TV: Industry Contexts

  Independent: British viewers can't get enough of foreign-language dramas:

1) What does the article suggest regarding the traditional audience for foreign-language subtitled media?

"Fifteen years ago, if you'd mentioned to a colleague that you'd spent Saturday night glued to a subtitled European drama, you'd have been quietly declared pretentious, dull and, possibly, a little odd. Skip to today and foreign-language dramas aren't even on-trend, they're fully mainstream. Now we are as likely to discuss the latest Danish thriller over a morning flat white at our desks as we are a new season on HBO."

2) What does Walter Iuzzolino suggest is the key appeal of his 'Walter Presents' shows?

"The channels were "restaurants who had put a special on the board". Walter Presents makes the specials board the main offering – so you can't play safe with the televisual equivalent of a cottage pie."

3) The article makes an interesting claim for the popularity of subtitles in the multi-screen age. What does it suggest?

"There may be something else in foreign TV's new popularity, too. It may sound prosaic but when we're frequently distracted from our TV viewing by Twitter feeds and a pinging WhatsApp, subtitles are a welcome enforcement for us to focus. "When you read subtitles, you have to be glued to the screen," says Deeks. "That concentration gives a particular intensity to the viewing experience. You just can't multitask when you're watching a foreign-language drama." And while foreign-language dramas are often remade for the Anglo-American market – Prisoners of War, or Hatufim in the original Hebrew, became Homeland, The Bridge became The Tunnel etc – the originals still dominate because they have something else: the locale that is such a fundamental part of their appeal. "We all love getting that insight into a different culture," says Deeks. "The unfamiliar setting gives a freshness to genre pieces.""

4) What are the other audiences pleasures of foreign TV drama suggested by the article?

"Iuzzolino agrees. "You develop a love for the distant world because while you're watching, you're in Sweden," he says. "If you see something amazing set in Argentina, then Argentina itself, the houses, the people, what they wear, what their voices sound like, the language, is one of the biggest appeals. There is a huge pleasure in that.""

Film School Rejects: The foreign TV dramas you're missing out on:

1) What does the article tell us about Deutschland 83's release schedule?

"Premiering on AMC Network’s Sundance TV in June 2015, the show was the first German-language TV series to premiere on a US network. The fact Germany’s commercial RTL channel received Deutschland ’83 five months after the US both signifies the series’ global appeal as well as foreshadows where the German crime thriller was (and is) to find its audience." 

2) The article contains important statistics on viewing figures in different countries. What were the German viewing figures for the first and last episode? What were Channel's 4's viewing figures for Deutschland 83?

"Whilst Deutschland ’83 received significantly fewer viewers in the US than Germany, with its US premiere garnering 0.066 million viewers compared to Germany’s 3.19 million, the series proved more successful in the US than its homeland. The majority of German audiences did not like neither the show nor its premise, with The Guardian‘s Philip Oltermann observing the Cold War politics and “cool and sexy” style as factors that distanced them from the series. As previously mentioned, the German premiere had 3.19 million viewers. Each new episode saw that figure drop, and by the series’ conclusion the figures had fallen down to 1.63 million — it’s lowest figure."

3) Who are the two production and distribution companies behind Deutschland 83 and what did they announce in October?

"After a period of uncertainty surrounding its renewal, SundanceTV and FremantleMedia finally announced in October that there will be a second series of Deutschland 83 (called Deutschland 86, more likely than not followed by the pivotal year of 89). What with its lacklustre response in Germany, it’s apparent the US critical reception and UK’s record-breaking viewership have a role to play in renewing the show. With this foreign drama revival spurred on by the series’ foreign viewers, questions surrounding the power of American/UK audiences and critics arise. The spy thriller’a presence in American television signifies that there is not just room for foreign and subtitled drama in an era when TV shows are frequently becoming more daring than feature films, but that audiences both want it and have an impact into whether it comes back."

4) How does Walter Iuzzolino use social media to engage audiences in new international TV dramas? How does he suggest this has changed the reception of foreign productions in the UK?

"Even if you’re weary of foreign drama, with Iuzzolino posting a “Weekend Pick” on his Facebook page and engaging with viewers on Twitter, it’s impossible not to become engrossed in the experience. As Iuzzolino says, in the UK subtitled and foreign productions are “relegated to the elite” and the art-house. His streaming service has certainly changed this perception in Britain.  For America audiences, it’s not so much filling a gap (Iuzzolino and his co-founders Jo McGrath and Jason Thorp in fact modeled the service on big networks like HBO) than promoting what is readily available."