The idea that cable companies are regularly losing viewers to the increasing number of streaming options open to them isn’t a new one. However, Netflix strengthens those theories with each new announcement of a television series, comedy special, or exclusive feature.
By now, if you’re a Netflix user, you’ve at least heard of House of Cards. Advertising for the the political thriller led by Kevin Spacey, playing a vengeful Democrat from South Carolina’s 5th congressional district and House Majority Whip named Frank Underwood, was inescapable on the video streaming service for months leading up to the debut of the series. It turns out though that Netflix was preaching to the choir, because the show was literally designed to succeed by basing its creation off of user analytics. According to an article in the New York Times, Netflix numbers pointed toward a successful series.
Netflix, which has 27 million subscribers in the nation and 33 million worldwide, ran the numbers. It already knew that a healthy share had streamed the work of Mr. Fincher, the director of “The Social Network,” from beginning to end. And films featuring Mr. Spacey had always done well, as had the British version of ‘House of Cards.’ With those three circles of interest, Netflix was able to find a Venn diagram intersection that suggested that buying the series would be a very good bet on original programming.
Those predicted number have been proven right as House of Cards has gone on to become the most streamed piece of content in the United States and 40 other countries. What this gives us is a new, and maybe more reliable, version of the Nielsen’s Ratings. Now, instead of depending on a comparatively handful of people to decide what shows stay on the air and which get canceled, Netflix can monitor user choices, including if you watch similar programs and if you stop watching a program you don’t like. Programming decisions can then be made based off of actual viewership instead of supposed viewership and tastes as opinions are given through Netflix’s feedback system.
This relatively common sense idea of directly listening to an audience’s wants is partially what led Netflix to buy up new-episode distribution rights to Arrested Development. The cult sensation last saw a new episode air in 2006, but Netflix plans on releasing an entirely new 14-episode season at once in May (no more specific date has been given at this time). Any new episodes of the series after that is currently left up in the air. Seeing how beloved the series is and how well House of Cards has done, it wouldn’t be unexpected to hear about contract negotiations for a second Netflix season after the show makes its May appearance.
Before Arrested Development sets up its new home, the streaming service has a supernatural infestation to deal with on Hemlock Grove.
Does this show bear a striking resemblance to other supernatural concepts like True Blood, Vampire Diaries, Twilight, and the MTV Teen Wolf series? That’s likely not a coincidence as Netflix pulled from users’ data the same way it did with House of Cards when considering this feral show. The streaming service knows its audience, and that includes the little ones.
Debuting in December, Netflix’s first-ever original series for kids comes to your screens big and small with Turbo: F.A.S.T. (Fast Action Stunt Team). The TV show follows the release of the Dreamworks movie, with the lead character voiced by Ryan Reynolds, that opens on July 19, 2013.
Netflix is looking even farther ahead than December though with 10 episodes available for streaming in 2014 of Sense8, a science fiction series by the Wachowskis and J. Michael Straczynski, best known as the creator behind Babylon 5. Not much is known about the property at the moment other than a short tagline calling it “a gripping global tale of minds linked and souls hunted.”
There are more upcoming series and exclusives, like Orange is the New Black, inspired by the book Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, and the U.S. distribution of Ricky Gervais’s British television comedy-drama Derek, which previously aired on Channel 4. However, even with these audience-aimed series coming your way, Netflix may be battling its own newly-created problems by releasing an entire series’ episodes at once. Andrew Greenwald proposes just such a concern on Grantland after quickly going through the entire House of Cards series. In discussing a particularly heavy episode of the series, Greenwald says:
But in this case, again, I think the Netflix model hurt the show rather than helped it. Had the episode been allowed to stand on its own, it would have stood out; a week to consider this softer vision of Francis Underwood would have allowed viewers to fill in some of the emotional blanks in House of Cards‘ unceasing scheming. Instead, sandwiched as it was in the middle of my personal binge, the episode and its revelations seemed ephemeral and weightless. Hitting “next” on my remote allowed me to swallow without chewing, to move on without digesting.
So, it seems even with this new responsive programming, there may be hurdles to overcome traditional and almost instinctual responses to storytelling.
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