TV is getting dumber

Summary

Podcast Summary: Today, Explained – "TV is getting dumber"

Release Date: August 7, 2026
Hosts: Noel King, C T Jones
Guest: Julia Alexander (Media Correspondent, Puck News)

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the explosive rise of "microdramas," short-form episodic video content designed for mobile viewing, and considers whether the television industry as a whole is, as the title suggests, getting "dumber." The hosts and their guest unpack why microdramas have become a booming business, how they affect the economics and creative direction of entertainment, and whether streaming services are intentionally lowering the sophistication of their content to compete with rapidly changing viewer habits.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Microdramas: What Are They and Why Are They Popular?

(02:30–07:04)

• Definition & Format:

  • Microdramas are short episodic films made to be consumed on phones, often filmed in portrait mode and distributed through apps.
  • Episode counts can reach 60–90, with episodes running 4–10 minutes each.
  • "They're meant to be watched and shared primarily on your cell phone as you're scrolling, clicking on apps." – C T Jones (02:33)

• Appeal & Viewer Behavior:

  • Microdramas appeal to short attention spans and modern viewing habits where people prefer staying on their phones instead of switching devices or platforms.
  • Example: Watching brief clips of shows like "Ugly Betty" instead of full episodes—"if you're on the subway ... you're like, I could watch 2:45 second clips" – C T Jones (03:50)

• Sample Titles & Content:

  • Often melodramatic, with titles like "Loving My Brother's Best Friend" or "I Kissed a CEO and He Liked It."
  • The success isn't about inventive storytelling: "The titles themselves aren't very inventive, but they don't need to be to capture audiences." – C T Jones (05:04)

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2. Monetization & Economics of Microdramas

(05:30–07:04)

• Usually free to start, but further episodes require small payments ($4–$15 for more "credits")—often adding up to more than standard streaming subscriptions.
• "Most of these microdrama apps in a yearly format cost far more than a Netflix subscription or a Hulu subscription." – C T Jones (06:56)
• The model is instant feedback and monetization through microtransactions as viewers want to follow "what happens next" (often left on a cliffhanger).

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3. Origins and Production of Microdramas

(07:04–10:52)

• Origins:

  • Imported from China, where microdramas became immensely popular between 2018–2020—now a massive domestic industry.
  • "Over a billion Internet users in China. Half of them have watched these mini drama series before, and a third ... are scrolling through them every day." – Noel King (07:30)

• Production Model:

  • Fast, cheap, and with ultra-tight production schedules.
  • Mixed experiences for actors: some report fair pay and on-the-job training; others cite grueling conditions, poor pay, and racial disparities.
  • Gender disparity in roles and on-set experience: "For actresses, you scream, cry, throw up on command, and then you run off to go get waterboarding." – Quote referencing actor Molly Anderson, as paraphrased by C T Jones (09:14)

• Pay:

  • Varies widely: writers may get $2,000 per script, actors often $500/day—affordable for non-union actors.
  • "From a Hollywood perspective, you can say yes to projects because you're not committing the world and ... costs ... disappear or round up to small percentages for giant projects." – C T Jones (10:15)

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4. Will Microdramas Change Hollywood?

(10:52–13:14)

• Despite exec interest in cost-saving, microdramas are not expected to reshape Hollywood’s core model.

• "Microdramas aren't about ... taking over the Emmys, taking over the Oscars." – C T Jones (11:53)

• Their strengths are in capturing passive, in-between moments, not in demanding attention or prestige.

• Notable Quote:

  • "Microdramas work the best when you're not really watching them." – C T Jones (12:38)

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5. The "Second Screen Problem" and Viewer Attention

(17:51–19:38)

• Definition:

  • The "second screen" refers to phones or tablets people use while supposed to be watching TV, resulting in fragmented attention.
  • For creatives, this means less audience focus; for executives, a fear that TikTok, Instagram Reels, etc., siphon off valuable attention and subscriptions.
  • "We've always been distracted by other forms of entertainment ... We've just never had as many things competing for such tiny slices of the attention pie." – Julia Alexander (19:23)

• Modern Comparison:

  • Instagram/TikTok infinitely more compelling and less demanding than, for example, “reading a Dean Koontz novel during the TV show.” – Noel King (19:38)

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6. Is TV Being Intentionally Dumbed Down?

