The emergence of new digital technologies has changed how viewers consume entertainment content. For many years, people had to plan their viewing according to a schedule set by the network. These linear schedules had to meet requirements – the length, flow, and demand for weekly episodes. When VCR, DVR, and DVD access became available, choosing television content and scheduling viewing time as wanted was possible (Lotz, 2017).

Netflix, an American streaming service, took this information to their advantage and found that viewers preferred watching an entire DVD in one sitting. Based on this insight, the company went from initially offering DVD films by mail to becoming an online video streaming service, available for viewers through paying a monthly subscription fee, where, as opposed to competitors, it released all episodes of a series at once. Netflix constructed an algorithm to nudge viewers towards specific choices and published content online simultaneously in all countries. It quickly recognised binge-watching as a way to promote itself, making it central to the brand (Jenner, 2018).  ‘Binge-watching’ refers to a new growing media consumption habit – consuming condensed media content for an extended period (Wasim et al., 2022). 

Netflix created a studio to produce and finance its own feature-length films and shows, posing a threat to the biggest in the media industries and occasionally outperforming them (McDonald, Smith-Rowsey, 2016). Then, in 2021, Netflix released (following its practices as mentioned above) its most significant success until today – the South Korean show Squid Game. It boosted Netflix’s subscriptions by 4.4 million, and a remarkable 142 million homes watched the show (Ahmed, Fenton, Hardey, Das, 2022).

https://youtube.com/watch?v=GAWDYWn4qC4

Today, Netflix is a top online entertainment provider worldwide, with 125 million subscribers in more than 190 countries (Pilipets, 2019). The company has become a driving force in changing how television is, and will be, organised. Not only did Netflix help the shift to technological control and choice over content, but it also helped position streaming as more than just ‘an alternative to television, but as television’ (Jenner, 2018, p. 4).

References:

Jenner, M. (2018), ‘Introduction: Netflix and the Reinvention of Television’, ‘Introduction: Binge Watching Netflix’, Netflix and the Reinvention of Television, pp. 1-31, 109-118.

Lotz, A. (2017), ‘Theorizing the Nonlinear Distinction of Internet-Distributed Television’, Portals: A Treatise on Internet Distributed Television. Available at: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/maize/mpub9699689/ (Accessed 19. November 2022)

McDonald, K., Smith-Rowsey, D. (2016) ‘The Netflix Effect: Technology and Entertainment in the 21st Century’.

Wasim, A., Fenton, A., Hardey, M., Das, R. (2022). ‘Binge Watching and the Role of Social Media Virality towards promoting Netflix’s Squid Game’. IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, 11(2), 222–234. Available at: https://doi-org.gold.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/22779752221083351 (Accessed 22. November 2022)

ET Canada (2021) Everything you need to know about ‘Squid Game’. Available at:https://youtu.be/GAWDYWn4qC4 (Accessed 20. November 2022)

By Serine Mikkelsen