Caught on “Net”flix

The media has undergone tremendous change over the past decade due to the disruption caused by on-demand entertainment. The ability to watch TV and movies anytime and anywhere has created a shift in how we consume media. Netflix is the leading streaming service today and is focusing on producing original content, which has led to consolidation in the media and entertainment sector. Netflix services close to 150 million people and will continue to increase through time. I am one to admit that I’ve been hooked on Netflix as a late night entertainment or to pass time on a rainy day. It’s a community for great shows and movies that indulges people into a world of the past, present, and future. My tastes ranges from watching all ten seasons of Friends (1994-2004) to watching an original Netflix series Stranger Things (2016-). The shift from traditional cable and satellite subscriptions to streaming services available over the Internet is happening faster than expected and box office sales are continuing to struggle.

Netflix’s big boom overnight expansion into practically every major international entertainment market in 2016 soared with their first original series House of Cards. This, in turn, would feed Netflix’s appetite for original content with domestically produced foreign shows and movies for the company’s newly acquired overseas audiences. From 2016 onward, Netflix seemed practically unstoppable. The company’s programming received numerous awards, including fifty-four nominations at the 68th Prime time Emmy Awards. Netflix’s feature films became increasingly ambitious and attracted some of Hollywood’s most prominent screenwriters, directors, and actors. Then, in 2017, Netflix achieved what might have once seemed impossible; the number of Netflix subscribers dominated the total number of cable subscribers in the United States. Netflix announced that in 2019 they will have a substantial increase of 18% in subscription payments. The basic plan will climb to $8.99 from $7.99, and the premium will go from $13.99 to $15.99.

With Netflix’s credentials as a serious player in TV and feature-film production well established, Netflix seems poised for even greater success in 2019 and beyond. Predictably, Netflix remains strongly committed to producing original programming, and the company is reportedly planning to produce around 700 Netflix Originals in 2018 and 2019 alone, having increased its content budget from $6B to $8B. With that said, I’m excited to see what Netflix has in stock for us now and the years to come.