(19:46–23:05)

• Recent report alleged Netflix execs told writers to "dumb down" new shows, causing backlash.

• Industry Insider Perspective:

  • No executive is overtly saying, "make shittier television," but there is acknowledgment that content needs to be clearer and more direct due to attention fragmentation.
  • "It's not about dumbing down. It's about acknowledging where the future of competition is coming from." – Julia Alexander (21:24)

• Audience Outrage:

  • People are attached to the idea of high-quality TV and insulted by the suggestion that it’s being ‘dumbed down,’ but audience behavior often tells a different story:
  • "If people really did not want Irish Wish, they would not watch Irish Wish." – Julia Alexander (22:40)

• Golden Age of TV:

  • 15 years ago, film talent fled movies for prestige TV, resulting in a content boom. With competition from YouTube and TikTok, that golden age faded and "quantity over quality" set in—creating, as Julia calls it (24:40), "unintentional slop."

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7. The Content Future: Infinite Slop or Eventual Renaissance?

(25:02–27:19)

• Julia predicts a coming "infinite content era" driven by generative AI and microdramas, resulting in even more low-quality content.
• Audience tastes may eventually drive a swing back toward quality, with premium platforms charging much more (perhaps $40–$50/month) for distinctive, high-quality offerings.
• "We're going to have to go and figure out where that [good storytelling] is and we're going to pay for it." – Julia Alexander (25:56)
• Despite potential shakeout and industry shrinkage, “really high-quality art has always stayed and people have always sought it out.” – Julia Alexander (27:08)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On microdrama business model:

  • "If you look at it, most of these microdrama apps in a yearly format cost far more than a Netflix subscription or a Hulu subscription or a max subscription..." – C T Jones (06:56)

• On lack of production quality:

  • "Microdramas work the best when you're not really watching them... I bet if you watched a microdrama like that you would go, wait a minute, I don't, I don't think this makes sense. This might not even be good." – C T Jones (12:38)

• On the golden age fading:

  • "Fifteen years ago... movie stars and writers ... moved to TV. For a period... Stunning, well written, gorgeous television. ... Competition for eyeballs ... started to really speed up. ... you're getting a lot more unintentional slop." – Julia Alexander (23:39–24:40)

• On audience hypocrisy:

  • "I was watching Frankenstein the other night with my fiance, and he was playing Candy Crush the entire time. ... Then a group chat the next day, he's complaining about the quality of films..." – Julia Alexander (22:02)

• On the long-term future:

  • "In terms of producing really high caliber art throughout it all, really high quality art has always stayed and people have always sought it out." – Julia Alexander (27:08)

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Detailed Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Content | Time | |---|---|---| | Microdrama format & appeal | What microdramas are and how phones shape content | 02:30–04:31 | | Monetization and business model | How microdrama apps make money | 05:30–07:04 | | History & International influence | How China innovated the microdrama, and Hollywood’s adaptation | 07:04–08:05 | | Life for microdrama actors | Working conditions and pay | 08:05–10:52 | | Will microdramas disrupt Hollywood? | Industry dynamics, limitations of the microdrama model | 10:52–13:14 | | Second screen problem | How phone use fragments attention and shapes industry response | 17:51–19:38 | | Is content being dumbed down? | Reactions to claims that execs demand less complex TV, and why | 19:46–23:05 | | The "infinite slop" future | Generative AI, the premiumization of quality, and long-term predictions | 25:02–27:19 |

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Conclusion

The episode presents a nuanced view: while TV and online video are unquestionably changing—often in ways that lead to more abundant but lower-quality content—demand for high-quality storytelling will persist and, in the long run, direct the market back toward more carefully crafted work, albeit at a higher price and with a smaller pool of traditional TV and film professionals. Microdramas aren't out to win Emmys; they're designed to fill idle moments, not movie theaters.

