Netflix To Start Creating Original Content 169
olsmeister writes "Netflix may be known for offering some of our favorite TV and movie streams, but the company is about to step up its game and begin offering original content. Netflix has allegedly outbid a number of major cable networks for a new drama series produced by and starring Kevin Spacey called House of Cards, and may be about to close a deal at more than $100 million, according to a report on Deadline.com."
Netflix: Corporate champion of net neutrality? (Score:5, Interesting)
This move puts Netflix in even more direct competition with traditional broadcasting/media companies than ever before--as if NBC-Comcast wasn't already looking to throttle YouTube and Netflix traffic to hell and back. Real net neutrality seems like it aligns with Netflix's business model--they may become a true defender of how many people here think the internet "should" work on top of their apparent desire to be a true independent alternative to old media.
Is there a negative here that I'm not seeing? Does one of the big media companies secretly own Netflix?
Re:Look good on the surface? (Score:4, Interesting)
Will Netflix go with risky indy thinking or will it hedge with Tried and True Copy-Cat entertainment?
Someone else let me know, 'K? I'll be outside watching for rattlesnakes along the trail.
Netflix subscribers pay their subscription no matter how much or how little they watch. This gives NF the freedom to experiment and put a ton of content up there that their subscribers are free to watch. Whether or not an individual production is a hit or a miss is irrelevant, it simply adds to the huge array of content available on Netflix, and the bigger the amount of available content the more it encourages more people to sign up.
I can see it now - trailers on TV advertising kick-ass looking movies followed by the caveat "Only available on Netflix instant download." If people start seeing enough of that then they're going to start thinking "there's something big happening on Netflix, and I'd sure like to see what it is."