World View: Change Is in the Air

NEW YORK: Anna Carugati, the group editorial director of World Screen, looks at how Millennials' entertainment choices are influencing the media business.

Since the beginning of time, young adults have been distancing themselves from their parents’ tastes and values. Baby Boomers changed attitudes toward race and gender; permanently altered fashion, music and pop culture; and impacted the economy and politics. Millennials are showing signs of leaving just as big a mark—their entertainment choices are already influencing the media business.

A number of recent studies have shown that Millennials, roughly defined as individuals born between the late 1980s and the early 2000s, prefer to watch content on YouTube rather than shows on linear channels. In one survey, when teenagers were asked who their favorite stars were, YouTube personalities outranked movie, TV and music performers. Comedy duos, like Smosh and TheFineBros, and the videogamer PewDiePie came in ahead of Jennifer Lawrence, Katy Perry and the late actor Paul Walker. YouTube stars have struck a chord with Millennials with their videos of comedy sketches, videogames, pranks, fashion tips, assembling and playing with toys, and even imitations of how animals eat.

OK, you’re probably thinking kids will be kids, always have been, always will be; this generation has just armed itself with smartphones and cameras and posted their antics on YouTube. Well, a lot of money is circulating around this short-form content. The Walt Disney Company bought Maker Studios, and Otter Media, a joint venture between AT&T and The Chernin Group, acquired a majority stake in Fullscreen. Maker and Fullscreen are MCNs—multi­channel networks—companies that aggregate YouTube channels and represent their top stars, or creators, with the goal of maximizing revenues.

Clearly, major companies like Disney, AT&T and The Chernin Group are placing their bets on short-form content and the viewing habits of Millennials. The average length of these YouTube videos is three to eight minutes, but on another website, Vine, videos are six seconds long. Yes, really. They’re just six seconds of kids skateboarding, tossing a ball or jumping into a pool. And Vine is hugely popular. Some of its stars package a bunch of six-second videos and then post them on YouTube to expose them to an even bigger audience, because the name of the game here is scale—scale can translate into greater ad revenues. More importantly, YouTube has become a highly democratic incubator of talent; young creators can post videos and, if enough people like them, they go viral and fairly quickly amass huge audiences.

But, here’s the catch. This alternate world of short-form content is looking for a wormhole into the galaxies of traditional media. Maker Studios has been packaging the best of its videos and selling them to pay- and free-TV outlets. Fullscreen and AwesomenessTV are looking for additional ways to distribute their content and are even considering charging for premium offerings and setting up paywalls. Smosh is making a feature film, and so are other YouTube stars. Isn’t this all quite similar to what happens in “traditional” media? Yes, the entertainment industry is moving toward bite-size snacks of storytelling, but it is not forsaking the all-you-can-eat offerings of online streaming services, live TV events and must-tweet shows on linear channels. We live in a world with a smorgasbord of programming that encompasses all lengths and genres.

This issue marks the 30th anniversary of World Screen. In the five years since we celebrated our 25th anniversary, the media industry has arguably changed more than it did in the previous 50. Think of all the developments. Auteur television is now continually raising the bar for drama, as writers and showrunners are given free rein to follow their visions. The small screen is inhabited by a wide array of complex, multi-layered characters. Over-the-top services have become forces to be reckoned with. Viewing online has become so popular that even major media companies like HBO, Showtime, CBS and Nickelodeon are rolling out their own streaming services.

In response to the increase in on-demand viewing, channels around the world have upped their programming games, investing in world-class dramas, lavish entertainment shows and favorite sports events—all in an effort to draw viewers to live broadcasts. If we look at the success of Empire, Broadchurch, The Walking Dead, The Voice, the FIFA World Cup, the Super Bowl, Champions League and countless other programs, it is fitting to paraphrase Mark Twain and say, “reports of linear television’s death have been greatly exaggerated.”

In our main feature, we explore what’s next in our industry, and while no one has a crystal ball, a common theme we heard in our interviews is that quality will continue to be the key differentiating factor, regardless of the genre or length of content. Viewers have been exposed to so much that they are now extremely discerning. In every section of the magazine, we look at what’s trending in various genres: period dramas, interactive formats, science documentaries and classic children’s properties. In our in-depth interviews, we speak to media industry leaders from all parts of the globe, including Bertelsmann’s Thomas Rabe, Discovery’s David Zaslav, Sky’s Jeremy Darroch and Globo’s Roberto Irineu Marinho. All of them are keeping a watchful eye on Millennials’ viewing habits and on technology. There’s no question that the only constant in the media business is change, but the innovations that stick are rooted in quality and convenience.