Optimistic takeaway:
Quality art survives shifts in business models and technology—viewers who want great TV or movies will seek and pay for them, even in a crowded "slop" era.

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Summary by Vox's "Today, Explained" | For more: todayexplained.com

Transcript

[Noel King]

Today's show is a rerun. Americans, it seems have fallen back in love with going to the movies.

[C T Jones]

Help me go home.

[Noel King]

The Odyssey is nudging up on a billion dollars in ticket sales. Brand new day already hit a billion.

[Julia Alexander]

You're gonna forget who I am.

[C T Jones]

What? What are you talking about?

[Noel King]

A tiny indie horror movie called Obsession did almost half a billion at the box office.

[Julia Alexander]

Bear, I love you so, so, so, so, so much.

[Noel King]

I don't think I could live without you for a while. The smart money said movies were dead. Hollywood, PIV on micro dramas. Disney, Fox, Alexis Ohanian, Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner. All these bold faced names poured millions of dollars into the teeny tiny next big thing. We're gonna explain why they did. Coming up on Today Explained from Fox.

[Julia Alexander]

Help me today explain. I love you so, so, so, so, so much.

[C T Jones]

What? What?

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[C T Jones]

It's a day explained Today Explained.

[Noel King]

Gotta get down on the day explained.

[C T Jones]

I'm C T Jones. I am a staff writer at Rolling Stone where I cover entertainment culture and the Internet.

[Noel King]

What exactly is a microdrama?

[C T Jones]

What a fantastic question. Microdramas are these short episodic films and they're filmed portrait mode and they're meant to be watched and shared primarily on your cell phone. So as you're scrolling, clicking on apps, that's where microdramas appear.

[Noel King]

Okay, great. And now I Have so many more questions. Microdrama. Micro. I mean, microdrama is like me texting my sister about my brother. What? Why is it called a microdrama?

[C T Jones]

Yeah, the whole point of them is that they're short, right? So they're in between films and TV seasons. But there are 60 to 90 episodes, and these episodes can range anywhere from four minutes to 10 to seven. It depends entirely on the project that you're watching. So that's why they call them micro. But it also refers to. To kind of the speed and the production. So we're talking about projects that have very, very, very tiny budgets and they have a very, very, very tiny shoot time. So altogether, microdrama, what is the appeal? Yeah, I think one of the really interesting things we've seen about the Internet in the past couple of years is that the way people scroll are changing the ways your attention span works. So we've already seen in cases like Mad Men, not Great Bob and Ugly Betty. Hi, that's me. People are watching things on their phone now. And that there is a link between how long people are willing to watch TV show, even if it's cut up into 100, 200 parts, if it means that they don't have to get off of their phone, go onto their laptop and log onto the streaming service where they know that that show exists. And it's also created for these kind of attention spans. So, like, you don't have time to probably watch four episodes of Ugly Betty between your commute and the. But if you're on the subway and you have access to data, you're like, I could watch 2:45 second clips of ugly Betty. You are an attractive, intelligent, confident businesswoman.

[Noel King]

All right, so what's an example of a microdrama that's super popular? Like, what is the Young and the Restless microdrama or the Breaking Bad? Microdrama.

[C T Jones]

So the best thing about microdramas is that they're not really dependent on these type of audiences that will give them the role. So basically, there are a bunch of titles that I could like, name. For instance, Loving My Brother's Best friend.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

You have got to get over this crush. He's your brother's best friend.

[C T Jones]

Or I kissed a CEO and he liked it.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

Well, boss, who was that? I haven't seen you kiss anyone like that in ages.

