I’m a big Netflix fan. I’m also really busy, so I have a hard time keeping up with TV shows (even with a DVR). I just don’t have time to dedicate each week to a TV show. But I usually have a few hours each week free, so I love having a movie or two waiting for me to watch.
The other day I was at my friend’s house and they were watching The Office. I decided I wanted to catch up on it, and instead of waiting for the DVD’s to come in, Netflix made the first two seasons available to watch on Netflix.com. If Netflix had access to more (or all) new content, I’d stop paying for cable and just use Netflix. They have so much potential, and it would make so much sense.
Imagine sitting down at your TV and having a tivo-like netflix experience. Your customized homepage shows which of your favorite shows have new episodes, and suggestions for other shows you might like. For the first week of a show being available, it has a one commercial in the middle (only need one because they have such great data on you - super targeted - and you’re paying a monthly fee). After the first week the show can be viewed commercial free. Not only can you rank shows (1 to 5 stars), you can rank commercials too. If you liked a commercial, either because it’s a product you’re interested in getting or it was just a cool commercial, give it 5 stars. If you see a commercial for the new iMac and you know your friend is looking for a new computer, “suggest” it to a friend; when they see it, in the corner it will say “Suggested by: Bill Erickson.”
Netflix still charges you $15/month for 15 hours (or however much you want to pay). The commercials provide supplement that so the price doesn’t get too high. Through a combination of your viewing history, questionnaires (”Get $5 off next month’s bills if you answer these 5 questions”), your ratings of commercials, and friend suggestions, they will have a great “overall marketing picture” of you and can push highly targeted ads - which will make them a huge amount of money for each impression.
Another thing they’ll need to implement is some way to distinguish individuals from a single plan. A family of four would have 1 Netflix account, but each person would have different viewing habits (and be targeted by different commercials). Allow multiple “people” for one paying account, and allow them to maintain their own rankings of shows/movies/commercials, or even just declare a show as one they watch. Weeds might only be watched by one person, but Lost by the whole family.
People seem to think Blockbuster will kill Netflix. There is so much more to Netflix than just “a place to get movies.” I’d even say that Netflix is more like Youtube/Facebook than Blockbuster. It’s about providing access to all the content I want, whenever I want it. Once you have the content platform established, the social aspect (friends, rankings, and suggestions) add a level of discovery for the user, and more valuable data for Netflix/advertisers.
Who needs a tivo (or worse, broadcast TV) when I can have access to any movie or show, anytime, from any TV or computer.
