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Netflix Argumentative Essay

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At the turn of the millennium in 1999, the TiVo Corporation released the Digital Video Recorder or ‘DVR’ for short. This breakthrough in technology allowed millions of families across the globe to record a live TV show or movie and watch it at a time that was most convenient for them. With this new threat to movie rental stores such as Blockbuster Video, companies attempted to create new forms of media consumption to overstep their opponents. Due to this form of competition, Netflix Incorporated has beneficially altered the way that Americans consume entertainment and will continue to do so for years to come. When Netflix was started back in 1997, its purpose was to act simply as a DVD mailing service. Subscribers were allowed “an unlimited …show more content…

Though Netflix’s services have always been available for a television, the release of new products such as the iPad or smartphone allowed consumers to watch “on the computer, tablet, or cell phone” (Dupont 2). Not only did these technologies help popularize streaming, according to Jeff Kagan, they placed the company in the hands of the consumer and allowed them to stream “when they want, where they want” (2). When delivering a product to a subscriber base with vastly different tastes, it is important that the main structure of the product attempts to give each customer the same experience. One of Netflix’s many attributes that sets them apart from their competitors is their “superior customer service, powerful recommendation engine, and great, habit-forming product” (Knee 4). Both of these aspects have helped to broaden the marketability of the product as well as ensure that their consumer base stays content and attached to their …show more content…

The first season of the show Orange is the New Black cost Netflix about $4 million dollars to make per episode, or about $50 million dollars per season. According to Creative Artists Agency, Netflix’s total revenue from the show reached was “$1.57 billion in the first quarter of 2015, and is up to $1.97 billion, according to 2016’s first quarter earnings” (Young 1). If this example wasn’t enough, the same phenomenon was again seen with the release of the show Daredevil. In the case of this show, the premiere which occurred on April 10 of 2015 saw “strong sampling, with an estimated 10.7% of subscribers watching at least one episode in its first 11 days on the streaming service” (Wallenstein 2). In all of these cases, the reasoning behind the writers and producers wanting to work with the company is beautifully articulated through a statement from Beau Willimon in regards to the message that Netflix first gave him that “We [Netflix] place our faith in you. We believe in you and as artists, we want you to make the show you want to make…while we [the House of Cards producers] were always in communication with Netflix and always kept them in the loop, we never had anyone breathing down our neck” (Ryan

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