"Formula 1: Drive to Survive, now in its seventh season, offers such remarkable access to the drivers and race directors that it boosts the TV audience for the actual races. Quarterback, a series that follows a handful of NFL players throughout a season, was so popular that it spawned Receiver - as well as a second season of QBs. Another show, The Clubhouse, followed the Boston Red Sox during a difficult season."
"The Netflix programs embody a concept that came up recently in one of my journalism classes at Duke University: authenticity. The shows depict star athletes confronting the challenges of real life - injuries and interceptions and even bouts with depression. Like the best scripted films, the Netflix programs are character-driven. Viewers get vested in a few players and their narratives."
Netflix sports documentaries provide unusually intimate access to athletes and teams, taking viewers inside locker rooms, cars, and family dinners and boosting interest in live events. Formula 1: Drive to Survive, Quarterback (and its spinoffs), and The Clubhouse exemplify the format. The programs foreground authenticity and character-driven narratives, showing athletes confronting injuries, interceptions, depression, self-doubt, and aging. Production requires negotiating access with teams and recording extensive footage that is often edited out. The popularity of these shows indicates audience demand for deeper, more elaborate narratives than traditional coverage provides. Media executives should adapt this approach to everyday news reporting to meet that demand.
Read at Nieman Lab
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