Aitizaz Ahsan 21-10535

Netflix Report Analysis

Currently known for its online content streaming services. Netflix started back in 1997 as a
DVD rental service. The company used to rent out movie DVDs but was not much in profit.
Even after having its rental website in 1998 it was hard for Netflix to make a name in DVD
rental industry due to the presence of a very strong competitor Blockbuster LLC. With the
advent of inexpensive internet Netflix changed its strategy and started to become an online
streaming service in 2007. With time people started to realize the convenience of being able
to watch anything online rather than having to go and rent a DVD. And this is how Netflix
went way ahead of Blockbuster LLC in a way that it totally crushed its competitor and
Blockbuster had to close its operations in 2010. Since 2016 Netflix has been available in the
global online streaming market as the biggest shareholder.
Looking at the competitors, Amazon Prime give a tough time to Netflix because of its very
up to date library which Netflix has not been able to cope up with. A break due to
advertisements is a big no for anyone paying to watch a movie or a series and that is where
Netflix has an upper hand. The No Advertisements policy of the company gives it a great
edge over Amazon Prime and Hulu.
Netflix is offering Feature films, Documentaries and their most watched category: Tv Series.
There have been two types of content that is available on Netflix. One is called the NETFLIX
ORIGINALS and the other is Licensed content. Netflix Originals is the media that is directed
and produced by Netflix itself and Netflix is the sole owner of this content. Whereas Licensed
content include the movies, series and documentaries that have originally been created by
some other company and Netflix had purchased its publishing rights from the original owner
for the sake of streaming it on their own platform i.e. NETFLIX.
Interestingly it has been found out that despite Netflix spending a huge amount of money on
its ORIGINALS, the viewers still like the licensed content more. Doubting the expenditure
figures of the sample report, I did some digging and found out some different and more
authentic figures on multiple websites and the figures complement each other too. According
to those figures, Netflix spent over $15 Billion on its ORIGINALS and over $14.7 Billion on
its licensed content. But the results get interesting when it has been found that the viewership
of ORIGINALS is only 20% as compared to the 80% viewership of Licensed content. It has
also been found out that 58% of the new subscribers first watch Licensed content before
watching any ORIGINALS. This shows that 58% of the total new subscribers subscribe only
for the sake of Licensed content. 18% of the subscribers are considered as ORIGINALS
dominant whereas remaining 24% watch mixed content. Here it is very obvious that Netflix
needs a better understanding of its users and keep the storyline of its ORIGINALS in
accordance to the taste of the users.