Netflix has grown substantially in the past few years, CEO Reed Hastings talked about how people love the cheap price and on demand binge-watch format and it seems to have worked, as the Internet streaming provider maxes the revenue for 2013.
Part of the reason for the huge adoption this year is due to Netflix’s original programming, including the Emmy award-winning House of Cards, staring Kevin Spacey and a host of other talented actors.
This was not a simple attempt at making a TV show, it was a move to show Netflix could be a hub of extremely well delivered content, to match the HBO and other American content makers. Netflix succeeded, with more people now subscribed to Netflix than HBO, at around 40 million registered users.
Netflix now wants to take on movies, announcing their first original movie will be ready in 2014. Named ‘The Square’, the movie focuses on the impacts several activists had in Cairo, Egypt during the time of the revolution and how change can be good and bad.
The film is already up for Best Documentary at the Oscars and it looks to be another fan favorite, especially if Netflix market the hell out of it on their service and make sure millions of people tune in and watch their first movie, as they did with House of Cards.
This is another move by Netflix into the end game, less about buying and renting content and more about making and selling content. Removing the third party may be a pain for people that want to binge watch their favorite TV shows, but the original programming also puts Netflix in a more powerful seat, to demand cheaper and better deals for programs.
Hit shows like Breaking Bad were aired on Netflix around the same week as they were aired on TV, showing the significant impact the streaming service is having on users and how more people want to check out the latest TV show on their computer, rather than on the TV.
Netflix is not the only horse in the race however, Amazon is preparing to launch their first original TV program and Microsoft is ready to move all their gaming assets into TV for the Xbox One launch. The dominant competitor in the race is Netflix though and we can see them turning more TV watches into Internet TV lovers in the next few years, especially if House of Cards: Season 2 hurries up.