20 Dec The 5 Trends That Shaped Streaming in 2021 [Vulture]
(Above) Netflix’s unexpected smash-hit of 2021, Squid Game.
By Josef Adalian
December 20, 2021 | It would be wrong to say the streaming business got back to “normal” in 2021. The pandemic remains the Great Disrupter, and COVID continues to be a constant consideration across so many aspects of our lives. But the situation absolutely felt a lot more stable than it did in 2020, thanks mostly to the fact that the content-production pipeline stayed open all year. Even if COVID protocols and the dawn of the Delta variant slowed things down a bit, stuff actually got made — and by summer, most streamers had gotten back to a relatively normal rhythm of releasing new series and movies. Actors even resumed making in-person appearances on talk shows — a sure sign Hollywood was healing.
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