Voice activated

Forget Alexa and Siri. It is 2025 and audiences are now voice activated. At least

this is the latest Netflix guideline: screenwriters should use more descriptive

dialogues that make it easier for people to follow what they are watching while

multitasking (like being on X or Instagram) - more on CBR. As writer and fact

checker Will Tavlin put it in his article "Casual Viewing", the problem is that

"Netflix doesn't just survive when no one is watching—it thrives."

Nothing new

This primitive oral technique is no stranger to television. Actually, it is the very

base of Latin America telenovelas: a constant narration of what is happening,

plus a repetition of what happened in the previous scenes, in a way that no

viewer will be left out no matter what they are doing. True to be told, telenovelas

derive from radionovelas, so it made sense that the audio still remained as

strong as the visual part of it. The question here is: does it make sense on

streamers as well?

Telenovelas Revived

The general soap opera format is very different from a TV series or movie: they

last an average of 12 months, with 6 weekly episodes of 60'. In this context,

repetition and narration make more sense, since plots are much longer and

intertwined (more on BBC News).

A 7pm telenovela that airs during dinner time, for example - when viewers are

cooking, doing homework, catching up about their day, or eating - needs to

compete with louder conversations between family members. But Netflix is

using this formula to compete with the small screen.

Curb-Cut Effect

This is not all. The giant streamer is going the extra mile. On top of adding very

descriptive dialogues to the scripts, the audio feature (initially created for people

with hearing disabilities) now became a new modality of viewership. It turned

into what is called "the curb-cut effect", when something designed to help one

group ends up benefitting others.

And it gets more elaborate, because the descriptions change the narratives.

"Bridgerton", for example, got a saucier version for the ones listening and

watching at the same time. More on The Wall Street Journal.

Finding your relevance

One of the main points to get a TV show or a film to meet their audience is to

understand what is behind the content. We are here to help you determine how

your viewership will be composed of watchers, readers and multitaskers. As the

entertainment industry gets more and more complex, we want you to focus on

what is relevant and let us deal with the rest.

Wishing you all a wonderful 2025 ahead!

Laura