Netflix–evolving to the online TV station

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What happens at Netflix when House of Cards goes live | Marketplace Business

From the horse’s mouth

Netflix

Netflix official logo - courtesy of NetflixPress Release

My Comments

I have given some space to Netflix in relation to its new direction as an IPTV channel in the US. Initially this name was an Internet-assisted mail-order DVD-rental business thriving in the USA – the hub of “mail order business”.

Now, this network was moving towards streaming existing content and building up partnerships with various companies associated with the online entertainment business. Here, this led towards cost-effective access to the good TV shows in so much that a lot of American households were “cutting the cord” – breaking off cable-TV service.

As well, Netflix had started to create their own TV content with shows like “House Of Cards” and “Lilyhammer”, In the case of “Lilyhammer” which I have watched when it ran on SBS in Australia, this involved the idea of coproducing this show with Norway’s national public TV broadcaster which I have seen as a big feat for a young online TV station.

This article shows how Netflix is handling the launch of the second series of “House Of Cards” and were seeing it like a “war-room” where they were monitoring who was “cottoning on” to it immediately it was launched. Here, they were able to get a granular view on what was being watched by whom using which kind of devices thus using it as a way to work out what kind of content to put their money towards.

I see this as a new approach to TV content creation and distribution where it is feasible to determine whether shows of a kind are appealing to which people so they can target certain viewer classes more easily using characteristics like “happy ending” or “cerebral qualities”. This is in contrast to standard ratings setups like Nielsens or OzTAM which yield more coarse data about viewership.

As well, identifying viewership practices like “binge-watching” have allowed Netflix to place that risk of planting all of the second-series episodes of “House Of Cards” online rather than letting each episode appear week by week as the normal TV practice prefers.

It is showing that Netflix with its “House Of Cards” TV show is highlighting what the IPTV scene is capable of and is to be about. This is where the technologies that are in place are about exactly identifying what the service’s market wants to watch and providing the content that suits this particular market.

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