Fun and Games: How the Internet Has Affected Entertainment
Television, once the go to form of entertainment, is now facing declines in revenue while newer forms of entertainment, like video games, are seeing huge revenue numbers with its growth expected to continue (“Investing in the Soaring Popularity of Gaming”). This trend of newer forms of entertainment gaining popularity, while traditional forms of entertainment continue to fall, has become quite common with the introduction of the internet. Many traditional forms of entertainment have struggled to maintain their popularity with the rise of faster and cheaper internet. The internet has enabled many forms of entertainment to be instantly accessible whenever and wherever you want. With that, new industries in entertainment have emerged, such as video games and social media, fueled by the internet. On the other hand, entertainment such as books or newspapers have struggled, with digital versions becoming the preferred way of consumption. But not all entertainment struggled. Netflix, once a DVD mail rental service, has become one of the largest streaming services with almost 150 million subscribers by the 4th quarter of 2018 (Netflix). Netflix’s success story also comes with many effects associated with the streaming giant. The massive changes seen in the entertainment industry have all been the result of the introduction of the internet.
The rise of internet also gave rise to massive industry of social media. In 2018, there were 3.2 billion social media users worldwide, which is about 42% of the population (Chaffey). Of the existing social medias, Facebook and YouTube rank in the top most used sites, with 68% of Americans who use Facebook and 73% using YouTube in 2018 (Anderson & Smith). The social media landscape is saturated with many different types of platforms each with a unique aspect to them. Social media users don’t just stick to one social media platform. In a survey done by Anderson and Smith of Pew Research Center, it was found that the median American uses three of eight social platforms provided in the survey. In the same survey, daily usage of social media, where a user visits the platform at least once, was above 50% of users for platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram (Anderson & Smith). What these two points of data tell us is the influence of social media in our lives. Our tendency to go back to the different numbers of social media we use, shows how important social media has become. The internet has enabled quick access to sharing and consuming content through social media. Being on the internet becomes even easier when you can carry the internet with you, through your phone. Worldwide, 5.1 billion people own phones, with 3 billion considered as active mobile social users. With that, mobile phones are the responsible for 52% of web traffic, increasing by 4% from the previous year (Chaffey). This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, given the fact that users can access their social media from anywhere and anytime, if they have a connection.
Social media isn’t the only industry that emerged and prospered because of the internet. Online video games have also found its way to becoming one of the most popular forms of entertainment. Without the internet, the popularity of video games would be rather limited. As referenced by Ruohonen and Hyrnsalmi, “the video game industry is particularly relevant due to the active and predominantly Internet-based gaming community (Jockel et al. 2008)” (353). The internet has created a way for gamers to easily interact with each other. This interaction is called electronic word-of-mouth, EWOM for short, has made it easy to get ideas and information out about video games. EWOM was enabled by the fact that search engines are the primary way for users to obtain information (Ruohonen & Hyrnsalmi 352). Unlike regular word-of-mouth (WOM), EWOM has the advantage of occurring on the internet, where the possibilities of someone seeing what has been said about a certain product is greater than that of hearing from face to face. EWOM plays a big role in the spread of information, particularly in video games. The EWOM concept can even be found in social media platforms like Twitter or YouTube (Ruohonen & Hyrnsalmi 368). And with the popularity of social media, video games can use some of that exposure for its own benefit.