[C T Jones]

The titles themselves aren't very inventive, but they don't need to be to capture audiences.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

And tell Nate, I'm not gonna kill his sister. I'm gonna marry her.

[C T Jones]

Elena, I can't be with you.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

I'm just a man with a prosthetic.

[Noel King]

Aiden Gold is aw an alpha and I refuse to be his mate. How is anyone, Everyone? How is money being made here and for whom? Yeah.

[C T Jones]

So basically what happens? It's kind of a freebie situation where you will either get an ad served an ad for these micro dramas, usually a very poignant part of the show.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

I have a proposition for you. Kind of a proposition.

[Noel King]

I know your situation.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

You're working three jobs, you got a

[Julia Alexander]

pile of medical bills, and you're behind on everything else.

[Noel King]

How do you know all of that?

[C T Jones]

That is exciting, is narrative driven. I will take care of all that.

[Noel King]

I'll take care of you.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

All you have to do is one

[C T Jones]

thing for me, and then it cuts right before you find out what happens next.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

What's the catch?

[C T Jones]

And then the ad pops up and it's like, please go to the app to continue more.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

You have to marry my daughter.

[C T Jones]

But for people who are active microdrama watchers, what usually happens is you have a free subscription and you can watch up to a certain amount of episodes of a particular show, and then it costs anywhere between 4 to $15 to upload more credits so that you can finish the rest of the show. And a lot of these microdramas, because they are kind of reliant on these instant transactions. It's instant feedback, right? It's people who want to scroll, people who want to keep scrolling and keep following this. They're willing to be like, okay, here's $2, here's $3, here's $2 to finish the show. When in reality, if you look at it, most of these micro drama apps in a yearly format cost far more than a Netflix subscription or a Hulu subscription or a max subscription, as it were.

[Noel King]

Where do microdramas come from?

[C T Jones]

Microdramas are actually an import. The very first place where they really took off in popularity was actually in China. Oh. Between 2018 and 2020, we saw this huge, huge rise in interest in micro dramas. Look, there are over a billion Internet users in China.

[Noel King]

Half of them have watched these mini drama series before, and a third of them are scrolling through them every day. So It's a huge industry. 35.

[C T Jones]

But what China really set apart from this was that you could make micro dramas fast and cheap. And a lot of other countries saw the success of that and decided, we can do this as well. So when the United States kind of took on all of the things that made Chinese microdramas so successful, they ran into this huge Wall which was we can make things fast and we can make things cheap. I don't know if the actors are going to like it very much.

[Noel King]

What is it like to be an actor and actress in a microdrama?

[C T Jones]

It all depends on who hires you. A lot of microdramas in LA have tried to set themselves apart, especially these newer companies, as places where you can get great pay. You can kind of learn on the fly. You're getting a bunch of things and a lot of training that you might not get, say if you were straight out of NYU's Tisch. But other experiences on other sets could mean that if you sign with a microdrama company who is just in it to make the content as fast as possible. A lot of actors allege these grueling hours, poor pay, racial disparity in leading roles and lack of stunt safety. I talked to one vertical actress, 24 year old Molly Anderson, who told me about kind of how much harder it is for women who are acting in these micro dramas than men. Men have these beautiful, a lot of times handsome roles where they're the sex symbols. And micro dramas have mainly female audiences. Molly told me the male actor is going to be dressed up in a very nice suit and maybe he's got to shed a single tear once or twice, but for the most part he's going to stand in the back, brood and then sweep you off your feet. For actresses, you scream, cry, throw up on command, and then you run off to go get waterboarding.

[Noel King]

You are not gonna crack, you are just gonna cry.

[Julia Alexander]

You are gonna cry like you've never cried before. But your spirit, your spirit remain solid.

[C T Jones]

That's the typical day.

[Noel King]

Yikes. Are you Getting paid for 70 episodes?

