunday’ in December 2005.

YouTube was founded by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim, who were all early employees of PayPal [HistoryComputers]

Youtube faced numerous copyright lawsuits in its early years, but it was able to get through those challenges to become a platform with more than 1.3 billion users.

The story wasn't the same for Netflix which was launched in 1997 and founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph with a $2.5 million initial investment. The company spent years trying to sell the idea of a new platform before it was eventually able to hit the ground running in 2007 with its streaming outfit.

Netflix which was launched in 1997 and founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph with a $2.5 million initial investment [RobbReport]

Today it has over 120 million subscribers and is home to some of the biggest movies and series including 'House Of Cards,' 'Orange Is The New Black,' 'Bird Box,' 'Irishman,' 'Murder Misery,' to mention a few.

The politics in Hollywood

In some quarters, it is believed that streaming services faced some pushbacks from Hollywood [Wikipedia]

The acceptance of movies and series from streaming services didn’t come without some pushbacks. Without any critical or analytical outlook, it was easy to deduce the effects that the advent of streaming services had on cinemas, which is the main distribution channel for legacy studios.

The poor reception of Netflix’s first blockbuster ‘Bright’ by critics -which features Will Smith- by critics was in some quarters thought to be the works of legacy studios. But that cannot be proven.

Netflix's first blockbuster 'Bright' [IMDB]

The legacy studios themselves have joined in the business. Streaming platform 'Hulu' was created by a group of Hollywood executives who knew that taking it directly to the consumer themselves was the best thing to do.

The Walt Disney (Disney Plus), Universal Studio (Peacock), and Warner Media (HBO Max) have all created their streaming platforms even though it might take a while before they would catch up with the big players like Netflix.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science is the world's preeminent movie related organization, comprised of 8,000+ accomplished men and women working in cinema. [ComingSoon]

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science in 2020 announced that it will allow some movies released on streaming platforms and via digital release to qualify for the 2021 Oscars because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Then it happened

Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright as Frank and Claire Underwood on "House of Cards."

Since 'House Of Cards' aired in 2013 and took home several awards that same year at the Emmys, streaming platforms-backed projects are now primed dominating awards shows.

There is no way we are going to talk about streaming platforms stealing the show at major awards or their surprise nominations without mentioning the HBO hit series 'Insecure.'

Our feelings about this season. The #InsecureHBO season 4 finale starts in 20 minutes.

When the categories for the 2020 Emmys were announced in July, 'Insecure' got three nominations: a nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series, an Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series nomination for Issa Rae, and an Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series nomination for Yvonne Orji.

Let's just say we all acted surprised when the news broke even though this was long-anticipated from the fans and even critics of the series.

Thank you. 💜

In Nigeria, the change has not been that sweeping but the trend shows that it’s only a matter of time. Straight-to-cinemas movies-including award-winning ones-have gone on Netflix after their cinema releases.

A typical example is a sequel of the first Nollywood movie ''Living In Bondage: Breaking Free." The truth be told the movie, did exceptionally well in the cinemas but when it made its way to streaming platforms, it was a major deal for the filmmakers.

'Living in Bondage: Breaking Free' [Instagram/playnetworkstudios]

There are so many Nigerian movies that have made their way to several streaming platforms over the last year with the production team smiling to the bank over that smart move.

Kenneth Okonkwo and Ramsey Nouah [Instagram/playnetworkstudios]

Their influence of streaming platforms especially now that coronavirus has further decapitated the cinema business is huge.

According to The Verge, Netflix added 15.8 million subscribers in 2020, more than double the 7.2 million that was expected — a growth of more than 22 per cent year over year. Netflix now has 182 million subscribers worldwide. The company also saw quarterly revenue of $5.77 billion versus the $5.76 billion estimated.

Over the last few years, streaming services are started cashing out in billions of dollars in revenue [GettyImages]

For Hulu, they posted $1.3B in subscriber revenue for 2019 alone. Premium subscription video raked in $670 million in advertising and $1.27 billion in subscription fees.

It's simple guys, streaming platforms have come to stay.