When “House of Cards“ was released on February 1, it tickled the fantasies of a generation of binge watchers. Netflix decided to release all 13 episodes from the show’s first season at once, which was a treat to watchers’ ravenous eyeballs.
Despite the show’s high quality production and the fanfare surrounding its unique distribution, the landscape of internet exclusive content is still being written.
The formula Netflix has come out with is simple: high quality content delivered all at once. Because there are no benchmarks for success, however, it’s still too early to tell if the “House of Cards” model is practical. Most watchers of the show consumed the entire season in less than a week after its release, making it difficult to decide what the public interest in the show will be a month or a year from now. Netflix remains tight-lipped about their thoughts on the formula, refusing to release any performance metrics, and traditional television rating systems falter when approaching Netflix. Nielsen, the predominate television ratings system in the U.S., doesn’t calculate ratings for strictly Internet-based shows.
So why has Netflix decided to release all of “House of Cards” season one in a single go? “Ted Sarandos [Chief Content Officer] made the decision,” said a Netflix source who wished to remain anonymous. “He wanted to be very conscientious of giving people the same viewing experience [as with other shows on Netflix], that people have complete control over their viewing experience.”
Only time will tell if the “House of Cards” experiment has worked. Netflix is taking the long view of success. “The people watching [House of Cards] two years from now are just as valuable to us as the people watching right now,” the Netflix source continued.
At this point Netflix has already committed to another 13 episodes of the show to be released later this year. The company will also be releasing a new season of “Arrested Development,” based on the original FOX show, this May.
Meanwhile, competitors are putting together their own campaigns to win the hearts and eyes of online viewers. Last Valentine’s Day Hulu released its first scripted television series, “Battleground.” It also airs several reality and news programming shows, including “A Day in the Life“ and “The Morning After.” Amazon also has more than a half-dozen pilots in development and is busy snapping up the streaming rights to hit shows like “Downton Abbey,” making them exclusive to Amazon Prime subscribers later this year.
Even though the battle for online viewers is hot and lucrative, online media consumption still pales in comparison to traditional TV viewing. The average American watches 34 hours of television a week, and watching TV online takes up just a fraction of that.
Whether shows aired exclusively online move more viewers toward watching television online is yet to be determined. But the success of programs like “House of Cards” could prove to be an important yardstick for how Americans may watch television in the years to come.
