Why Orange is the New Black Matters to Online Content

Doing something once is often innovative, doing it twice is disruptive. 

House of Cards was a smash hit, but Orange is the New Black shows that the model works, rather then just a show.  After all, not too many people remember the 2nd major Netflix program Hemlock Grove. Even better, its a sequel.

Whether you like the show or not, one has to watch how programming will change in the next 2-5 years.   On one side we have companies like Aereo who are taking existing content and putting it online ( paid services recaptured as digital ) and then on the other side you have online SAAS models who are making original content (Neftlix, Amazon Prime, hulu+, and even Youtube ).   Netflix is ten bucks a month, where Comcast might be 100 easily – that’s a huge delta.

Pending strategic business development deals ( eg. Apple + Comcast ) and changes in copyright laws / policy (Aereo getting sued ) this space will be very heated and interesting to watch for the short and long term.  Content is expensive to create, and opportunity costs for who loses out on the syndication make this an very strange space.  Content distribution is a big part of why people are concerned over the Net Neutrality legislation as well.  If the best content is not allowed to be accessed and shared, it doesn’t really matter who good the content is.  Who is at the strategic advantage here.

Models are changing, and expectations are evolving. It may be just a sequel, but its part of a much bigger conversation.

#goNetflix!

And with that, I will see if I can join the thousands of others who attempt to binge watch an online show because they can – another way this online medium has changed the user experience.

 

 

Advertisement

 

Everyone loved House of Cards. It was nominated for an Emmy, which is historical.  New programming series on Netflix and webisodes across the interwebs are challenging the viewing formats we take for granted. However, our obsession with binge consumption of media only works if a few media properties do this.  In order for these new series to be successful, there must be enough original programming that is time released.  If every show and movie was released on Jan 1st, people would go nuts by March. Or would they?

My hypothesis is that people need some temporal benchmarks to enjoy certain programming in a communal way. If every show was released in full on one day, the system would implode. 

The larger question is how have those communities splintered off into smaller subgroups vs. popular mass groups needed for advertising?  Would advertising that fuels TV be happy if all on demand content replaced mass cable?  Where does the psychological impact of scarcity of media overlap with the politics & business of ad buys?  Many households already only do streaming content. Other households have streaming services in addition to core cable programming. But, the system has to change – technology and the pull of consumers is moving faster then cable companies want to go.  It will be interesting to see how this ecosystem changes in the next 5 years.

-Patrick

 

 

netflix programming