Essay Example on Netflix and the Future of Television

Published: 2021-07-27
1363 words
5 pages
12 min to read
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Vanderbilt University
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The author first provides the conception of Netflix and some of the critical events that have made Netflix grow into what it is now. In 1997, Reed Hastings, the C.E.O. of Netflix, founded Netflix. Three years later, he approached Blockbuster to form an alliance where they offered to sell part of their company, and be given the name Block-buster.com. However, the company refused because they did not see any threat arising from the digital media growth. Through this history, the author presents a clear path history of the growth and development of Netflix. By reading the introductory paragraph, a reader gets the idea of what the article is all about.

In the next paragraph, the author talks about how Blockbuster decisions affected them. By 2005, Netflix now boasted more than 4 million subscribers and the members were growing steadily and increasing daily. A year before, in 2004, Blockbuster had introduced their online subscription service, but it was too late for them. Hollywood allied with Netflix and started offering them more videos which they would rent. In 2007, Netflix began to stream movies directly to individual PCs. In 2016, Netflix subscribers were 31 million (in the U.S alone), and their stock was at its highest. Blockbuster announced that it was closing business last year because it had no subscribers. The author presents a chronological order of events which led to the rise of Netflix and the subsequent fall of Blockbuster. The author is precise, direct to the point and uses simple, understandable words. The flow of events is presented clearly, and there is no mumbling of events.

The author, after presenting the rise of Netflix, now focuses on what Netflix has been doing to achieve the success it has. The first reason presented is how Netflix has taken advantage of the fact that most people are dissatisfied with traditional television. Traditional television is full of commercials and promotional messages which views are far from happy from seeing them. But with Netflix, there are no promotions or advertisements, and viewers watch their favorite programs uninterrupted. Netflix presents them with a chance of having a control of what they want to watch when to watch it and how to watch it.

The author attributed the second reason for the success of Netflix to how the company has embraced digital revolution and used the internet to their advantage. In developed countries, most houses have internet, and streaming has become easy. YouTube is the busiest platform in the world and has about a billion users every single month. Netflix integrated YouTube into their options, and one can also view YouTube through Netflix.

The author then shifts focus and looks at the challenges that Netflix has been facing. It can be noted that the flow is consistent and the author moves from one section to another. The organization of the article is flawless, and there is an explicit coordination of all the paragraphs. In 2007, two companies, NBC and Fox, came together to fight Netflix. They came up with Hulu. Hulu is a website which allows users to watch current and past television shows. Hulu has approximately 5 million subscribers, and although it has a lot of content, it has few commercials.

The author then looks at the current threats that face traditional TV today. He cites the first reason as advertisements and commercials. Most people would not wish to see ads which continuously keep reappearing in between shows. All viewers who skip advertisements are evidence that television advertising is not what it was normal and more people are becoming bored with these ads. The second threat facing traditional TV is existential. From 2008, it was only possible to stream video services by television through the use of another device such as a DVD player or an Xbox. However, all that has changed and people no longer need TV sets so that they can stream videos. There are more devices and streaming services which have come up, and they all allow the subscriber to stream what they want.

The author then presents the strengths of traditional TV. One is that only conventional TV can offer appointment viewing. Global events such as the Super Bowl, the Olympics, and the American Idol are televised through the traditional TV. Traditional TV needs to embrace live events if it is to survive the onslaught. Hastings says the rise and success of Netflix and other streaming devices are because they offer viewers uninterrupted viewing where there are no commercials and viewers are more immersed and sustained.

The author can raise several other themes in his article, but the primary theme is on Netflix. The article presents aptly how all the newer media companies and more modern technologies are changing television viewing habits, but he is critical of these shifts and the impact that they have on television viewing. Some of the questions that arise from reading the article include: do the changes from traditional TV viewing to streaming enhance healthier television viewing? Are platforms like Netflix making viewers be more engaged and more active or are it making them addicted which is a harmful practice?

In overall, the article is well written, and its line of thought and flow of communication is excellent. The piece is information and the chronological step by step analysis of how Netflix has risen show that the article is detailed and provides an in-depth understanding of the subject matter.

In her article, Family TV Is Dying. Can Netflixs Bet on Fuller House save it? Cobb also gives the reasons for the decline of traditional TV and the rise of Netflix. The author first presents how her childhood was and how they grew up watching family-friendly sitcoms. However, she says that the contents in TV have changed and most programs are now more adult-focused and cannot be enjoyed any more.

The author presents the first reason for the decline of the traditional TV to the fact that there is a significant division between content providers. Netflix is diverse while the traditional TV is still creating shows which people have grown tired of over the years. Netflix provides a wide variety and range of shows through which the user can use from but from traditional TV has set programs and viewers have to watch whatever the TV decides.

Cobb presents the second reason being the fact that TV has gotten darker than it was. There were specific networks such as HBO whose programs were morally ambiguous. However, as of late, TV has also been showing such programs. TV is supposed to be for family, and when they start presenting such programmes, they lose their viewers. These mature programs are not meant for family viewership: in the setting of a family where there are parents and their children.

Cobb says that the third reason is that content providers are no longer trying to cater or look out for families. Programs exclusively written for family audiences have been on the decline for quite some time now. However, streaming networks such as Netflix have programmed their shows in such a way that there are programs for children and there are programs for adults as well. Netflix is launching Fuller House which will be a family audience program. What Netflix is trying to do is to reboot something which traditional TV stopped doing and as a result, led it losing its viewers. Netflix has used the family audience tag to get gain more attention for the show.

The author points out that Netflix is more aware of the needs of viewers and gives them what they want. They are providing users with family content, something which Traditional TV has been abandoning over the years. Cobb says that the program will provide a typical family dynamic and that it will bring back the family audience.

Both articles look into the reasons for the success of Netflix and the decline of traditional TV. Although the first article is longer and more detailed, the second one is shorter but provides the same content. Both authors present cause and effect relationships in establishing their arguments. Both writers also use classification and division to structure their essays, and they both incorporate narratives in their articles successfully.

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