Netflix’s success can be summed up in the phrase ‘To stay ahead of the curve ‘. PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore posits, this is a ‘pivotal moment in the streaming wars… (Archer , 2022) He said, the emerging streaming platforms will steal some subscribers from Netflix’s side, and how to catch the eye of the subscribers depends on original, self-produced content. When Netflix CEO Reed Hastings talked about this issue, “The goal,” he said, “is to become HBO faster than HBO can become us.” (Hass, 2013)

Netflix has gone through three major shifts since its launch as a transactional video rental service in 1997, with the final phase beginning in 2011 when Netflix announced it was starting to produce original content, such as the political drama House of Cards. During this phase, Netflix has increasingly focused on its reputation – its ability to deliver original, groundbreaking television programs that challenge the traditional norms of television storytelling. Beginning in the 1990s, the subscription cable channel HBO was recognized with its slogan, “It’s not TV. It’s HBO.” (Leverette et al., 2008) With its slogan, “It’s HBO,” the subscription cable channel HBO has been associated with shows such as The Sopranos (1999-2007), emphasizing that these shows are different from the average television program, a move that Netflix has borrowed as its promotional phrase. promotional discourse. Netflix’s self-promotion emphasizes its aim to position Netflix as the future of television through a combination of technological and aesthetic appeals.

Christensen states in The Innovator’s Dilemma that Netflix is one of the few companies in the world that isn’t afraid of disruptive innovation. (Christensen, 1997)This paper argues that Netflix’s success is by no means the result of an opportunity or an investment in successful content. Netflix has captured the advantages of streaming media, and boldly transformed itself after thinking about the future market, and at the same time, because of its support and trust in the upstream creative houses, it owns the dividends of content resources.

Archer , C. (2022) Have Disney shares won the streaming wars?, IG. Available at: https://www.ig.com/uk/news-and-trade-ideas/have-disney-shares-won-the-streaming-wars–220815 (Accessed: 10 November 2023). 

Hass, N. (2013) Reed Hastings on Arrested Development, House of cards, and the future of Netflix, GQ. Available at: https://www.gq.com/story/netflix-founder-reed-hastings-house-of-cards-arrested-development?currentPage=1 (Accessed: 10 November 2023). 

Leverette, M., Ott, B.L. and Buckley, C.L. (2008) It’s not TV : watching HBO in the post-television era. New York: Routledge.

Christensen, C.M. (1997) The innovator’s dilemma when new technologies cause great firms to fail. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press.

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