While Netflix brought in lower than expected first quarter numbers, the company maintains its doing well when it comes to its new original series, according to The Next Web.
This new business venture, which includes shows like “Hemlock Grove” and the political thriller “House of Cards”, is an effort to draw more viewers and even compete with HBO.
“The goal is to become HBO faster than HBO can become us,” said Netflix’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos earlier this year according to TheVerge.com.
Netflix's “House of Cards” has done very well which has bolstered its confidence in producing other original programming.
“The high level of viewer satisfaction implies we were able to target the right audience without the benefit of existing broadcast or cable viewing data and the strong viewing across all our markets gives us faith in our ability to create global content brands in a cost-effective, efficient way,” the company said.
Netflix has also strayed from the model used by competitors like HBO. Instead of putting out one episode every two weeks, it puts out every episode from a particular season at the same time. For example, all 13 episodes for the first season of House of Cards—and all 13 episodes for the first season of Hemlock Grove—are currently for subscribers to watch at their leisure.
At first investors were worried that putting all 13 episodes out simultaneously was a bad business move. Netflix currently offers a free month trial to new subscribers. Investors feared that new subscribers would sign up, get the free month, watch the all the episodes from the original programming, and quit their membership before the month was finished.
However, the company’s recent earnings and consumer reception to the original programming, has investors not as worried.
More original programming is soon to come from Netflix, including: the return of “Arrested Development”, a sci-fi thriller titled “Sense8”, and a DreamWorks Animation series titled “Turbo: F.A.S.T.”. The company is also planning more seasons for “House of Cards,” and other series.
