The Ever-Changing TV

Forbes highlights the way it ain't NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox the way it used to be.

Four Ways YouTube And Netflix Will Transform Television

... Internet-native “over-the-top” video services are poised to transform television. TV and online video experts at a panel discussion this week in Qualcomm's Silicon Valley office, sponsored by the business and technology forum Churchill Club, outlined several ways that’s going to happen in coming years. ...

AwesomenessTV viewers ... often have a much more personal relationship with video creators, or at least they feel like they do. “That’s one of the fundamental differences between what linear television used to be and today’s networks,” said Day, ... “There’s a sentiment that they helped create these actors. They can’t imagine not talking to celebrities [on social media]. You’re going to see that more and more [in regular movies and broadcast TV].”

The ability of YouTube, which after all is something of a social network for video, to attract large numbers of people around the world means that these audiences self-select and build up close-knit communities. For instance, Tom Pickett, CEO of Crunchyroll, an over-the-top Japanese anime-focused video provider, said anime fans are very passionate and love to talk to each other about it, sometimes in real-world conventions. “We bring together as much anime content as we can, which brings together community,” he says. “That brand is created by the community.” ...

What Netflix, Amazon and other distributor/creators recognize is that cartoons cross lots of various demographics, have high viewer interest and loyalty, and have a long shelf life (witness Scooby, Bugs, and Daffy as three prime examples).

These things, as much as anything else, are why internet services have thrown money at creating animation content. It's a high profit center, and will likely continue to be one. Flesh and blood actors get old and fall from favor, but cartoon characters are young and popular forever. Entire families love them, which why the providers of Subscription Video on Demand (SVoD) love them even more.