Time to embrace the changing TV landscape or die trying
With the end of Game of Thrones, the debate over whether this marks the end of the TV monoculture has heated up again. TV monoculture, upheld by hit shows that everyone seems to watch and talk about, the shows that have become a cultural phenomenon and percolated through our collective consciousness, is the hallmark of the golden days of television, and it has been slowly breaking down over the past decade as Peak TV took over.
While it is true that there will always be breakout hit shows that drive our cultural conversation, the increasingly fragmented TV landscape”Š—”Šcaused by an influx of OTT streaming services and an abundance of alternative entertainment options such as esports and social video”Š—”Šmeans that one, TV monoculture is getting increasingly smaller in scale and two, it will become ever more difficult to produce another hit that captures cultural attention at once.
Make no mistake, TV monoculture is not dead just because Game of Thronesended. It will live on, but the larger circumstances and changing viewer behaviors will reshape the concept into a different beast entirely. Welcome to the end of TV monoculture as we know it. Get ready to bid farewell to “appointment TV” and embrace various streaming services as separate microcosms of cultures. For entertainment brands, it’s time to adapt your content strategy to the changing landscape. For others, there has never been a better time to become a lifestyle brand that carves out your own place in culture.
The Shifting Goalposts for Monocultural Hits
From Monoculture to Walled Gardens
The Specter of Monoculture