Original Globoplay: qualidade audiovisual no streaming brasileiro

Abstract

This research investigates audiovisual quality in Brazilian streaming, focusing on the Globoplay platform and its Original Globoplay serial fiction content. The objective is to determine if, and in what manner, Globoplay establishes an audiovisual quality standard and whether this represents a continuity of TV Globo’s television model or a new paradigm in streaming. The debate on quality tv forms the theoretical core of this study, considering how the concept was constructed, and redefined throughout the years by authors such as Thompson (1996; 2007), Mulgan (1990), Machado (2001), Borges (2004; 2014), Feuer (2007), and Pujadas (2002; 2013). This study adopts the perspective that quality is defined by the relationship between aesthetic, narrative, industrial, and cultural aspects, alongside the capacity to promote critical reflection by the audience (Borges et al., 2022). The study discusses the initial stigma of television as a mass-market medium and how serialized fiction restored the quality debate in new contexts, especially with the introduction of streaming platforms, which transformed audiovisual production, circulation, and consumption. In the Brazilian scenario, the so-called "Padrão Globo de Qualidade" (Globo Quality Standard), established by TV Globo in the 1960s to distinguish itself from competing broadcasters, consolidated the network as a synonym for technical competence, industrial organization, and aesthetics. At the time, a work considered to be "of quality" symbolically carried these attributes; to reinforce credibility and attract a more qualified audience, this discourse of quality was appropriated by Grupo Globo. This investigation analyzes the pilot episodes of the drama series Desalma (2020-2022), Onde Está Meu Coração (2021), and Os Outros (2023–present). The methodology adapts the framework of Borges et al. (2022) and Borges and Sigiliano (2021), integrating the primary criteria of the "Padrão Globo de Qualidade" cited by Freire Filho (2004), Rebouças (2005), Fechine (2008), and Lopes and Mungioli (2013). Furthermore, we observed how the narrative structure of the pilot episode is presented in the three series, understanding it as the key to introducing the fictional universe, characters, and conflicts of the plot (Mittel, 2015). The findings indicate that the Original Globoplay seal inherits TV Globo’s corporate, technical, and cultural legacies while incorporating traits specific to serialized fiction and streaming, such as narrative complexity, thematic freedom, genre experimentation, and multifaceted character development. We identified a set of criteria and dimensions that we termed Padrão Globoplay de Qualidade (Globoplay Quality Standard). While still under development, this standard is expanding Grupo Globo's presence in the contemporary audiovisual market and revitalizing Brazilian serial fiction.