Can Netflix really be called tv?

zeebre12zeebre12 Posts: 1,167
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Can you really call Netflix TV?,to me it doesn't really seem right to call it TV,like you'd read on the internet Netflix shows as 'critically acclaimed TV series'. Is their original series such as OITNB TV series. They are not like The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones..its not technically TV because you watch it on demand over the internet..?
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  • LMLM Posts: 63,249
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    I watch Netflix on my tv, as a do a lot of people do, so in some way, they are tv series.

    Plus Orange is the new black is shown on television in countries that do not have netflix. e.g Australia.
  • BlisterBlister Posts: 292
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    What would you call it?

    Can songs on tape/CD/downloaded really be called records since they aren't technically on physical records? Shouldn't we stop calling them record labels? Shouldn't we stop saying that we'll "tape" a show, since no actual tape is involved? Shouldn't we stop saying we'll "wind" the window down, when it's done electronically? Shouldn't we stop using a floppy disk icon for "save", a clipboard for "paste", or the term "bookmark" for a saved webpage or "radio buttons" for the choice selection buttons that work in a similar way to a car radio in the 60s?
  • The_don1The_don1 Posts: 17,331
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    Traditional "TV" is on life support.

    Netflix/Amazon Prime (and the HBO over the top service if comes here) etc are the future.

    The BBC are investing in i-player because they know over the top services are the future.

    People don't want to be told when to watch a programme nowadays.

    TV companies got too obsessed with viewing figures and with more and more demands on people's time they was always going to go down so became irrelevant. These companies have different ways of measuring if a programme is successful or not and that's important nowadays.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,488
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    The_don1 wrote: »
    TV companies got too obsessed with viewing figures and with more and more demands on people's time they was always going to go down so became irrelevant. These companies have different ways of measuring if a programme is successful or not and that's important nowadays.

    That's misleading, ratings figures are what the show needs to make money. What companies need to do is find ways to monetise content that doesn't neccesarily rely on ratings.

    Also, Netflix do take into account (their equivalent of) ratings, when commissioning and renewing shows it's just that they won't make that information public. The difference is, at the moment, it looks like Netflix are better at picking what viewers want (as you'd expect they have a hell of a lot more data on people that most networks do)...
  • Jaycee DoveJaycee Dove Posts: 18,762
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    On Virgin's Tivo boxes Netflix is a channel on the EPG like Sky 1, ITV or BBC 1. So if it is not TV then neither are they!
  • ohglobbitsohglobbits Posts: 4,479
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    It's not TV, it's VOD.

    And TV will still exist as it has to come from somewhere as do books that aren't spontaneously created by Amazon or Music by Apple
  • MoreTearsMoreTears Posts: 7,025
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    I watch Netflix on my tv, as a do a lot of people do, so in some way, they are tv series.

    Plus Orange is the new black is shown on television in countries that do not have netflix. e.g Australia.

    But watching films made for the cinema on your TV doesn't make the films "TV shows" or "TV films." I agree with the OP. I don't call series made for Netflix or Amazon TV series. They are "web series." Web productions should be treated as a third category after cinema and TV productions. (When TV came along nobody said "Let's just fold TV shows into cinema films, and we'll let dramas and comedies made for TV compete for Oscars." No, a new, separate category apart from cinema films was created). The web series term was in use before Netflix made House Of Cards, but web series were usually quite cheap and the episodes were brief. Then, when House Of Cards was made, and it was comparable in length and production quality to a series on TV, somebody decided the episodes were close enough to TV episodes that the show itself should be called "TV." I just don't agree with that reasoning.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,488
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    MoreTears wrote: »
    But watching films made for the cinema on your TV doesn't make the films "TV shows" or "TV films." I agree with the OP. I don't call series made for Netflix or Amazon TV series. They are "web series." Web productions should be treated as a third category after cinema and TV productions. (When TV came along nobody said "Let's just fold TV shows into cinema films, and we'll let dramas and comedies made for TV compete for Oscars." No, a new, separate category apart from cinema films was created). The web series term was in use before Netflix made House Of Cards, but web series were usually quite cheap and the episodes were brief. Then, when House Of Cards was made, and it was comparable in length and production quality to a series on TV, somebody decided the episodes were close enough to TV episodes that the show itself should be called "TV." I just don't agree with that reasoning.

