Kate Rodger: film reviewer on Netflix launching 'second screen' shows for viewers distracted by their phones

Netflix knows we're more likely to be on our phones as we watch TV shows - and they're looking to appeal to distracted viewers.

The streaming giant is looking to create more content optimised for causal viewing, with an emphasis on repetitive  plot points and overly scripted dialogue. 

Film reviewer Kate Rodger says more and more viewers are repeatedly streaming the same set of shows in the background, and Netflix is hoping to tap into that.

"Whether it's Gilmore Girls, whether it's Suits - whatever it might be, we know everything that's going to happen and there's a comfort in that. It also means we don't really have to engage the brain or the synapses, we can just let it wash over us and we know what's happening." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
News talks hereb it is seventeen minutes half to five.
Netflix is now creating a second screen show. This is
designed for people who want to scroll on their phones
while they're also watching TV. Don't lie, you do it too.
The shows feature overly descriptive dialogue, repetitive plots. This is
in order to engage an increasingly distracted audience who want

(00:20):
to double screen. Kate Rodgers, the film reviewershus with us
this evening.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Hi, Kate, you knew to ring there immediately because you
knew how much this was going to whine the arts. Kate?

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Is this the end of the arts?

Speaker 2 (00:33):
No, this is a devolution of the human race, And
before you know it, we're just going to be shopping
around like omebs, just sliming along the ground, bumping into
each other. We've got a brain cell to spare between us.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Are they going to give out an oscar for the
best second screen movie?

Speaker 2 (00:48):
You know?

Speaker 1 (00:49):
Where are we heading?

Speaker 2 (00:51):
I don't know where we're heading. And honestly, I would
argue that ninety percent of the shows we're watching on
streaming are basically second screen shows. Anyway. I mean, I
you know me well enough that when they started telling
us that we could watch Christopher Nolan films on our phone.
I knew that we were going downhill, and we were
going downhill fast. And I also know what a purest

(01:12):
I am and what a dinosaur I am. And I
will confess there have been one or two moments where
I have found myself looking at my phone when I'm
watching TV. But I would argue, I'm just watching something
rubbish that Max, my twelve year old, is watching. But
I'm a rare. I won't let the CIDs have a
phone if we're going to sit down and watch the movies,

(01:33):
whatever it might be, because I do fit my kids
down to watch a movie. But I do know that
I'm just wasting my breath. I mean, how many phones
do you watch? And how many iPads are you watching
when you sit down to.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Watch and listening to this, everybody listening to this knows
that they do a little bit of this too. So
what will people actually notice to tell us what the
difference will be in the product.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
From what I'm gathering? And if anyone's going to do
this in partoneer this and by the sounds of it,
it's been happening in boardrooms, cross streaming head offices, all
over the world as basically dilming it down to a
level that it's repetitive that you're never going to lose
track of the plot. So you're fitting your scrolling through
Instagram and then suddenly you hear the word angela fever.
I don't know. You lock up and go, oh gosh,

(02:15):
I forgot that. Nigel for him because Hona got gle
angela fever when he was twelve, and that's why he's
struggling to make his relationship work with Daphne from Cans.
And then they'll repeat it again ten minutes later and
you go, oh, angela feather. I guess they're making it
so that they're constantly repeating certain bits of a plot
and order for you to cap up. And you know what,

(02:37):
there's so many people and I know them myself, especially
in these days and age where we are stressed and anxious,
that go back to shows that we've watched over and
over again, whether it's The Gilmore Girls, whether it's Suits,
whatever it might be. We know everything that's going to happen.
There's a comfort in that. It also means we don't
really have to engage the brain or the signapses. We

(02:58):
can just let it wash over us know what's happening.
So they're essentially trying to tap their algorithm into that
motion that we don't have to think and then we
can just sit And why though, why would we bother?
Why don't you just sit on Instagram on them? Why
don't you watch something?

Speaker 1 (03:12):
Well exactly, Kate, thank you for that. Kate Roger, who's
a film reviewer and critic and quite critical of this idea,
I have to say, you're not doing nothing in defense
of the you are still engaging your brain. In fact,
you could say you're more engaged because you're multitasking on
multiple platforms all at once.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
So I don't know.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
Will we become thicker? Have we become thicker? I think
the answer is probably yes. It's just got twenty one
minutes after five. You're on News Talks ZB. I'll tell
you why noise canceling headphones are a bad idea shortly. Also, next,
i'll tell you about how many government departments we have
in New Zealand compared to everyone's favorite country at the moment, Ireland.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to
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