Original content looks like being a small but significant part of the future of online television.. It’s certainly an area Netflix, amongst others, has explored, and one which, according to a new report, looks to be working for the company.
Netflix Originals
Online video streaming services are evolving, and have been for several years. Not merely satisfied with giving people old content when and where they want it, some of the more successful services have recently started producing original content.
Netflix is one of these services, and has, arguably, had the most success at doing it. While still maintaining the huge back catalog of television shows and movies, Netflix has plowed serious money into funding the production of original shows.
The question is, has this push into original content been worth it?
Keeping Subscribers Happy
According to a new survey of more than 1,000 Internet users in the U.S., conducted by RBC Capital Markets, 64 percent of Netflix subscribers indicated they had watched original content over the past three months. Original content available on the service in that time includes House Of Cards, Orange Is The New Black, and the new series of Arrested Development.
Furthermore, 20 percent of those questioned stated that original content accounted for at least half of their Netflix viewing, and a sizeable 43 percent suggested that original content was a “moderately” to “extremely” important factor in them keeping their Netflix subscriptions.
The suggestion is clear: original content is the key to Netflix maintaining subscriber numbers and keeping those persistent subscribers happy. The further suggestion is that even if the current original content isn’t to someone’s liking, they will stick around knowing that more will be produced in the future. Some of which may be more to their taste.
Conclusions
It isn’t cheap to produce original content, so Netflix is having to invest heavily in this side of its business. However, the benefits clearly outweigh the obvious downsides. And with the Netflix share price having hit an all-time high, expect Netflix to continue down this path for the foreseeable future.
[Via Variety]
