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| Arrested Development reboot reflects new viewing habits, says Netflix | Arrested Development reboot reflects new viewing habits, says Netflix |
| (4 months later) | |
| When cult US sitcom Arrested Development returns on Sunday, seven years after it was axed, there will be more than the fortunes of the dysfunctional Bluth family at stake. | When cult US sitcom Arrested Development returns on Sunday, seven years after it was axed, there will be more than the fortunes of the dysfunctional Bluth family at stake. |
| The fledgling video-on-demand service Netflix has turned to the Jason Bateman comedy in the latest round of its battle with traditional TV broadcasters for the eyes of the nation. | The fledgling video-on-demand service Netflix has turned to the Jason Bateman comedy in the latest round of its battle with traditional TV broadcasters for the eyes of the nation. |
| It comes after the US-based Netflix spent $100m (£66m) on the Kevin Spacey drama remake, House of Cards, which helped propel its subscribers in the UK to around the 2 million mark. | It comes after the US-based Netflix spent $100m (£66m) on the Kevin Spacey drama remake, House of Cards, which helped propel its subscribers in the UK to around the 2 million mark. |
| Exactly how many people watched House of Cards only Netflix knows. Unlike broadcasters such as the BBC and Sky, it prefers to keep its viewing figures to itself. But there is no shortage of anticipation around the return of Arrested Development, which was axed by Rupert Murdoch's Fox network after three series in 2006 (it aired in the UK on BBC2). | Exactly how many people watched House of Cards only Netflix knows. Unlike broadcasters such as the BBC and Sky, it prefers to keep its viewing figures to itself. But there is no shortage of anticipation around the return of Arrested Development, which was axed by Rupert Murdoch's Fox network after three series in 2006 (it aired in the UK on BBC2). |
| A family-based sitcom filmed in a documentary style and narrated by director (and former Happy Days star) Ron Howard, its audience dwindled during the course of its three-year run, but the show found a new life on DVD and online. | A family-based sitcom filmed in a documentary style and narrated by director (and former Happy Days star) Ron Howard, its audience dwindled during the course of its three-year run, but the show found a new life on DVD and online. |
| If a seven-year hiatus is unusual for a TV comedy, then so is the way it will return on Sunday, with all 15 episodes available to watch immediately. Netflix's chief content officer, Ted Sarandos said it reflects the way people watch television, binge viewing their favourite shows in one go. | If a seven-year hiatus is unusual for a TV comedy, then so is the way it will return on Sunday, with all 15 episodes available to watch immediately. Netflix's chief content officer, Ted Sarandos said it reflects the way people watch television, binge viewing their favourite shows in one go. |
| "We think we can build a better product by giving people what they want," he says in an interview to be published in MediaGuardian on Monday. "In the world of weekly serialised TV, you get 50 minutes of joy watching the show you've been waiting for, and then 10,000 minutes of waiting for the next one. | "We think we can build a better product by giving people what they want," he says in an interview to be published in MediaGuardian on Monday. "In the world of weekly serialised TV, you get 50 minutes of joy watching the show you've been waiting for, and then 10,000 minutes of waiting for the next one. |
| "The chances are that something else is going to happen. There is too much noise in the world to depend on the fact that people are just going to come back every week." | "The chances are that something else is going to happen. There is too much noise in the world to depend on the fact that people are just going to come back every week." |
| ITV's director of television, Peter Fincham, would beg to differ. With around 10 million viewers tuning in on eight successive Monday nights to his murder mystery hit Broadchurch earlier this year, Fincham said it was a "reminder of the pleasure of deferred pleasures". | ITV's director of television, Peter Fincham, would beg to differ. With around 10 million viewers tuning in on eight successive Monday nights to his murder mystery hit Broadchurch earlier this year, Fincham said it was a "reminder of the pleasure of deferred pleasures". |
