Flarlandian television crisis of 2021
The Flarlandian television crisis of 2021 is a crisis sparked by the mistreatment of "quality productions" made by the ensemble of terrestrial broadcasters in Flarland (FBC, UWB, IBC, Channel Ten), accusing the two leading broadcasters (IBC and Channel Ten) of being "nationalist", "populist" and "undermining positive qualities of the Flarlandian television framework", as well as accusing the broadcasters of being anti-Sierran, claiming that imports are too expensive. This has raised concerns about the broadcasters and claims that they are also unable in partaking in international co-productions with media bigshots like ITN.
Context[edit | edit source]
2020 was marked by a pandemic, international calls for flawed equality, and attacks against Hayatelaris in Belmont. These three events combined sparked a massive rise in nationalist movements in Flarland. Despite populist movements losing support throughout the pandemic, there are accusations that the leading broadcasters in the country have been accused of being "populist" in their entertainment.
Amidst measures to curb the pandemic, by June 2020, IBC decided to replace all of its Sunday afternoon movies with a "faux nationalist" program, We Are Flarland, consisting of IBC staff travelling across the country to show the supposedly positive qualities of the country. The program became a sleeper hit among the elderly, but sparked criticism from netizens online, including the population that hasn't been subscribed to streaming services yet. IBC had already stopped programming movies on Sunday afternoons regularly in 2012, replacing it with reality content and similars.
The FBC and the UWB has both reduced the amount of foreign content in 2020 over its core television channels, replacing it with reruns of existing Flarlandian content made before the pandemic, including constant reruns of The Flarlandian Challenge on FBC 1.
For decades, Sierran content has made up the bane of weekend programming on Flarlandian television.
Earlier on, as television was catching on worldwide, countries with a highly-developed television industry exported television series to many countries that already had television services. This relationship already started when the FBC Television Service began, airing filmed series such as I Love Lucy as early as 1952, however up until the fall of PM Quimby's administration, imports from Nashland were also common, especially after the start of commercial television in the Britannic countries. Despite this situation the Flarlandian broadcasters were able to produce "license to print money" exports, the most successful of them being Cop Out.
By the 2000s, foreign movies were now shown primarily on weekends, and on weekdays, late at night. Jibes were being taken by employees of the private broadcasters that foreign shows were only bought for burnout overnight, particularly after the rise of Big Brother on Channel Ten.
In the late 2010s, social experiments, caused by the success of Married at First Sight Northulia on She, started dominating television ratings. One network that got particularly affected by this wave of programming was IBC, who continued investing in these programs well after the pandemic. While the production of soaps struggled during the pandemic, with periods of halted production, some were unable to continue due to the generalized situation, and especially on the commercial broadcasters, where they were replaced with overtly populist social experiments. The apex was the insistence of making two consecutive series of Farmer Wants a Wife Flarland on IBC, including a daily format (imported from Real), considered to be "attractive for foreign buyers", but received disinterest from foreign broadcasters.
Promoting the "streaming agenda"[edit | edit source]
The current audiovisual landscape has led to a division of viewing habits between linear television and streaming services.
Actual causes[edit | edit source]
Sierran production companies are reducing licensing, particularly those that have a streaming service attached to them (Disney with Disney+, WB with HBO Max, etc)
