Kevin Spacey is the poster boy for streaming, given the success of House Of Cards, so it's no wonder he has a lot to say about the state of television today.
In what is a relatively short space of time House Of Cards has paved the way for on-demand TV watching in the UK and US, with more and more directors looking to Netflix and Lovefilm to release their content rather than go down the traditional telly route.
At the Edinburgh Television Festival this week, Spacey took to the podium to evangelise the success of Netflix and explain just why the TV is learning from the mistakes that the record industry made.
"We have learned the lesson that the music industry didn't learn: give people what they want, when they want it, in the form they want it in, at a reasonable price, and they'll more likely pay for it rather than steal it," said Spacey before noting that "well, some will still steal it, but I believe this new model can take a bite out of piracy."
Let them binge
Spacey believes that the freedom on-demand watching gives the viewer is completely changing the way we all consume our TV and that for younger folks this is the only way of watching that they know.
Spacey said: "For kids growing up, there's no difference between watching Avatar on an iPad or watching YouTube on a TV and watching Game of Thrones on their computer. It's all content. It's all story."
As for the trend of boxset viewing - where numerous episodes are watched at once - Spacey hopes this continues.
He noted that studios should no longer have control over cliffhangers, but let the viewer decide, explaining: "The audience wants control. They want freedom. If they want to binge - as they've been doing on House of Cards - then we should let them binge."
Via the Guardian
