In what ways does the TV industry use specialised forms of distribution?

 In what ways does the TV industry use specialised forms of distribution? Make reference to Humans in your answer [15] [25 minutes]

Knee jerk reaction

Humans uses a range of forms of specialised distribution in order to maximise profit

Plan

• Distribution: sharing a product to a number of people: how a media product is 'given out', making a media product available to an audience to consume it
• Channel 4
• AMC
• Failed partnership with Xbox
• Netflix (streaming), channel 4 (TV), DVD (physical media)
• Cult Audiences - smaller yet intensely motivated! Not mass!
• Guerrilla marketing - pop-up augmented reality event on regent street
• Henry Jenkins Fandom theory
• transnational audiences, British and American
• AMC - walking dead, breaking bad, mad men, Preacher, Tenet
• Trailers shown on tv - traditional marketing
• mid budget
• persona synthetics website
• diegetically situated advert
• word of mouth/ social media presence.. maybe?
• viral marketing
• Curren and Seaton: power and the media industries 

Student responses

1

Distribution is making a media product available to audience to consume it. Humans uses a range of forms of specialized distribution in order to maximise profit. This links to David Hesmondhalgh theory about the cultural industry's, he believes every media industry is specialized and every media industry is structured to minimise risk and maximise profit. TV in general is a specialised industry, it has changed considerably throughout the years of digital technology. It has changed through production, distribution, and consumption by new digitally convergent technologies. The show was realeased in June 2015 and is in a sci-fi, alternative present genre. It was originally a Swedish show but was remade in English.

One way 'Humans' uses specialized forms of distribution is that it is a co-production between AMC (American movie channel) and Channel 4 meaning this gives them an advantage for distribution and money because it is not just a British show but a transnational show. However this was not always going to be the case, originally the series was announced in April 2014 as part of a partnership between channel 4 and Xbox entertainment but then Xbox entertainment studios closed down. It has also been distributed in a number of different ways, for example, Netflix, which is a streaming service, Channel 4 and AMC are TV channel. There are also catch-up services and physical copies like DVD's and blue-rays which released 'Humans'. This is a wide range of distribution meaning they can attract a wider audience to watch the show however this show is targeted at a more niche cult audience who are more motivated and fans of the sci-fi genre. Fans are different from audiences as they are heavily invested in and motivated by a product, this is something the theorist Henry Jenkins said as part of the Fandom Theory. Fans are much more likely to engage with the TV show, following fan accounts on social media and buying merchandise. 

Marketing was an important part of the making of 'Humans' and would have helped with the distribution alot when it came down to it. They made a spot advert which is an advert that comes up between TV shows. This advert was atypical and subversive and broke many of the rules but it only made people more interested and intrigued as to what they just watched so this would most likely make them look it up on social media and then this creates viral marketing. Once they have got a wide number of people interested into what the persona synthetics is all about, this will bring on more circulation when they come to distribute it they are more likely to get more views and streaming which will boost the profit and as Curran and Seaton suggest; all media companies are driven by profit and power. They also used Gorilla Marketing through a stunt taken place on Regent Street London where there was an interactive shop front for Persona Synthetics where passers-by invited to create their own sythns using interactive screens. Guerrilla Marketing is an advertisement strategy in which a lot of companys use surprise or unconventional interactions in order to promote a product or service. 

This all links back to the specialized TV industry and how there are many ways to promote, distribute, and circulate a media product. And in the series 'Humans' especially they have used a range of specialized forms of distribution including using digitally convergent technologies which we now have around today to attract their targeted audience. 

2

Distribution is how a company shares its media product out to make it available for an audience to consume it. Humans is a British TV show that is a remake of a Swedish show called real humans. It was announced in April 2014 as a collab between Channel 4 and Xbox entertainment studios. However, Microsoft closed Xbox entertainment studios so, in turn, AMC joined Channel 4 as partners. Humans use a range of forms of specialised distribution in order to maximise the profit of the product.

One form of specialised distribution that Humans used was by Channel 4 joining AMC as partners for the production of Humans. AMC is an American Channel that are the producers of cult classics like The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad. By Channel 4 joining AMC as partners Humans was then distributed to an American audience as well. This meant the Humans became a transnational media product enhancing the shows audience reach and maximising the profit of the show.

Another way in which the TV industry uses specialised forms of distribution is through Guerrilla marketing. Guerilla marketing is a strategy used by many industries which makes use of typically unconventional tactics to raise awareness of their new media product. One way humans used guerilla marketing was through their use of a pop-up augmented reality event on regent street. This event didn't particularly showcase the media product however it presented the key concepts that are evident within the product with the use of Synths. The use of this specialised distribution is key for attracting cult audience and fandoms of the specific genres which in this case is Science fiction. This type of distribution maximises profit because although these cult audiences are smaller than broad audiences they are more intensely motivated about the product meaning they will be more actively engaged with the purchasing of related products such as merchandise.

The TV industry also makes use of digital distribution. They do this through the use of many media platforms such as Netflix which is a streaming service and Channels which are shown on Tv and also DVD's which is physical media. By the industries making use of all these types of distribution, they maximise their profit as they are able to reach all kinds of audiences that aren't just their target. For example, Channel 4 originally distributed their product Humans just on their channel which limited their audience as it was only available to those who were available at the time it was being shown. However, they widened their distribution by making it available on the streaming service Netflix which gave them a wider audience, in turn, maximising their profit.

3

Distribution is the process of sharing a media product with an audience.  Humans uses various specialised forms of distribution in order to reach is target audience and make a therefore maximising profit.

Humans was originally released on the 14th of June on Chanel 4 and the 28th of June on AMC, and episodes continued to be released on a weekly basis from then on, the partnership between Chanel 4 and AMC allowed humans to reach transnational audiences, increasing profit and creating a bigger fan base which helped the show gain regular viewers.  As the show has now ended; it is available on various online streaming services such as Netflix and All4, meaning it is now available on demand, as well as on DVD, making the program much more convenient for people to watch.

Humans used multiple forms of marketing to increase it's distribution, in particular guerrilla marketing which is where a company uses unconventional marketing to advertise a product.  Humans used dietetically situated marketing to position the audience with the characters and create enigma, convincing people to go online to find out more, they also had a pop-up event in regent street along with a website and various social media sites, this helped to draw people in with viral marketing, and create more of a community for the fandom, further increasing the potential distribution reach.  Curran and Seaton's power and media theory talks about how companies owned by large conglomerates lack originality and this theory could be applied here, as the program was released on Chanel 4 it conforms to a lot of the same conventions as their other shows, as its a gritty British drama, this helps the distribution as Chanel four can cater to their target audience and therefore maximise profit by creating a show that they know their audience will want to watch.