Edited by Christina Adamou and Sotiris Petridis

  • Deadline for proposals: 15 May 2020
  • Notification of Acceptance: by 01 June 2020
  • Deadline for chapters: 01 October 2020

Τelevision content has expanded to different and new ways of distribution and screening enabled by the evolution of technology and the advent of new media. The diversity of production and distribution models can be divided into three general categories: broadcast networks (such as ABC, NBC, CBS etc.), cable networks (such as HBO, Showtime, AMC etc.), and online subscription services that provide their content via streaming (such as Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max etc.)

Subscription video on demand (SVOD) platforms are similar to traditional TV packages that allow users to consume as much content as they desire at a flat fee per month. Unlike the economic model of conventional broadcast networks that is primarily dependent on revenue provided by advertisers in exchange for a network’s inclusion of advertisements within their programming broadcasts, the subscription model is based on a direct economic relationship between the institution and its subscribers who pay a fee in exchange for access to programming. Netflix is a pioneer in this field, but currently, a lot of production companies, like Disney, Apple, and WarnerMedia, have created their SVOD platforms to host their content.

Apart from giving new life to older audiovisual works by making them accessible to the wide public through an alternative way of consumption, SVOD platforms are producing original content that is meant to be consumed exclusively via online means. In 2013, Netflix introduced the audience to the new digital age of television by producing House of Cards (2013-2018), Hemlock Grove (Netflix, 2013-2015) and Orange is the New Black (Netflix, 2013-2019), the first original audiovisual works created by a SVOD online service.

Conventional television practices are now largely replaced by the technological evolution of the medium, which has drastically changed the landscape of the audiovisual industry. Audience fragmentation, solitary watching and binge-watching along with narrative complexity, re-invention of TV genres and emphasis on aesthetics seem to evolve further and yet they co-exist with old genres and/or programmes.

This edited collection will focus on this turning point of the medium and the fundamental changes that take place. Contributions may include (but are not limited to) the following topics:

  • SVOD platforms as global TV networks
  • Binge-watching and the new structuring methods of TV narratives
  • New forms of fiction narrative
  • The evolution of children’s and family television programmes and films
  • Target Audiences
  • Reality TV in the SVOD era
  • Comparing models of distribution in different SVOD platforms
  • National attempts at SVOD platforms
  • Globalization
  • The evolution of audiovisual genres in the SVOD era
  • Creating films as original content
  • Interactive narratives
  • Intertextuality and intermediality
  • Netflix Original Content and international licensing rights to foreign audiovisual works
  • Documentaries and SVOD platforms
  • SVOD marketing and Film/TV award seasons

Please send your 300-word proposal and short bio to svodplatforms.cfp@gmail.com at the latest by 15 May 2020. Acceptances will be sent out in early June 2020. Final chapters will be expected to be around 6,000 words, in English. We are expecting final chapters on 01 October 2020.