BEHIND THE CAMERA: How The Current Media Landscape Breaks You Down

I was reluctant to become a freelancer. Anxiety was already a constant with discrimination–both gender and weight bias–making the occasional drive-bys into my life.  So why add onto it with the possible uncertainty of consistent work? 

But in early 2023, I decided to make the leap. I would finally go out on my own, peddling my services as an executive producer, showrunner, development executive, and creative consultant. My timing couldn’t be any worse.

The television and media industry is suffering through one of the worst contractions in this century. The wave of content, hundreds of channels, high-end/high-cost programming, and unlimited choices for the viewer came crashing down. Wall Street had bet big on streaming, following Netflix’s lead. That is where the real money was, not in musty old cable and broadcast channels. Add in a dash of disaster with COVID nearly completely destroying theaters and streaming seemed like a good bet.

I rode that wave. I had shows on four streamers, a few on cable, and was branching out into the digital media landscape, producing shorts for YouTube, Instagram, and elsewhere. One outlet even asked if we had a big enough budget to do the series right. I can’t stress how odd this was; a buyer never asks if you billed enough money. Ever. But a streamer war was on and whatever it took to win, they were willing to spend it. 

You don’t have to be an economist to understand why it all went south. First, you can’t spend, spend, spend without a return on your investment. That means platforms like Disney+, Max, Paramount+, and others were not hitting their subscription numbers–their main source of revenue. And cable? They have two key revenue sources: affiliate fees and ad sales. Cha-ching, right? Not exactly because the boost to streaming meant the start of the Great Cable Cutting Era. Cable dropped by 10, 20….+50% since 2017.

Think about it: in 2025, less than 50% of the US households will have cable.

For many in our industry, especially those on the ground creating the programming that filled the airwaves, this crash was a shock. Think about it: you’re a top notch producer/editor/researcher/ line producer and work has been non-stop since 2012. Then…silence. Producer Patrick Caliguiri wrote about this exact experience. A career you’ve poured your heart and soul into suddenly *poof* disappears. 

My background is in show development and sales so I was less shocked by the collapse than others. I am paid to keep my ear to the ground and knew “a storm was coming.” But I never in my wildest dreams thought what I figured to be a dumpster fire would be more like Pompeii. I saw friends–some of the most talented, capable, ego-free colleagues I had ever worked with– struggle to get even the most entry level job. 

This all takes a toll. We’re creatives and we need to create.

An article in Psychology Today states, “perhaps the most difficult thing for creative individuals to bear is the sense of loss and emptiness they experience when, for some reason, they cannot work.” Another study profiled by the wellness-coaching website Better Up shows that anxiety, depression, and poor mental health decreases a person’s creativity. So limited employment and a media landscape bereft of work contributes to poor mental health which, in turn, diminishes one’s creativity. 

Well, sh*t.

It’s a full-on shame and anxiety spiral that gains more energy the further you plummet. Add that it zaps your talent & self-worth. It’s hard to stop the downward slide. (And I know a lot of you, like myself, have battled these spirals even in the best of times so you know what I’m talking about.)

It’s not impossible to stop the slide. Remember: you are not alone. The data shows that. Talking about it openly with your colleagues and collaborators is ok. I know it’s hard. We’re in an industry that is all about being tough and powering through even the most ridiculous sh*t. But we do it as a team and, as a team, we can support each other through this.

I want to share a really hard truth: it’s not going back to the way it was. The industry has contracted, likely for the long term. Add in more and more AI tools and the need for creative professionals has shrunk. If it does bounce back to pre-2017 days, it won’t be for a while and it will look very, very different.

So where do we go from here? According to trades like The Puck and Deadline, the fire seems to be going out, the haze is lifting and a new landscape is revealing itself. Spending is increasing albeit slowly. Broadcast programs like Elspeth, Matlock, High Potential, and others are doing well. Broadcast offers two avenues for revenue: ad sales & streaming subscriptions. Television will never completely go away. That’s only one piece of good news.

The better news is that the media, as we know it, is evolving. The largest programming outlet is not Netflix or Disney. It’s YouTube. The latest data shows that YouTube has over 2.49 billion monthly active users, which is more than a third of the world's population. That is where creativity is thriving. Sure–just like all media outlets, some of it is junk. But there is an opportunity to remain creative and shape the content to your liking and not what the analytics say.

A quick side note on analytics: data is good when seeing things that aren’t obvious. Viewers love Adam Sandler? Yup. They do. But let me remind you of the book and movie Moneyball. If analytics and data had all the answers, the Oakland A’s would have won multiple World Series titles by now. What the data does not show are the intangibles. The ingredients that make good into great: the Kiké Hernandez/Howie Kendrick factor & The Incredible Dr. Pol & Schitt’s Creek special-ness. Gut feelings are legit. 

As the media evolves, so should we. If we can make the transition from ¾” to Digibeta to HD-Tape to fully digital, we can adapt our skills to new avenues. I have an interview series called LIFE AFTER TV where I talk to professionals who have used their talents to succeed in other industries. Have a watch. These women are a good reminder of the skillsets we have as television professionals and how valuable we are.

Look. We have been beaten up for the past two years. Like I said, I picked the wrong time to quit sniffing glue. It’s hard to stop a shame spiral. But like Ralphie in A Christmas Story, you can stop the descent. Find allies and camaraderie. Remind yourself of how your skills are enormously valuable. Find ways to evolve into other industries. Keep being creative so you keep yourself inspired. 

And know that the haze seems to be lifting. The path in television is becoming clearer. You can do this.