Are a lot of shows on Australian tv digital?

With the success of Game of Thrones which features a lot of violence and nudity, what does this mean for the future of TV shows in general and movies?

• Will shows in the future rely on these things to promote their shows and does this set a standard in terms of the nudity and violence being allowed?

• Answer:

  This will have very little impact on TV shows in general. This is because the use of violence and nudity is not a new innovation. HBO has been doing this for decades (with an 's', as in multiple). Take a view at this list of programming by HBO: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_programs_broadcast_by_HBO HBO has been airing programming with gratuitous nudity in them since 1990 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_On_(TV_series) or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Sex) and shows with violence years before that (i.e. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker_(TV_series)). And the list of shows that fulfill these categories is very long. As highlights I would suggest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sopranos, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tru_Blood and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadwood_(TV_series). And this is just a single cable network. Showtime is just as gratuitous, if not quite as popular with award committees. (e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexter_(TV_series), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Borgias_(2011_TV_series), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_Sex). But only a handful of TV channels create content of this sort. And all are paid subscription (although some like El Rey are part of very broad cable packages). Most cable channels hold to the same restrictions that broadcast TV in the United States is legally required to use. No nudity, profanity or excessive violence. With this cultural (and for broadcast TV, legal) restriction in place, the titillating content of the pay cable channels really doesn't have much influence on content. And since you mention movies, the rating PG-13 is the most desirable rating for movie studios. This rating maximizes the audiences that can see it, because 12-year-olds don't buy their own movie tickets, so you can expect them to be there with an adult. And the intensity of the content is likely to appeal to worldwide audiences, while being unlikely to offend; even in Muslim countries or other locations with nudity bans. And movies are already able to make R-rating (or higher!) movies. And they do this several times a year. But those movies do not garner audiences as large as the PG-13 ones, mostly because of the restrictions on teens viewing the movie, but also because the strong content is a turn off for many. Lastly, I think you over rate the popularity of Game of Thrones. This show is still increasing in viewership, now getting an average of nearly 7 million viewers in the U.S.. The Big Bang Theory gets numbers like that consistently. And that's easy for them because they are not behind a pay wall and feature content that is all-ages. In comparison to those two the World Cup final netted 26 million in the U.S.. In fact, Game of Thrones viewership isn't even in the top 50: http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/05/23/top-50-most-watched-shows-2013-14/