Stagnating Industries

Fabrizio Gowdy | May 27th, 2020 | Arts & Entertainment

With millions of Americans being ordered to stay home amid COVID-19 fears, many have turned to the entertainment industry as an escape from the tumultuous times. However,  unlike previous crises in American history, this pandemic has also caused major disruptions in the entertainment industry. 

At a time when Americans are watching more movies and television shows than ever, some 120,000 are out of work in Hollywood according to The Guardian, while late night comedians are forced to produce their shows from home without an audience. In New York, Broadway theatres are silent, and all major concerts have been cancelled or postponed. 

This disruption could have a serious impact on the amount of new content available for those who find themselves quarantined, who are turning to streaming services and movies as a distraction from the news cycle. Like many students nationwide who will finish the school year from home, Stanton students have resorted to “binge-watching” their favorite shows.

“When services like Netflix automatically play the next episode you get hooked and before you realize it you’ve spent hours staring at the screen,” said junior Ashley King. 

King is not alone; the Los Angeles Times reports the average person is streaming eight hours of content per day, double the time before COVID-19. An April Devil’s Advocate poll of 151 Stanton seniors found that 66 percent consider streaming services to be their primary source of entertainment. In the same poll, 80 percent reported an increase in their time spent binge-watching their favorite shows since stay-at-home orders have been issued.

“Streaming services are seeing an extremely high volume of users right now, with all of us homebound and in search of entertainment,” said Stanton film teacher Brandon Cox. “Netflix reported 15 million new subscribers last quarter, which is a huge boon to their revenue stream.”

In response to this increased demand, several services, including CBS All Access and the newly launched Quibi, have rolled out generous free-trial periods lasting up to 90 days. Although there is a lack of new content being generated, the vast quantities of old shows and movies already in existence ensures that Americans will never run out of items to watch.

States have already begun to gradually reopen, and eventually Broadway’s curtains will rise again and filmmaking will resume. However, the entertainment industry could look very different than it did before COVID-19. The pandemic could devastate movie theatres, which had already been losing customers to streaming services and could now see that trend accelerate. 

“The unfortunate truth is that movie theaters have been in a precarious position for some time now,” said Cox, who expects theatres to initially reopen at reduced capacity and smaller films rather than huge blockbusters. “Disney is not about to drop “Black Widow” when half of the seats that it would normally fill without issue are going to be empty by public health necessity.”

Broadway is better positioned because of the enormous demand for tickets for hit musicals and the limited availability of seats, while late night shows are buoyed by their large TV audiences. 

However, any facet of the entertainment industry that relies on a live audience will face similar difficulties, as shows without live audiences may be a reality long after life returns to “normal.” In an April Devil’s Advocate poll of 328 Stanton Students, only 27 percent said they would attend movie theatres, concerts, and sporting events “as soon as they resume,” with nearly three in four planning to “avoid these events for some time.” 

2020 had been projected to be a huge year for live concerts according to NPR, with big-ticket artists in nearly every genre set to make massive profits. Now, public health officials warn that concerts may not return until 2021. In the absence of live events, some stars have held Instagram live stream concerts, although there is little potential for profit in this format. 

While in-person entertainment takes a hit, remote forms of entertainment are poised to grow. Led by games such as “Animal Crossing” and “Doom Eternal,” video game sales have already increased substantially according to The New York Times. Although several large esports gatherings have been cancelled, the ability of game developers to work from home has generally made the industry more resilient than others in the entertainment field. 

These emerging forms of entertainment have already been gaining ground on more established segments of the industry. COVID-19, which has the potential to be a revolutionary social catalyst, could force us to make massive changes that push us into a new age of entertainment.