| Netflix has long been predicting the death of linear television, but suggestions of its imminent demise have been exaggerated. Video-on-demand services such as the BBC's iPlayer (and Netflix) accounted for around 5% of all TV viewing in the UK in 2012, according to media analysis firm IHS Screen Digest. A further 10% of viewing was timeshifted programmes saved on to viewers' digital video recorders, such as Sky+. But the vast majority of viewing was still of linear TV schedules, which accounted for 85% of viewing last year and are expected to hold on to a 75% share in five years' time. | Netflix has long been predicting the death of linear television, but suggestions of its imminent demise have been exaggerated. Video-on-demand services such as the BBC's iPlayer (and Netflix) accounted for around 5% of all TV viewing in the UK in 2012, according to media analysis firm IHS Screen Digest. A further 10% of viewing was timeshifted programmes saved on to viewers' digital video recorders, such as Sky+. But the vast majority of viewing was still of linear TV schedules, which accounted for 85% of viewing last year and are expected to hold on to a 75% share in five years' time. |
| Richard Broughton, broadband director at IHS, said: "[Netflix takes] a risky path by releasing all the shows at once. | Richard Broughton, broadband director at IHS, said: "[Netflix takes] a risky path by releasing all the shows at once. |
| "One of the classic ways in which TV channels and pay TV companies build loyalty is by encouraging viewers to come back week after week. By putting all the episodes out in one go, it's effectively a single, very long film." | "One of the classic ways in which TV channels and pay TV companies build loyalty is by encouraging viewers to come back week after week. By putting all the episodes out in one go, it's effectively a single, very long film." |
| Other original Netflix shows have included the ultra-violent horror series Hemlock Grove, from Hostel director Eli Roth, which found an unlikely fan in the Tory MP John Whittingdale. The culture select committee chair said: "It contains a transformation scene of a man turning into a werewolf which makes the one in An American Werewolf in London look like Mary Poppins." | Other original Netflix shows have included the ultra-violent horror series Hemlock Grove, from Hostel director Eli Roth, which found an unlikely fan in the Tory MP John Whittingdale. The culture select committee chair said: "It contains a transformation scene of a man turning into a werewolf which makes the one in An American Werewolf in London look like Mary Poppins." |
| But a lot of Netflix's content is archive material, such as old series of acclaimed US dramas Breaking Bad and Mad Men. It has also signed up the rights for Ricky Gervais's Channel 4 comedy, Derek, outside the UK. | But a lot of Netflix's content is archive material, such as old series of acclaimed US dramas Breaking Bad and Mad Men. It has also signed up the rights for Ricky Gervais's Channel 4 comedy, Derek, outside the UK. |
| Sarandos said he was "sure we have a bigger audience here than Sky Atlantic does for Mad Men". But in the absence of Netflix ratings (Sky has around 70,000 viewers for its first showing of the Jon Hamm drama on a Wednesday night), this is impossible to verify. | Sarandos said he was "sure we have a bigger audience here than Sky Atlantic does for Mad Men". But in the absence of Netflix ratings (Sky has around 70,000 viewers for its first showing of the Jon Hamm drama on a Wednesday night), this is impossible to verify. |
| A further challenge for Netflix is that it offers subscribers their first month of viewing for free, enabling people to gorge on their favourite shows without spending a penny. | A further challenge for Netflix is that it offers subscribers their first month of viewing for free, enabling people to gorge on their favourite shows without spending a penny. |
| Arrested Development creator Mitchell Hurwitz, a former writer on the sitcom classic The Golden Girls, was planning a film adaptation when the call came from Netflix to return it to the small screen. | Arrested Development creator Mitchell Hurwitz, a former writer on the sitcom classic The Golden Girls, was planning a film adaptation when the call came from Netflix to return it to the small screen. |
| "We'll hopefully create a new legacy," Hurwitz said. "I don't know that it'll be exactly the same legacy for this new run of shows as it was for the old … but that's what's fun about it – giving people what they don't expect." | "We'll hopefully create a new legacy," Hurwitz said. "I don't know that it'll be exactly the same legacy for this new run of shows as it was for the old … but that's what's fun about it – giving people what they don't expect." |
| Netflix's chief executive, Reed Hastings, said Arrested Development would be a phenomenon. Just don't expect audience figures any time soon. | Netflix's chief executive, Reed Hastings, said Arrested Development would be a phenomenon. Just don't expect audience figures any time soon. |
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