With the new release of the David Fincher produduced and directed television series House of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey, there has been a great deal of buzz around Netflix and their new found programming empire. Prior to this was the release of Lilyhammer, a Netflix trial at premium content fully released through Netflix and produced by Netflix. But compared to House of Cards it has not received the same attention across the web that its most recent production has.
With this successful interest garnered, the discussion on whether or not this strategy of bulk release, all thirteen episodes available at once, is an appropriate way to schedule content and maintain buzz. Appropriately enough this conversation took to Twitter to hash itself out.
A lot of important issues are mentioned like water-cooler talk and anticipation. But that approaches Netflix from the perspective of a cable network. With this bulk release they are targeting their audience, binge-watchers, and hoping that they will spur the buzz necessary for the show to gain steam. If this show does increase the subscriptions of Netflix for even a short period I think they will be able to call it a true success. Because, this interest will show program developers that they have an entirely new avenue to appeal to, strengthening Netflix's presence in distribution and programming. Just imagine if five years from now Netflix offers the same number of shows per season as a basic cable network, only Netflix doesn't have to worry about ratings or scheduling. They would be able to make shows that target segments of people without interfering with another segment's best time to watch. This way content is not mutually exclusive. The amount of content would be astounding. This truly has the potential to change entertainment as we know it, as long as Netflix can maintain that buzz and attraction from its subscribers and new subscriptions.
On the subject of the actual show, I have watched two episodes and must say it is really nice to know that I have the ability to hop back on Netflix and watch it at my convenience. I don't have to wait until Thursday night, when I'm usually busiest, to try and cram one of my favorite shows in before it only becomes available on Hulu. I think this strategy was perfect for what Netflix is. But I do see how it could lose the publicity that tv shows receive from having their content released week-to-week.
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