[C T Jones]

One of the interesting things about microdramas is that the contracts also vary wildly depending on what company you're working with. So as a writer, you could be looking at $2,000 to just hand in a script. As an author who has a book idea that they want to kind of take and use a thousand, five thousand, it really, really depends on who you're working with and how much they want it. For an actor, you're probably looking at $500 a day, which is super, super, super affordable and really great rate for people who are non union. And from a Hollywood perspective, you can say yes to projects because you're not committing the world and if anything you're committing $100,000 here, another hundred thousand dollars there. Costs and money that would frankly disappear or round up to small percentages for giant projects. I've talked to a bunch of vertical actors who are kind of caught in the middle of this. They see the way that the industry is changing and they love the idea of Hollywood executives being more willing to say yes to stories. What they're concerned about is that verticals, and particularly the way that they are made, will leave these actors behind in the process.

[Noel King]

Hollywood is obviously having a lot of problems right now. So if you're Hollywood and you're seeing, hey, there's a way to do 70 episodes and pay an actor, you know, $500 a day and still make a little bit of money with every single person who views them, do you think that this is gonna change Hollywood?

[C T Jones]

I actually don't. I think microdramas are incredibly interesting, but I think the problem Hollywood sees right now is frankly, a cowardice. Hollywood is drowning right now under this exhaustion with IP because for the past five years, executives have been afraid to make creative content. Microdramas, on the other hand, succeed by creating serialized content with storylines that are virtually public domain. So it's IP just so many IPs crammed together that you're like, yeah, I guess I'll watch it. Sure, I'll watch this. Werewolf billionaire CEO. Do you see what I mean? All of those buzzwords smashed together. I don't think this will change Hollywood, but I think it's because microdramas aren't intending to change Hollywood. Microdramas aren't about, you know, taking over the Emmys, taking over the Oscars. I doubt that you could find a microdrama CEO who says yes. I think kissing my brother's best friend is gonna sweep this year at the Oscars.

[Julia Alexander]

That's fine. I'm not afraid of some competition.

[C T Jones]

But what they want to do is target viewers that during their in between time, these kind of passive scrolls that you cano can kind of give your attention to an ad or a three minute clip about a cheerleader or a hockey player or a kind of sexy werewolf. This is where micro dramas thrive. And this is why I think they won't ever actually take over Hollywood, because they don't want your intention. Microdramas work the best when you're not really watching them. Because if you were going to watch a microdrama like you might watch the new Springsteen movie in a dark room with your closest friends. You've got nothing but time to look at the screen. I bet if you watched a microdrama like that you would go, wait a minute, I don't, I don't think this makes sense. This might not even be good.

[Noel King]

How could rules were never her thing not be good? Just me. C T Jones writes for Rolling Stone. Coming up, Is TV getting dumber? Yes, of course it is. You don't need me to explain that. But did studio executives order it to get dumber? We're going to ask.

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[Noel King]

Cool.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

Which seat you choose?

[Noel King]

Which seat should I take? Today Explained is so back with Julia Alexander. Julia is a media correspondent at Puck News. So, Julia, in the first half of the show, we talked about microdramas. You know what these are?

[Julia Alexander]

Yes.

[Noel King]

Do you have a favorite one?

[Julia Alexander]

In the sense that they're all the same, I suppose I enjoy all of them as much as I dislike all of them.

[Noel King]

What is the appeal? What is the love hate grounded in?

[Julia Alexander]

Do you know what it is? It's not for me. And I understand the love for it, though I think the Venn diagram of people who like micro dramas and people who love to read smutty fan fiction is like one giant circle. And I think actually the appeal of microdramas is that they're not a Netflix original or a Martin Scorsese movie. They're the complete opposite. They're a guilty pleasure at 99 cents a chapter.

[Noel King]

We were gonna title this episode the Second Screen Problem, but nobody actually knows what that means. When people in the industry talk about the second screen problem, what do they mean?

