The way we consume media has changed drastically over the years. We used to buy DVDs and wait for cable programs to broadcast our favorite shows. Nowadays, you need a smartphone, TV, or laptop to enjoy any kind of entertainment. Netflix is one of the main actors that contributed to the development of media.
The streaming platform also began as a DVD rental start-up and is currently the most popular streaming service in the world. Quite a ride there! But many factors have contributed to this massive expansion, and we will look at them in more detail. Netflix changed the game, and their story is nothing short of interesting.
The streaming service’s early years were spent building a loyal customer base and fine-tuning its business model.
Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, the founders, knew that they had something special. By employing a flat monthly fee for renting DVDs, the streaming platform outgrew a lot of its competitors in the North American market in a short period. With this growth, everyone expected to see innovations and changes in the way Netflix, the streaming service, operates in the entertainment industry. And it happened, as Netflix started experimenting with subscription services that let customers rent an unlimited amount of DVDs per month.
This changed everything and you can see that it feels like present-day Netflix. Only that you do not have to go to a DVD retail store to get your favorite shows or films. You have everything in one digital platform that you can access through a monthly subscription.
In the second half of the 2000s, the digital world started developing progressively, and streaming services became the next big hit in the entertainment industry. The streaming platform understood this could be a problem for their business and adapted accordingly. In 2007 Netflix launched its first video streaming service. It was not something revolutionary from the start but grew to be one of the giants in the entertainment industry.
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Netflix's rise to prominence has had a profound impact on the entertainment industry.
Everyone in the entertainment industry was affected by the growing popularity of streaming services. Netflix’s subscription-based streaming model has diminished the strength of both traditional cable and film theatres. There is a discussion every year about the future of cinema and how people might ditch theatres and resort to more comfortable options like Netflix. We are not there yet but we cannot count this possibility out.
Consumer behavior has changed completely since Netflix’s boom. The concept of watching entire seasons of television at once was something never seen before. With traditional cable, you had to wait at least a week for a new episode. And that happens with a lot of Netflix’s competitors too, and people don’t like it. Especially if the show is good.
Netflix's rapid global expansion has been one of the most impressive aspects of its growth.
With subscribers in over 190 countries, the digital platform has managed to grow into a global giant. The company tries to join new markets every year as well. They will not stop. But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. With every new country, it means that Netflix needs to understand every culture and how to adapt its content to different viewing habits.
Netflix is constantly trying to beat this challenge by investing in local content production. If you are a subscriber to the platform, you know that the video streaming service offers a lot of films and TV shows from your country of residence. And that is good, as this enormous corporation is helping the local film industry.
Netflix has been at the forefront of the video streaming revolution.
And they will not stop here, as the company is optimistic about the future. They want to remain the innovative company that everyone knows. We can expect to see them invest more in interactive entertainment, like Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. That was a huge hit because of the technology it employed, not so much for the story it told.
We were able to control the narrative of the movie by choosing from different actions during the action. It went so far as to have different endings based on specific paths that we would choose to lead the characters onto. If the digital platform manages to balance the quality of storytelling with the technological side, we are in for a treat.
As the popularity of virtual reality and augmented reality grows, we expect Netflix to invest in developing AR/VR content adaptations, providing us with new ways to experience our favorite shows. I would love to see “Stranger Things” in VR. I guess you have one in your mind as well.
Where would the entertainment industry be without Netflix? Film purists would say that in a better place, but I am not that certain. Sure, Netflix is not perfect. They usually produce more bad content than good pieces, but they have made entertainment easy to access for everyone in the world. Filmmakers can present their films to millions of people through a streaming service. Not everyone has a cinema around. As the company is still at the forefront of the entertainment industry, we expect to see more innovations in the years to come.
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