Netflix and it’s technology
By Kamini Budke, SE EXTC
Netflix is an American-based entertainment company which offers its services for
streaming movies and TV series over the Internet. With its reach currently over 190 countries, it
bags the highest growth rate in the United States where it outranks cable with over 33 million
subscribers.
The Journey: Founded by Reed Hastings and Marco Randolph in 1997, Netflix as an
entertainment company has grown to become the sixth largest internet company by revenue.
The very idea behind Netflix sprung up when the CEO was charged $40 for a late VHS
copy of Apollo 13. Netflix started off by adopting monthly subscription scheme offering unlimited
rentals for a single monthly rate. Over the years the company developed a better algorithm for
movie recommendations which was initially gummed up with divisive movies.
In 2007, Netflix started it's streaming services only to gain more than 20 million
subscribers, three years later. Fueled by appreciation and large scale demand, the company
ventured into developing and streaming original series. Shows like ‘House of Cards" being a
massive success, concreted their stay in the field.
Technology and Strategy: During the early 2000s, advances in compression technology
coupled with more homes gaining access to high-speed internet facility – allowed large video
files to be easily streamed over the internet.
These developments led to the evolvement of the company's business from DVDs by
mail to a national video streaming service. Television thrives on the principles of broadcasting –
a revolutionary technology that sends a wireless signal over huge swaths of the country. But
broadcasting technology can send only one message at a time to everyone in its range.
With the introduction of efficient video streaming services such as Netflix which deliver
programming "on demand" via the internet, viewers can choose what and when to watch instead
of watching "what's on." Thus while the traditional cable services focus on scheduling programs,
the key task of a portal is cultivating a library of programs.