[Julia Alexander]

So it depends on who you're asking. In the industry, if you talk to creatives. The second screen, meaning the phone that you're watching TikTok's on while watching a movie on your TV or the iPad. You're surfing Exxon while watching a TV show on your big TV. The second screen is just a lack of attention that is being paid to the main movie or film on the television. But if you talk to executives, the question or the problem of the second screen, rather, is one of does the adoration for TikTok and Instagram Reels and YouTube shorts mean that people will spend enough less time with our streaming services that they'll cancel and we have to fight back for those subscribers? But before the phone came around, people would do this with magazines and they would do it with books, and they would do it with other things. We've always been distracted by other forms of entertainment competing for our attention. We've just never had as many things competing for such tiny slices of the attention pie.

[Noel King]

And Instagram is much more compelling than, like reading a Dean Koontz novel during. During the TV show.

[Julia Alexander]

Yeah, it requires far less brain power.

[Noel King]

I want to ask you about something that got everyone so angry when we found out about it earlier this year. So there was reporting in N1 saying that Netflix executives are telling writers to dumb down the writing in TV shows and movies and make it really clear what is happening. So this scene from the movie Irish Wish is used as an example in their reporting. We spent a day together.

[Julia Alexander]

I admit it was a beautiful day and filled with dramatic vistas and romantic rain, but that doesn't give you the

[Noel King]

right to question my life choices.

[Julia Alexander]

Tomorrow I'm marrying Paul Kennedy.

[Noel King]

Do people in the industry as you are, do people who cover the industry, did they know that this was happening?

[Julia Alexander]

So I think it's important to clarify that no one is out. And by no one, I mean no executive is out saying, dumb this down. No executive is out in the town saying, hey, by the way, make shittier television. That's really gonna help us when we increase price again, right? What they're saying, if this is being said to people, and I have personally never heard it in my reporting, what there's. What they would be saying is we understand that our audience has less attention than they might have 10 years ago. And our audience has more opportunities to put that attention on another video format, whether they're watching Reels or TikTok. And we understand that that is our direct competitor in a way that, you know, someone flipping through a magazine or watching a movie that was not necessarily going to be A direct competitor. So it's not about dumbing down. It's about acknowledging where the future of competition is coming from.

[Noel King]

That actually makes a lot of sense to me. What from the perspective of the business, what actually surprised me is how many people seemed so furious about this.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

So I hate scripted television so much.

[Noel King]

Like, especially lately, like, I don't know,

[Julia Alexander]

it's just like, mind numbing.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

But I can't help but feel that this change is going to lead to the downfall of society.

[Noel King]

Where do you think as. As consumers of the stuff, as the people watching? Why does this make us angry?

[Julia Alexander]

I think we all want to believe that we are of higher quality, caliber than in fact, we are. And by that, I mean, you look at all these people who are outraged. I mean, I'd be outraged if someone came out and said Netflix is, you know, purposely dumbing stuff down. I'd be like, well, that sucks and I don't like it. But in reality, I was watching Frankenstein the other night with my fiance, and he was playing Candy Crush the entire time. And then a group chat the next day. He's complaining about the quality of films, but the quality of the film, such as Frankenstein, a beautiful Guillermo del Toro movie, which is not the Lindsay Lohan Irish Wish. It has nothing to do with a Netflix executive coming out and saying, you know, you've got to dumb this down. It has everything to do with the fact that they're responding to what people are saying in the actions that they do. And if people really did not want Irish Wish, they would not watch Irish Wish. But the Lindsay Lohan Christmas movies, for example, and all those other kind of Netflix fare that we associate with a specific trope are heavily watched. One of the effects of what you're seeing play out is that we had a golden age of television about 15 years ago.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

It's your job.

[Julia Alexander]

I give you money, you give me ideas.

[Noel King]

You never say thank you.

[C T Jones]

That's what the money is for.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

Say my name. Eisenberg. You're goddamn right.

[C T Jones]

I'm so looking forward to seeing your mother again. When I'm with her, I'm reminded of

[Julia Alexander]

the virtues of the English.

