Redefining media consumption: How data is reshaping content delivery and viewer behavior

With the moving away from the traditional linear programming and the rapid growth of time-shifted and cross-platform viewing the way people are watching video media content is changing drastically. No longer are people sitting down to watch a television show as it is being broadcasted. They are instead scheduling their viewing to fit their schedules. Viewers now have the ability to consume content, specifically television series, in large chunks instead of week-by-week episodes, or without any episodes to watch for months, even years, due to unscheduled cancellations and delays. Viewers are not only controlling the when, but also how they want to watch their content. People now routinely watch media content on their mobile phones, tablets and laptops instead of only on their television sets (Cisco, 2020; Accenture, 2021;Deloitte Insights, 2023).

The methods in which people consume media content are changing with every new piece of technology that is created. Data is changing who gets to see content and how it is delivered, with recommendations, targeted advertisements, and external factors connected to data usage allowing people to curate viewing experiences on an individual basis. What used to be a shared experience is now defined on an individual basis; one genre or niche that a group of people are interested in is pulled apart to create many different tailored media experiences (Nielsen, 2022; PwC, 2023). These experiences are shaped through viewer behaviors defined by individualized data, viewer preferences such as ad-skipping, and tailored recommendations that can create echo chambers causing viewer fragmentation. The big question on everybody's mind is "What are the effects of these industry changes?"