The popularity of video games has found itself battling with traditional entertainment. Within the video game industry is an aspect called esports, which are competitions where professional gamers compete to be the best. This structure is like that of traditional sports, having its own leagues for a particular game, just like how each sport has its own league. Interestingly, esports is projected to surpass every sports league, except the NFL, in views by 2021 (Syracuse Staff). This speaks to the popularity video games have compared to traditional sports. Despite being a relatively new form of entertainment, it is rivaling the popularity of sports that have lasted decades. The global esports revenue in 2018 was expected to have a growth of 38.2%, with markets from North America and China contributing (“2018 Global Esports Market Report”). This rapid growth has grabbed the attention of investors. Reuters, a business and financial news organization company, report an increase of an annual rate of 10.7%, which is relatively high for new markets. Video game viewership is generally found on Twitch, a video game live streaming site. Twitch is usually the site where esports is watched live, similar to a television channel broadcasting a live sports match. In 2017, 959.3 million hours of the top 25 esports were watched on Twitch and 4 billion hours watched by the top 50 games by non-esports streams (“2018 Global Esports Market Report”). These numbers are impressive, and it shows, when Amazon purchased Twitch for $1 billion in 2014. During that time, average concurrent viewer was just under 600,000. Three years later, viewership grew to almost 1.2 million viewers (Syracuse Staff). Without the internet, it very likely would be difficult for video games to have grow this fast. The internet allowed for sites like Twitch to host burgeoning growth of video games.
In contrast, television has been on the downward trend. The decline of television primarily resides in the younger population of 18-34-year-olds. Q2 2018 viewership dropped 12.3%, slightly lower than Q2 2017’s viewership drop of 13.3%. Compared to older age groups, 35-49, 50-64, and 65+, only ages 50-64 and 65+ remained relatively stable, having less than 1% of change in viewership in the past year (Lupis). Television is on the path of impending decline as the younger generation replaces the older. The majority of the younger generation already don’t watch television, making it rather unlikely for them to change their minds in the future. Television’s downward trend has brought advertisers to begin pulling out and advertising in Google and Facebook. Ad expenditure in the U.S. on digital ads have been on the rise, with about $90 billion spent in 2017. On the other hand, expenditure on TV ads have stagnated around $70 billion from 2014. Of the amount spent on digital advertising, Google and Facebook made up about $53 billion of the amount spent (Maheshwari & Koblin). Coincidently, Google and Facebook are rather popular among the younger generation. Alternative entertainment like YouTube, Facebook, and Netflix all have qualities that, when compared to watching TV, are more desirable. All three forms provide instant access to what the viewer generally wants to see, making those choices appealing. Television, on the other hand, requires a specific time and date to watch a certain show. It is possible that some viewers may be complacent with watching whatever is on, but it is also very likely that they would choose a form of entertainment that gives them more control of what they want, like YouTube, Facebook, and Netflix does.
The convenience of the internet has caused many disruptions in certain markets. One example of that were hit include newspapers. Business models that revolved around selling physical copies of books, film, and music found themselves struggling. Peter Ollier of Managing Intellectual Property journal puts this event this way based off a keynote address by Andrew Keen, a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur: “The internet has triggered a consumer-led rebellion against the ‘essentially dead’ current business models of selling books, films and music” (Ollier). The description of “consumer-led rebellion” accurately describes what is happening. Consumers are turning to digital media for their entertainment, most likely because of the convenience the internet provides. They can find any news article from any new source whenever they want. In 2017, newspaper circulation dropped by 11% for weekday circulation and 10% for Sunday circulation. This downward trend has continued since the early 2000s at its peak around 60 million circulated to now with 30 million circulated (“Newspaper Fact Sheet”). On the other side of this, newspaper websites have seen a stable increase, with 11 million unique users visiting the top 50 U.S. newspaper websites (“Newspaper Fact Sheet”). This doesn’t say that people are less likely to read newspapers for entertainment, but the way of which they consume the entertainment has changed. Because of this change, new media outlets are seeing massive declines in popularity their once previously successful business.
Not all pre-internet entertainment has faced declines in its popularity. Sports are still a popular way for many to watch or play and haven’t really declined or grown too much. But one company was able to prosper from the internet boom. Netflix, now known for its massive video streaming service, was able to adapt to the rapid expansion of the internet. Kevin McDonald, author of The Netflix Effect, describes Netflix’s success as: “an outlier within the media and entertainment industry, an intermediary that succeeded precisely because of the major conglomerates’ inability to negotiate the transition from DVD to digital on demand” (McDonald 204). Netflix previously revolved around DVD rental services along with their competitor Blockbuster. Despite both Netflix and Blockbuster having similar products, at the time, Netflix’s willingness to adapt them to prosper through the changes. Video streaming, enabled by the internet, has given the viewer the ability to essentially hand pick what they want. Netflix has, in the words of McDonald, “been adept in navigating these circumstances, evolving its business model and building a brand identity as internet TV” (215). Internet TV is the perfect way to describe Netflix, given that it provides the same aspects of TV with the ability to choose what show to watch.
