Traditional linear TV in the United States as well as in South Africa are fighting back against the rise of video streaming services and MultiChoice's M-Net is visibly in the lead with the first new trend - longer individual episode lengths for both overseas and local shows on broadcast television.
Longer TV episodes form part of changes in strategy taken by American broadcasters and M-Net months ago and which are now becoming evident to the end-consumer, resulting in the viewer at home getting more story time and less TV commercial time per hour.
After decades of slowly shrinking both hour- and half-hour programming to jam in more ad breaks to increase ad revenue, traditional broadcasters are cutting back and improving the viewing experience by making episode durations longer again.
In order to keep viewers watching more and for longer and to prevent them from flipping the channel or tuning out entirely, broadcast TV channels are willingly cutting down on the advertising minutes per hour and are ordering their TV studio producers to increase the episode duration by a few minutes.
In March 2018 TVwithThinus reported on the business strategy decision by NBCUniversal, FOX and others to decrease TV commercial clutter during episodes on broadcast television for the new TV season, meaning less ad breaks and by implication longer individual episodes that keep viewers watching for longer.
Traditional TV wants to closer emulate the viewing experience of video streaming services that don't do any commercial breaks. Although it means a decrease in TV commercial inventory broadcasters have taken a decision to try and keep audiences "immersed" in a story for longer, with less interruption.
Since South African broadcasters acquiring and scheduling overseas programming have to show episodes as received, it means that they have no choice when receiving longer episodes, but to decrease the ad load per hour as well, meaning less volume that will be available on the traditional 30 seconds ad spot.
Last year it was envisioned that the first evidence and impact of this would be felt by October 2018, but it ended up taking a few months longer. By May 2019 the first of these "longer" shows are now here meaning more show and less ads for DStv subscribers.
Since M-Net and DStv as a pay-TV business buy and schedule new shows and new seasons first, the effect of this new trend will still permeate through and impact the SABC as South Africa's public broadcaster and e.tv as a commercial free-to-air broadcaster before long as well.
This trend is set to grow as even more new seasons of existing shows and new shows wash ashore in South Africa.
Seen from The Orville to Survivor SA
The science fiction drama series The Orville on M-Net City (DStv 115) that just started its second season is the first regular American broadcast TV series that now boasts longer individual episodic duration since the new TV season started.
Viewers get more scenes, longer acts, and in total more story per episode. The few minutes more per hour-long episode are making a massive impact on viewing quality although viewers on a superficial level might not realise why a show suddenly feels so much improved and better.
Producers and scriptwriters are able to slightly adjust the pacing and the exposition - there's now literally more time for character scenes and character interaction.
This will happen for a lot of new seasons of American shows like This is Us and a growing number more when they start showing here. It's however not just an American trend. M-Net has also okay'ed a longer duration for certain M-Net Original series.
At the same time as The Orville's new and extended episode duration, the 7th season of Survivor South Africa: Island of Secrets now on M-Net (DStv 101) and produced by Afrokaans, also got the green light to deliver longer episodes.
Individual weekly Survivor SA: Island of Secrets episodes with commercial breaks on M-Net now run over an hour where previously it came in at exactly 60 minutes.
DStv subscribers might not realise that why they like watching the latest season of the local reality show is largely due to the more time that the show has to focus on individual character actions and motivations that previously would have remained in the editing suite video archives.
Without commercials, Survivor SA episodes on M-Net now come in at 55 minutes each.
While viewers get more actual show, on the flipside it means that DStv Media Sales, the ad sales division of MultiChoice, as well as shows themselves, will have to work even harder in future to fully monetise the smaller available ad inventory of TV shows to maximum commercial gain, as well as securing things like headline sponsors and in some cases in-show product placement.