    The trouble is the term "webseries" is too associated with crappy YouTube videos nobody really wants to watch, whereas TV shows are big and exciting at the moment.

    And it's worth noting that House of Cards was conceived as a TV series and pitched to AMC, HBO and Showtime, but Netflix outbid all three with a two season deal..

    Also, the Emmys changed their rules so that anything that looks like a Primetime show could qualify, which theoretically could include anything. It was noted as something where they were weirdly ahead of the curve, as the rules were changed before House of Cards even premièred...
  • MoreTearsMoreTears Posts: 7,025
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    The trouble is the term "webseries" is too associated with crappy YouTube videos nobody really wants to watch, whereas TV shows are big and exciting at the moment.

    As I alluded to when I said that the term web series was in use before, when web productions were brief and cheap. But a difference in quality doesn't make for a difference "in kind." Cheap or expensive, we are talking about stuff specifically made for web-based platforms, not TV channels. There are cheap, shoddy productions made for TV, of course. What do The X Factor and Game Of Thrones have in common? They are both made for TV channels, so they are alike entitled to be called "TV shows."
    And it's worth noting that House of Cards was conceived as a TV series and pitched to AMC, HBO and Showtime, but Netflix outbid all three with a two season deal.

    Sure, and if it had gone to any of those TV channels, or any other TV channels, I would recognize it as TV show. But it ended up being acquired by a web platform instead, so I call it a web series. There are also examples of projects being conceived as a cinema films and ending up as TV shows instead, and vice versa.
    Also, the Emmys changed their rules so that anything that looks like a Primetime show could qualify, which theoretically could include anything. It was noted as something where they were weirdly ahead of the curve, as the rules were changed before House of Cards even premièred...

    Yes, I have read that. I just don't think their doing that trumps the logic that I have explained. The Emmys can't even distinguish between a "series" and a "mini-series" properly. Nobody should defer to them.
  • big brother 9big brother 9 Posts: 18,147
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    zeebre12 wrote: »
    Can you really call Netflix TV?,to me it doesn't really seem right to call it TV,like you'd read on the internet Netflix shows as 'critically acclaimed TV series'. Is their original series such as OITNB TV series. They are not like The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones..its not technically TV because you watch it on demand over the internet..?

    TV is changing though and I watch netflix on a tv through tivo
  • big brother 9big brother 9 Posts: 18,147
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    MoreTears wrote: »
    But watching films made for the cinema on your TV doesn't make the films "TV shows" or "TV films." I agree with the OP. I don't call series made for Netflix or Amazon TV series. They are "web series." Web productions should be treated as a third category after cinema and TV productions. (When TV came along nobody said "Let's just fold TV shows into cinema films, and we'll let dramas and comedies made for TV compete for Oscars." No, a new, separate category apart from cinema films was created). The web series term was in use before Netflix made House Of Cards, but web series were usually quite cheap and the episodes were brief. Then, when House Of Cards was made, and it was comparable in length and production quality to a series on TV, somebody decided the episodes were close enough to TV episodes that the show itself should be called "TV." I just don't agree with that reasoning.

    So would you say "I'm going to watch a Web series on the television " ?
  • MoreTearsMoreTears Posts: 7,025
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    So would you say "I'm going to watch a Web series on the television " ?

    If I watched Netflix series on TV (which I don't do) I would have no problem saying that, just as I to watch cinema films on TV (because I never go to the cinema anymore) and still call them cinema films instead of TV programmes.
  • Mrs BBVMrs BBV Posts: 3,003
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    I watch it via Tivo downstairs and via the Playstation upstairs but both need the TV. And I do watch it on my iPad if I'm watching something hubby doesn't want to.
  • Los_TributosLos_Tributos Posts: 2,100
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    Almost hard to believe that anyone would find something so trivial as worthy of creating a post on.
  • carl.waringcarl.waring Posts: 35,548
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    On Virgin's Tivo boxes Netflix is a channel on the EPG like Sky 1, ITV or BBC 1. So if it is not TV then neither are they!
    No it's not. That's simply a link to the app :)
  • DCM10DCM10 Posts: 647
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    Almost hard to believe that anyone would find something so trivial as worthy of creating a post on.

