The Evolution of Television Production: How TV is becoming more like movies

📺 Television production has evolved to resemble movie-making, with movie stars and directors working on TV shows.

🎥 TV shows can be categorized as either scripted or unscripted, with scripted TV being closer to film production.

🇺🇸 This discussion focuses on television production in the United States.

📺 Television networks can be categorized into broadcast networks, basic cable, premium cable, and streaming services.

💰 Broadcast networks primarily make money through on-air advertising and aim to reach a wide audience.

📈 Ratings play a significant role for broadcast networks as they determine the popularity of a show.

📺 Nielsen ratings rely on statistical sampling to determine TV viewership habits.

🏠 Nielsen team monitors a small sample of American households to arrive at ratings for each episode.

💰 Broadcast and basic cable networks use Nielsen ratings to make decisions on show renewal and advertising revenue.

📺 Different types of television networks have different revenue models and measure success in different ways.

💰 Premium cable networks and streaming services rely on subscriptions for income.

📺🎥 Premium cable and streaming series have more creative freedom in storytelling due to their target audiences.

📺 The old broadcast model relied on first-run episodes and re-runs, with successful shows being sold into syndication.

💻 Premium cable channels have their own streaming services to maintain ownership of their content.

🎥 Television production and feature film production have similarities, but TV series are typically longer and require more resources.

🎥 TV series shoots are like marathons, with longer schedules and a showrunner as the main decision-maker.

📝 Showrunners oversee everything, from story direction and writing to hiring directors and editing.

📺 Many TV series have a writers room, but the size varies, with some shows having as few as 3-4 writers.

TV series are designed to last for several seasons, providing job security for actors.

TV series are being produced like feature films, offering more control over the shooting and editing.

Three-camera shows, like sitcoms, look more artificial with staged sets and laugh tracks.

More professionals are working in both TV and film productions.

Television production is evolving with new platforms and formats.

The difference between broadcast and cable networks and the impact of ratings.

The process of making TV shows and the role of showrunners.