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Article published In: Audiovisual translation in the age of streaming
Edited by Jinsil Choi, Kyung Hye Kim and Jonathan Evans
[Target 35:3] 2023
► pp. 455–475

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Disruptive AVT workflows in the age of streaming

The Netflix equation

ORCiD logo with link | Roehampton University
Published online: 24 August 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.00021.mas
Abstract
In the last decade, media industries have witnessed a shift in the way audiovisual content is localised, broadcast, and consumed by multifaceted audiences: from traditional linear TV to subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services. While this major shift has been well-documented by media studies scholars (Lotz, Amanda D. 2014. The Television Will Be Revolutionized. 2nd ed. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; . 2017a. “Rethinking International TV Flows Research in The Age of Netflix.” Television & New Media 19 (3): 241–256. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, . 2017b. “Streaming Services and the Changing Global Geography of Television.” In Handbook on Geographies of Technology, edited by Barney Warf, 178–192. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Storstein Spilker, Hendrik, and Terje Colbjørnsen. 2020. “The Dimensions of Streaming: Toward a Typology of an Evolving Concept.” Media, Culture & Society 42 (7–8): 1210–1225. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), the overall effect it has had on audiovisual translation (AVT) is relatively under-researched within Translation Studies. Hence, this article aims to delve into the current state of the art of AVT within a mediascape dominated by non-linear over-the-top (OTT) platforms. Drawing on the impact that streaming solutions such as Amazon Prime, Disney+, and Netflix have had on the acceleration of AVT workflows worldwide as a way to localise a high volume of content created to reach global audiences, my analysis focuses on their impact on the way subtitling workflows are managed and turnaround times scheduled. This study focuses on the day-of-broadcast (DOB) model, the media release strategy intended to make audiovisual content available ‘now and everywhere’. The disruptive nature of DOB models in localisation workflows is investigated using a case study, the ad hoc subtitling workflow devised for Netflix’s Chelsea, and analysed using a qualitative research method. The aim is to unveil the practices behind the scenes of the first global talk show subtitled in twenty languages with a turnaround time of only fourteen hours.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The Netflix equation
  • 3.Evolution of media and localisation industries
  • 4.Localising content on a global scale
    • 4.1The technology behind Netflix’s Chelsea
    • 4.2Subtitling in the fast lane
  • 5.The global talent crunch: Disruptive forces at work
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
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