This is an opinion piece on a class debate/discussion about Netflix.
Source: http://icdn2.digitaltrends.com/image/netflix-8-288×300-c.png
Netflix’s growth has escalated in recent times as it continues to stream accessible content over the internet to millions of customers. To help maintain this growth at the present time, students of COMM101 104 were given 4 recommendations in class to choose from:
Recommendation 1 Buy Content (obtain ownership/rights to stream content)
Recommendation 2 Make Content (produce and stream original shows)
Recommendation 3 Partner with Google and Youtube
Recommendation 4 Partner with NBC
A partnership with NBC opens access to NBC shows and content, which partially accomplishes the goal of obtaining rights to stream content (Recommendation 1). NBC content also consists of top stories and news as well as sports, all of which are major points of differences that would give Netflix a competitive advantage over other content-streaming services such as Amazon Prime. This increased diversity of content appeals to a wider amount of consumer tastes, allowing NBC and Netflix to grow their target audiences. I would advise against Recommendation 1 and 2 due to their costly nature. I would also advise against a partnership with Google/Youtube (Recommendation 3) because the majority of their target audience demands “free” content subsidized by ads. The Youtube community is very outspoken when it comes to changes, and especially advertisements that delay their entertainment. Imagine how they’d react if they had to pay. Not so well.
Check out Vivienne Shi‘s opinion suggesting Netflix to take Recommendation 2: produce and stream original shows.