Netflix recently announced that viewers will soon be able to choose the next storyline in an episode of one of their favorite TV shows or movies. The company is working on a couple of special episodes whereby the viewer decides how the story will continue. The first of these projects will be released before the end of this year. Will this innovation further disrupt the television industry? And how will Netflix’ competitors such as Amazon and HBO Go react according to their business strategies?
A key factor of Netflix’s business strategy is personalization. Netflix provides the users specialized content and recommendations based on the user’s interests, preferences and previous watched shows or movies. When it comes to customer experience, they are now extending their service as they let viewers decide how the story will unfold and even end.
Netflix has already offered this experience with children’s shows, but the next interactive show will be for adult viewers. At the end of 2018, viewers will be able to personalize an episode of the sci-fi show Black Mirror. By adding a ‘game-element’ in the shows or movies, Netflix also tries to lure a group of new viewers: gamers.
However, there are certain challenges Netflix has to deal with. To create such an interactive experience, the shows and movies need to have longer scripts. Thus, more work for writers, actors and crew. As a result, production processes will become longer and more expensive.
It will be a great challenge for Netflix to pull this off. But when they do, they can become the first player in the field who successfully integrated interactivity in their shows. Moreover, they could play a significant part in the further disruption of the traditional television and online-streaming industry.
Do you think this innovation will pull off? Will other companies rethink their business strategies and also start to adapt to changes when it comes to interactivity? What do you think will happen?
References
Burks, B. (2018). Netflix Letting Viewers Choos their own Ending for Some Shows. Retrieved 14-10-2018 from https://screenrant.com/netflix-tv-shows-interactive/.
Rele, A. (2018). Je kunt straks zelf kiezen hoe je Netflix-serie eindigt. Retrieved 14-10-2018 from https://nos.nl/artikel/2253075-je-kunt-straks-zelf-kiezen-hoe-je-netflix-serie-eindigt.html.
Shaw, L. (2018). Netflix is Planning a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure ‘Black Mirror.’ Retrieved 14-10-2018 from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-01/netflix-is-said-to-plan-choose-your-own-adventure-black-mirror.
Thanks for writing this interesting post about Netflix’ newest innovative strategy Carmen. I think it is really smart of Netflix to try to attract gamers, so they can expand their customer base. I am only not sure if this innovation is the ideal way to achieve this, because I would estimate the production costs for creating additional story lines to be very high. Therefore, I don’t expect competitors of Netflix to adapt the same strategy, because it is quite a risk. However, I agree that it would definitely be a further disruption of the television industry and that it could strengthen Netflix’ market position if their strategy becomes successful.
I do not know if this innovation will pull off but in my opinion this is a great opportunity that Netflix is grabbing. Interactive TV is not an entirely new concept but Netflix would be the first one that could bring this idea to the forefront of the TV industry and therefore change the industry (once again).
However, it is not sure that interactive TV is going to be the future of the TV industry, Netflix will be the first (significant) mover on this subject. If the innovation pulls off, other companies will include interactive TV in their business plans since it will be a new revenue-generating concept. But in that case Netflix will benefit from her first mover advantages and will remain ahead of their competition.
Sources:
Burks, R. (2018, October 1). Netflix Letting Viewers Choose Their Own Endings For Some Shows. Retrieved October 15, 2018, from https://screenrant.com/netflix-tv-shows-interactive/
Shaw, L. (2018). Netflix Is Planning a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure ‘Black Mirror’. Retrieved October 15, 2018, from https://www.bloomberg.com/tosv2.html?vid=&uuid=6f589990-d062-11e8-8e88-a7a66c01d22b&url=L25ld3MvYXJ0aWNsZXMvMjAxOC0xMC0wMS9uZXRmbGl4LWlzLXNhaWQtdG8tcGxhbi1jaG9vc2UteW91ci1vd24tYWR2ZW50dXJlLWJsYWNrLW1pcnJvcg==
Dear Carmen,
Thanks for sharing. I do think that engaging the audience and letting them choose the storyline could be a fun experience. However, I am skeptical about the sustainability of such a business strategy. While Netlfix does focus on personalized content, I do not think this would be the way to go.
First of all, people subscribe to Netflix for the convenience of an on-demand streaming programming. They just want to sit back, relax and watch a movie or an episode of a serie. To implement the interactivity throughout multiple series and movies would take away the convenience for subscribers, since they need to think about the options provided to them on what they want to happen next. I do, however, think that the element is a fun experience to implement in just ONE episode, rather than multiple episodes, or an entire movie. Otherwise, people can just go to google playstore and download a ‘pick your own storyline’ game…
Second, the ‘personalization of the story’ is not that much personalized, since it is inevitable that producers and script writers are bound by a limited number of alternative storylines. This could be due to time constraint, budgetary constraints, etc. Additionally, the user-friendliness of Netflix would decrease when too many storyline options are provided. I think it would be very complicated to stay true to the story, since it might create holes in the plot.
All in all, I think it is a fun way to engage viewers, and to attract new subscribers, but what happens when they have tried it once? It wouldn’t be as ‘new’ anymore, and people tend to lose interest. Also, since they have implemented it in an episode of an existing series, it might be difficult for new viewers to understand the storyline. Maybe Netflix could incorporate other ways to engage their subscribers when it comes to influencing the storyline.
Kind regards,
Fransiska Kanesia