Streaming television takes over the Golden Globes
Watching the Golden Globes this past Sunday, one thing was affirmed: the era of streaming television is upon us, and it's stronger than ever.
Where a decade ago, cable networks firmly supplanted broadcast networks with awards and critical acclaim, those networks have now been themselves supplanted by the streaming services.
To wit: for the first time ever, all three Drama Series awards went to the streaming networks. Billy Bob Thornton won the lead actor trophy for his work on Amazon's Goliath, Claire Foy nabbed the lead actress prize for her work on Netflix's The Crown, which also took home the best series award, the first time a streaming series has ever won the big prize.
The reason the streaming services are making such an impact is simple: they can afford to target specific audiences and take chances with adult-oriented intelligent material. Their runs are often much shorter—a 10-episode season is almost the new default—and without the need to structure around commercial breaks can pace themselves better.
A perfect example is Amazon's superb The Man In The High Castle which takes Philip K. Dick's seminal novel into dimensions and directions both far beyond the source material and in ways that cause the viewer to think about heavy social issues.
Plus, most of the series are released all at once, allowing for a weekend binge-watch-a-thon or paced to your own taste.
And this is just the beginning. Amazon, Netflix and Hulu are working on more original programming. Thankfully we live in a city with excellent high-speed internet.