"You're not portraying me as the villain this season, are you?": Formula 1: Drive to Survive and Netflix's serialized sports docuseries

This thesis examines the current boom of sports documentary television through the lens of Netflix and their popular program Formula 1: Drive to Survive. Although Netflix is not the first streaming platform to find success with sports content, they have developed their own signature style of programming. I argue that Netflix employs stylistic and narrative norms from scripted soap operas within their sports docuseries content, which differentiates them from competitors like HBO and ESPN. Specifically, Netflix relies on serialization to keep audiences engaged in these sports programs from episode to episode and season to season. Storylines are not resolved within one episode or even one season, which contributes to audiences wanting to return to the television show to find out what happens next. This establishes a mutually beneficial relationship between Netflix and Formula 1. thesis looks at how Drive to Survive fits into the larger history of Formula 1 television as well as how the narrative and visual/sonic style of the series represent the Netflix sports docuseries style. Netflix prioritizes these melodramatic norms to differentiate themselves from their competitors and bring new audiences to their platform.

Author dc:creator

• Bonner, Abby

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Jaramillo, Deborah L.
• Howell, Charlotte E.

• Film studies
• Multimedia communications

Statement dc:rights

• Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2144/51701

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.bu.edu:2144/51701