[C T Jones]

But isn't she American?

[Noel King]

Exactly. POTUS is gonna resign, and I'm about to become president.

[C T Jones]

America.

[Julia Alexander]

Fifteen years ago, a lot of the bigger movie stars and the writers and directors in film who didn't want to make Marvel movies and didn't want to make big sci fi blockbusters moved to TV. And so for a period of about 10 to 15 years, we had a great moment of just Stunning, well written, gorgeous television. And then what happened was the competition for eyeballs on the TV screen started to really speed up. And you had YouTube come in.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

Oh,

[Julia Alexander]

wow,

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

double rainbow all the way across the sky.

[Julia Alexander]

Oh my God. You had Mr.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

Beast, who would win in a game of tug of war, the strongest man on Earth, or 100 kids.

[Julia Alexander]

All of a sudden people were watching this type of fair on their television screens, and that meant that they were watching less Netflix or less Hulu or whatever it might have been. So all of the prestige fare that really worked on Cable, you know, 20 years ago, it stopped working as today. And so you're getting a lot more unintentional slop. But it's not because they're trying to produce it. It's that they're trying to produce just more content than ever before. And if you put quantity over quality, you're going to inherently get some rough, rough gems with mixed in with all those diamonds.

[Noel King]

Could you envision a world where viewers say, we don't want the slop, we don't want the dumb shows, we want prestige. Or is that unlikely to ever happen?

[Julia Alexander]

I actually think that's exactly what's going to happen, and it's going to take some time. But here's what I think is going to happen. The amount of generative AI contents we talk about soar too. You think about even these micro dramas a little bit, which in part are being made because of generative AI technologies that are allowing them to make things cheaper and faster. This is going to increase the amount of content. We're going to enter an infinite content era, and a lot of it's going to be really sloppy. And as humans who love good storytelling, it's like how you were seeking out really good TV and I try to seek out really good TV and films. We're going to have to go and figure out where that is and we're going to pay for it. And so you might have an Apple TV plus or a Netflix in 20 years, 25 years, be $40, $50 a month, but you'll pay for it because they will end up leaning into higher quality programming and backing away from some of the slop as that slop takes over all other content viewing. But in order to get to that breaking point, things have to break a little bit further.

[Noel King]

It is incredible to me that your take is so optimistic. I don't think I've heard this before. Everyone's so down on the future of movies and television.

[Julia Alexander]

I mean, there is a world that is inevitable in where YouTube will eat everyone's lunch. It's kind of it's been happening, it'll continue to happen. The baseline quality of YouTube videos will likely get better over time as creators get more savv. But it's never going to replace the need to watch a really good movie or a really good TV show. Now I think the number of those titles will come down and I think that's going to be really cataclysmic for people who work in Hollywood and people who work in this industry because you'll have fewer jobs. But in terms of producing really high caliber art throughout it all, really high quality art has always stayed and people have always sought it out. I really do believe that there's a world for some of these streaming services, not all, some of these directors and actors, not all, to continue to leave a really strong mark. But it's going to be a much smaller industry than it has been over the last 100 years.

[Noel King]

But there will still be an industry and it will still make good stuff

[Julia Alexander]

and it won't charge you 99 cents a chapter.

[Noel King]

Julia Alexander, media correspondent with Puck News, thank you. Kelly Wessinger produced today's show. Jolie Myers edited. Patrick Boyd and Adrienne Lilly are our engineers, Miles Bryan and Melissa Hirsch. Check the facts. I'm Noel King. It's Today Explained. Are you a pet owner? Every six seconds, a pet owner in the US gets hit with a vet bill over $1,000, always an unwelcome surprise. That's where Fetch comes in. Fetch is the most complete pet insurance for dogs and cats. According to consumeradvocate.org you get paid back up to 90% of vet bills at any vet in the US and Canada, with claims paid back in as little as two days. Go to fetchpet.com save right now for your free quote. That's fetchpet.com save.

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