230502 “Netflix, Amazon Prime, and HBO Now: How to study the audiovisual contents of the new on demand platforms and their reception by audience members” (BS) (SoSe 2018)

“Netflix, Amazon Prime, and HBO Now: How to study the audiovisual contents of the new video-on-demand platforms and their reception by audience members”

15 hours seminar for TAMIU and University of Bielefeld undergraduate students
June 6,7,8,11 and 12, 9-12 hours.

Video-on-demand platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Now, and Hulu, among many others, are booming in contemporary industrialized societies, as well as in developing countries like Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and other Latin American nations. Through multiples screens (TV sets, computers, tablets, smartphones) these platforms are offering to thousands of viewers unprecedented access to an immense volume of movies and television programs from many different origins and genres. The class will explore specific media theories and methods able to study the sociological, cultural, and psychological impact of these platforms on their audiences. Students will learn how to design content analyses to identify the main characteristics on the supply side (genres, origin, ideological contents) as well as surveys and focus groups to understand the ways in which audiences consume and make sense of the wide selection of films, videos and television series available in these platforms.