Commercial mandates/media rights and how they affect Brooklyn Nine-Nine

“A profit media company ultimately serves an agenda of keeping the business going and making more money than it spends.” (Newman 2022, p. 13) This profit-driven approach is the primary concern for the company, dictating the budget allocation for the TV show. However, the company also aims to educate and entertain the audience (Newman 2022, pp. 13). In this context, TV shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine play a significant role in informing their audience about crucial social issues such as race and sexuality (Joseph, 2018). This paper will delve into the commercial mandates that have shaped the show into what we see today, including the show’s rights and their impact on viewership, and how consumer habits contribute to the profitability of platforms like Netflix.

Digital rights management (DRM) is a system that manages the appropriate use of content. (Subramanya and Yi, 2006) This is very relevant to the show Brooklyn Nine-Nine, as this show has been on a lot of different commercial media platforms such as Hulu, Peacock, and Netflix. These platforms did not have the full rights to the show, but they did have the licensing rights to stream the show. Platforms such as Netflix need permission from the show to gain the right to have it on the platform (Rešetar and Seljan, 2021, pp. 289). Fox dropped and canceled Brooklyn Nine-Nine to free up the schedule for other shows, which caused outrage from fans as the show connected with them on an emotional scale (Sandra, 2018). Loyalty to fans of the show could potentially increase the number of people who subscribe to platforms such as Netflix just so that they can watch the show that they love, for example, Brooklyn Nine.

The demand for the show encourages people to subscribe to platforms like Netflix. This then coincides with the way Netflix makes its revenue through the subscriber model. (NYC Media Lab, 2021) However, with Netflix, the one-way revenue stream could be putting businesses at a disadvantage as, at this moment in time, the amount of competition in media streaming is growing at a rapid rate; platforms such as Peacock, HBO Plus, and Disney are all implementing advertisements on their platforms to create more than one revenue stream. (NYC Media Lab, 2021) This could be a problem for Netflix as the subscriber model might not work in less developed geographical locations with larger populations. This could mean that Netflix could be missing out on opportunities to increase its revenue in comparison to its competitors, such as HBO+. (NYC Media Lab, 2021)

“Almost all large-scale media operations today function under a commercial mandate.” (Havens and Lotz 2017, p.4) What this means is that there are a few criteria that need to be met and focused on within, and the one that is focused on in this paper is the media for profit. This criterion is mainly focused on commercial media, where making a profit and increasing revenue are essential. “The production budget is one of the most important tools of TV project management, and therefore it is important to identify the main cost items, expected revenues and the basic factors of television production profitability.” (Jaska, 2014, pp. 58) Media for profit is critical and can shape the way that “we” the audience views and interprets the content; however the money/budget is equally important as it dictates what the director can put into production. It allows the director to be more accessible and put their vision of what they want into fruition in costume, set, and plot design. (Dougan et al., 2015). Commercial mandates, such as media for profit, shape the content we see in a visual sense. However, it can also help the audience understand the message of the content better through good storytelling, as when directors have the funds for talented scriptwriters and actors/actresses to portray their vision. However, this can also be subjective as everyone has a different view on what they think is “good” and “bad.” As Mia Merchant from The Huntington News quotes, “Humans are hard-wired for dichotomous thinking, or thinking about things in terms of binary opposites without acknowledging everything in between.” (News and Merchant, 2021). This quote means that people don’t seem to look deeper into the content before making a predetermined notion of it, which could lead to a problem, as Brooklyn Nine-Nine touches on a lot of sensitive social topics.

In conclusion, in regards to Brooklyn Nine-Nine commercial mandates, such as media for profit, it definitely impacts the show and how people could perceive it, and so can the rights of the show as it brings different types of viewership and could impact factors such as revenue.

Reference list:

Dougan, S. (2015). How do budget limitations affect your design process? [online] pdcollective.

Available at: https://www.productiondesignerscollective.org/pdcforum/how-do-budget-limitations-affect-your- design-process%3F.

Havens, T. and Lotz, A. (2017) Understanding media industries. Oxford University Press. Jaska, E. (2014). TV Show Budgeting. Social Sciences, 85(3). doi:https://doi.org/10.5755/j01.ss.85.3.8410.

Joseph, G. (2018). Race, Sexuality and Brooklyn Nine-Nine: The Importance of Representation in Pop Culture. [online] UTS Society of Communications. Available at: https://utsocs.com/2018/04/24/brooklyn-nine-nine-inclusivity/ [Accessed 14 Oct. 2024].

Newman, M.Z. (2024). Redirecting. [online] Stir.ac.uk. Available at: https://www-taylorfrancis-com.ezproxy-s2.stir.ac.uk/reader/read-online/c4b644f3-8f91-40b2-96b 7-acc99b2d4c3f/chapter/pdf?context=ubx.

News and Merchant, M. (2021). Column: Acknowledging the good and bad in everything — The Huntington News. [online] The Huntington News. Available at: https://huntnewsnu.com/65954/editorial/column-acknowledging-the-good-and-bad-in-everything / [Accessed 16 Oct. 2024].

NYC Media Lab (2021). Tech + Storytelling: Evan Shapiro’ s Keynote ‘How to Navigate the Media Wars & Save Your Film Career’ . [online] Y ouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypZv134DZ6I [Accessed 15 Oct. 2024].

Rešetar, J. and Seljan, M., The Case study of Netflix. Company analysis and risk management strategies in the global business environment–a case study collection, pp.279–318.

Sandra, G. (2018). ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ canceled. [online] Proquest.com. Available at: https://www.proquest.com/docview/2036850995?parentSessionId=owO3dG8MDl%2BgrW1M642jqA1cXLVLCw5GZNusUF7mhu8%3D&pq-origsite=primo&accountid=14755&sourcetype=Wire%20Feeds [Accessed 15 Oct. 2024].

Subramanya, S.R. and Yi, B.K. (2006). Digital rights management. IEEE Potentials, [online] 25(2), pp.31–34. doi:https://doi.org/10.1109/MP .2006.1649008.