¶ [Effects Netflix has had: binge watching]- The massive popularity of Netflix has had many effects on the people who use Netflix. Despite the many good things Netflix provides, there are some negative effects that stemmed from Netflix’s existence and model. One of the most prominent negative effect is binge watching, where someone would over a period watch a long stream of shows in a row nonstop.
The occurrence of social media and video games rising, and television and print media declining is only the beginning outcomes of the internet. As the internet becomes more readily available and more reliable in other countries, the effects may not be so clear cut. It is quite possible that video games and social media may only popular now and fall off later when more people come online. But as of now, video games and social media are one of the defining features of the current internet and time. There are many more aspects to the internet that we have yet to discover, like Netflix. The popularity of Netflix has brought up unforeseen problems like binge watching. Netflix’s success has had influential impacts in current entertainment, despite beginning as second to Blockbuster. Declines because of the internet have shown that even traditional media are not safe from the changes the internet brings. The internet provides access to more entertainment than that of a television or newspaper. With digital versions becoming vastly available and rather quickly, the declines are likely to continue. As of now, the internet has shown its capabilities and will definitely have more unseen aspects to come in the future when more people are given access.
Anderson, Monica & Smith, Aaron. “Social Media Use in 2018.” Pew Research Center, Mar. 2018, http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/03/01/social-media-use-in-2018/
“Investing in the Soaring Popularity of Gaming.” Reuters, 13 June 2018, https://www.reuters.com/sponsored/article/popularity-of-gaming?
McDonald, Kevin, and Smith-Rowsey, Daniel. The Netflix Effect: Technology and Entertainment in the 21st Century. 1st ed., 2016.
Ollier, Peter. “Why the Internet Has Killed Entertainment’s Business Model.” Managing Intellectual Property, 2009, pp. Managing Intellectual Property, Feb. 2009.
Ruohonen, Jukka, and Hyrynsalmi, Sami. “Evaluating the Use of Internet Search Volumes for Time Series Modeling of Sales in the Video Game Industry.” Electronic Markets, vol. 27, no. 4, 2017, pp. 351–370.
Netflix. “Number of Netflix Streaming Subscribers Worldwide from 3rd Quarter 2011 to 4th Quarter 2018 (in Millions).” Statista – The Statistics Portal, Statista, www.statista.com/statistics/250934/quarterly-number-of-netflix-streaming-subscribers-worldwide/
Maheshwari, Sapna & Koblin, John. “Why Traditional TV is in Trouble.” New York Times, 13 May 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/13/business/media/television-advertising.html
Lupis, Jean-Claude. “The State of Traditional TV: Updated With Q2 2018 Data.” Marketingcharts, 26 Dec. 2018, https://www.marketingcharts.com/featured-105414
Chaffey, Dave. “Global social media research summary 2019.” SmartInsights, 12 Feb. 2019, https://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/new-global-social-media-research/
Syracuse Staff. “With Viewership and Revenue Booming, Esports Set to Compete with Traditional Sports.” 18 January 2019, https://onlinebusiness.syr.edu/blog/esports-to-compete-with-traditional-sports/#bar-chart
“2018 Global Esports Market Report.” NewZoo, 2018, https://resources.newzoo.com/hubfs/Reports/Newzoo_2018_Global_Esports_Market_Report_Excerpt.pdf?submissionGuid=b655872f-663d-4b81-80a4-5fb99aef5f2b
“Newspapers Fact Sheet” Pew Research Center, 13 June 2018, https://www.journalism.org/fact-sheet/newspapers/