Comment by quackerhacker | Hacker News Reader

Comment by quackerhacker | Hacker News Reader

Netflix is really amazing to me! I am SO impressed by their model and the plethora of data that they can just sift through (I love analytics and data mining).

Netflix has went from dvds by mail, to video content distribution, to an ACTUAL broadcast network. While I love their selection, I hope that they release their episodes once a week. I'd imagine it would capture an audience instead of marathoners.

From an investment standpoint, I can only imagine it being a matter of time before all the data they have (like audience retention time, device types, and internet speeds which can easily provide an assumption of demographic) be put to use for video ad campaigns.

Simply awesome business model!

>I'd imagine it would capture an audience instead of marathoners.

You may be right about capturing an audience, I just wouldn't be one of them.

I like Netflix original content because most of what I want to watch isn't released on an irritating once-a-week model.

Take shows that rely on cliffhangers for example, for shows that use cliffhangers I find myself always waiting until the end of the season before I begin watching any of the episodes.

I'm also a little bit off-put by the idea of a 'captive' audience. Can't I just enjoy the show on my own terms? People like me always will anyway.

Releasing all the episodes at once is definitely a good idea for a kids show. Parents can schedule in the show whenever they want, they can use an episode as a reward or push one back as a punishment, they just get maximum control over their kid's entertainment.

For House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, etc. you can make the argument that weekly episodes would be better, but for a kids show I think there is no question that more control is the best strategy.

What benefit do you get by releasing weekly vs. all at once though? I mean, you could argue that you'll have people sign up for a trial to watch a series then drop the service, but that's likely a rounding error for Netflix.

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