Have you ever wondered why Netflix became a no.1 OTT platform? I guarantee you that you log in to Netflix daily. It is a global streaming platform.
With 208 million users, a presence in over 190 nations, and about 100 million hours of streaming video per day? It’s probably the most widely used content platform worldwide.
In this article, we will explore the success story of Netflix, and some of the turning points in Netflix’s history.
Success Story Of The Netflix
It began in 1997 when Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph struck the idea of renting DVDs by mail because they had to pay the $40 penalty for late returning the DVD.
The internet was still at an early age. Online product sales and purchases have just begun. However, Randolph and Hastings were quite confident in the space’s potential and had some familiarity with it having been impressed by how Amazon used the internet to sell books. They thought why wouldn’t DVDs work the same way as books? So they agreed to try it out.
How Did It Work At That Time?
In the beginning, people could place it on their website and it would deliver the item right to their doors. They would just post the DVDs back to Netflix after they were finished.
But there were a lot of people who didn’t like Netflix at that time. Almost everyone informed them that it was not going to work. In actuality, they were not wrong.
The reason behind this is at that time streaming did not exist so people watched movies on DVDs and VHS that were mailed. It did not sound like an innovative business idea the return dates and penalties for late returns are not just like the same that existed before.
There was intense competition at the time, Blockbuster had thousands of well-known, regularly visited brick-and-mortar locations, but that would soon alter due to digital disruption.
Waiting days to receive your DVD is not ideal, especially when you could just pop into the nearby Blockbuster to watch it. Were clients receiving genuine value from the service?
With DVDs, you could buy a movie for $20 and rent it out for, let’s say, $4 each time.
Secondly waiting for mail order rentals, it took up to 10 days to rent the DVDs again. Thus it may take you a month to recoup your $20 initial investment. But the two of them were confident it would succeed.
They brought this experience online, it was something that no one before thought of it. It is very easy to criticize them for their mistake but back in 1997, the reality was something else.
Beginning Of Subscription Model
The beginning of the subscription model was the only solution for the removal of the traditional renting model. They start to make money from this internet rental company.
As they sat there among hundreds of DVDs, they thought to themselves, Why are these DVDs held here, unused and of no value to us? Why don’t we figure out a method that allows users to keep them at home? In this manner, they are at least being used by someone. So they made a decision to provide their clients as much time as they wanted to keep the DVDs and they will return once they finished watching it and then get a new one.
They created a customized list of movies for their customers and they find it interesting as it is based on their preferences. In this manner, buyers could return their DVDs and get new ones practically immediately.
And that’s how it transitioned from a rental DVD business model, in which users paid $4 for each individual movie they rented, to a subscription business, in which users paid a monthly fee for unrestricted access.
Streaming Service
We are a far way from the Netflix that we know today, that they are still discussing the rental of actual DVDs. This period was the beginning of the download of movies on the internet. It understood exactly what was happening and that something was going to change soon.
It entered the streaming market by purchasing content licenses from other creators. Despite being the pioneers and seeing great success in the early days of streaming, other businesses quickly followed suit.
Conclusion
Today Netflix has become one of the best online streaming platforms to watch movies and millions of people worldwide use it. After the success of Netflix, many other OTT platforms came up in the competition but Netflix is always the first choice of the individual.
Check This Post Also – 10 Most Trending Netflix Web Series
FAQs
1. How did Netflix become so successful?
The importance of client contentment. Netflix has demonstrated that maintaining and expanding its clientele requires a strong focus on customer happiness. It has given its users quality, value, and convenience with features like flexible cancelation options, no late fees, and unlimited access.
2. What is the story of Netflix?
It begins as a mail-order business. Customers would get DVDs from the corporation via mail, along with a pre-paid return envelope for returning the disc. It was established in 1997, and when its website went live in April 1998, it had about 900 titles available.
3. What are Netflix’s successful projects?
Some of the successful projects of Netflix are Wednesday, Strangers Things, Squid Game, Money Heist, and many others.
4. Why Netflix is famous?
It gives a variety of things to watch, it is user-friendly and robust. Netflix was the recipient of an Editors’ Choice Award in 2023, having received one in 2021 and 2022.
5. What is the slogan of Netflix?
“Watch what you want, when you want,”
6. What was Netflix first called?
First Netflix was known by the name Kibble.
7. When was Netflix launched in USA?
Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings who left the company in 2004, started Netflix in California in 1997 and started mail-order DVD operations in 1998.
8. Why was Netflix successful over Blockbuster?
It is more convenient, has a wider selection, and is less expensive than traditional video rental businesses like Blockbuster.
1 thought on “How Netflix Become A No. 1 OTT Platform?”