    Agree
  • Jaycee DoveJaycee Dove Posts: 18,762
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    No it's not. That's simply a link to the app :)

    And a satellite channel on a Sky box is a link to the transponder signal being beamed down.

    My point is you turn on your TV/box, tune to a channel number on the EPG and watch something.

    Same difference to the end user experience of watching something on TV. You are as unaware of it being internet based this way as you would be of it coming down from a satellite to your dish on a Sky box or being beamed through the air to your aerial on a normal TV.

    These are all ways of watching different types of TV channels. And we just regard them all as watching TV.
  • Dancing GirlDancing Girl Posts: 8,209
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    I watch Nefflix on my TV, Fabulous, no adverts and I can choose what I want, when I want it. Watched some terrific shows like Orphan Black from the BBC/Canadian TV and The Killing TV series. I live in Germany and I just love being able to watch TV in English!! We have Netflik and Watchever TV on Demand and rarely watch "live" TV due to the commercial breaks which drive us mad.

    Also I eat less as I am not constantly confronted with ads for Burger King, McDonalds, Chocolate, cakes, Kentucky Fried Chicken, fattening desserts etc etc etc
  • SelenaSelena Posts: 29,564
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    Personally I classify it as TV especially as I mostly use it to access shows that I have no access to otherwise that they are not shown on the channels that I have on the television.
  • skinjskinj Posts: 3,383
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    Personally, unless the thing that you are watching is being broadcast, I wouldn't call it TV.
    Whilst I can watch a production from Netflix or Amazon using my Television set, I can also watch my games console, DVD player, Blu-Ray player on it too & none of these are called TV.
    I'd also be happy enough to call anything that is live streamed as TV, such as football matches that traditional broadcasters have decided not to show.
    To me it feels like there has to be a shared viewing experience available to people across the country/region.
    The lovely ability to have the discussion with friends, colleagues & family during the day about something you're all going to watch on TV tonight & then the after show discussions the next day at lunch or before work (even during the airing for a lot of people), seems to have been lost with vod services. Everyone watches them at different rates & times, there is fear of spoilers being spoken or heard because you have no idea where everyone else is in the run.
  • LostFoolLostFool Posts: 90,623
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    Selena wrote: »
    Personally I classify it as TV especially as I mostly use it to access shows that I have no access to otherwise that they are not shown on the channels that I have on the television.

    Personally, I don't really care. If something is good then it good regardless of the distribution method.

    It's the same with radio and postcasts. It started off by some radio shows making themselves available download. Now that have been many successful podcast series which have never been broadcast
  • primosprimosprimosprimos Posts: 1,067
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    Nope, it's better than TV.
  • GDKGDK Posts: 9,466
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    The only difference is the method of delivery. While it's correct to say Netflix isn't a TV channel (it's a video on demand service), it's the nature and format of the content that determines whether what you're watching is a TV series or not. 12, 13 or 22 episodes per season, by whatever delivery method - they're all TV series.

    The "user experience" when watching an episode is no different than watching via terrestrial or satellite broadcast. In some ways it's better. You might be able to watch in UHD and you won't be watching adverts during the programme.

    VoD is the future of television. People want to choose when they watch and on what device they watch. Traditional, linear broadcast audiences have been on the slide across the board for a few years now. The only exception is coverage of live events and even there VoD will be able to meet that demand. Eventually there will come a tipping point where the business model for the likes of, say, ITV, is no longer sustainable

    There's still many years ahead before VoD becomes the dominant platform though
  • ohglobbitsohglobbits Posts: 4,479
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    It's still early days, even in the US where the horrific price of basic cable has forced many to become cord cutters the big 4 networks and cable giants such as HBO dominate the upfronts and pilots. Can Netflix and Amazon, essentially distributors, really upend the model?
  • snafu65snafu65 Posts: 18,176
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    I don't refer to Netflix as TV, just Netflix, I'll say I'm watching Netflix tonight for example, and that's that. I don't see the problem. :confused:
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