House of Cards (Netflix)

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by Bob The Skutter, Jan 28, 2013.

  1. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The real time data they are collecting from your "subscription" is as good as if they had bugged your living room.

    You're paying them to monitor you.

    That's intimately masochistic.
     
  2. tighr

    tighr Commodore Commodore

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    I binged my way through the rest of the episodes last night and today.

    Having now finished Season 1, I have reversed my earlier admonition that they shouldn't have released them all at once. I am now impatiently awaiting the release of Season 2.

    Although, had they released them one at a time, I would still have that same impatience, but I gather Netflix loses less viewers per season this way than the major networks lose by spreading their episodes out.
     
  3. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Is Netflix going to be using this model for the release of Arrested Development.
     
  4. PsychoPere

    PsychoPere Vice Admiral Premium Member

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    Yes, just as they did with Lilyhammer and almost certainly will with Derek, Hemlock Grove, Narcos, Orange Is The New Black, and any other future shows.
     
  5. Bob The Skutter

    Bob The Skutter Complete Arse Cleft In Memoriam

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    Netflix has Derek? It's a Channel 4 show here. Wonder if that mean they'll get it exclusively when Channel 4 is done or what, because LoveFilm just signed a deal to get access to Channel 4's back catalogue.
     
  6. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Or narcassistic, since it means they're paying attention to MEEEEE and what I want, which never having had a Nielsens box is more than I can say for regular TV.

    I can't remember if this has been noted yet, but apparently it's no coincidence that Netflix chose House of Cards in particular to remake, snce they saw a connection between viewers of the BBC version and both Spacey and Fincher fans. So hey, put em together and you have a winner, right?

    I've heard of TV shows made by committee, but that's the first one made by, what, computer programmers' logic? A+B+C = PROFIT! Does a creative business really work like that?
     
  7. tighr

    tighr Commodore Commodore

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    I've always wondered who gets those things. I've never gotten one. One Nielsen viewer counts for something like one million viewers, so that's a lot of skew that you could provide to the market. Then again, all it takes is one idiot watching Honey Boo Boo or Survivor 843 or other reality dreck to imbalance the ratings.
     
  8. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I checked out the Salon article that quote was taken from and it's even funnier and scarier than I thought.

    Wow, that's getting down to minutae pretty quickly, but what about the bigger picture. They're making a basic mistake if they're assuming that the whole universe of "what people want" can be based on what already exists. How about what doesn't already exist, but should? Market research can't substitute for creativity.

    And even if they're just looking at what already exists in their library, the number of possible connections is staggering. Why spend $100M on the House of Cards-Spacey-Fincher connection and ignore all the other dots that could be connected? I'll bet the Star Trek-Ben Browder-Josh Whedon axis is pretty strong if you thought to look for it.

    And how do they know any given connection is meaningful? Maybe a gangster drama starring Dustin Hoffman and directed by Stephen Soderberg would have done just as well, even though there may be no particularly strong relationship that can be found in the data, but those three elements would click for ineffible creative reasons.
     
  9. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Luck is still haunting Hoffman. I saw some new bad press about that a few days ago.
     
  10. sidious618

    sidious618 Admiral Admiral

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    I loved Luck. Damn good show.
     
  11. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    It's the changing times.

    If they continued making Ben Hurr after 4 stuntmen where trampled to death by horses in that chariot race, you just have to wonder how much more beloved equinekind is than mankind?
     
  12. tighr

    tighr Commodore Commodore

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    So no spoiler thread? Any interest in a spoilers thread?
     
  13. tighr

    tighr Commodore Commodore

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  14. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Good idea to split the threads, I still haven't gotten past ep three! :D I guess I'm pushing that bell curve out...at this rate, I'll finish the series by oh July.

    Anyway, Amazon is coming on strong, locking up exclusives. Netflix needs to grab the kind of series that the early adopter/tech-head crowd likes, namely sci fi, hello!

    Under the Dome.

    CBS is using Amazon revenue to help fund a series that is a bit out of their normal range for nichieness.

    Amazon gets exclusive deals, including Falling Skies.
     
  15. bigdaddy

    bigdaddy Vice Admiral Admiral

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  16. Amaris

    Amaris Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I haven't seen all of it, either. I only discovered that it was already released, yesterday. I've made it up to episode 5, getting ready to watch episode 6. It definitely has my attention.
     
  17. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Late to the party, but in possession of the correct sort of appetite.
     
  18. Amaris

    Amaris Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I just finished the last couple of episodes. All I can say is "moar!"
     
  19. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    My screen needs a good clean.

    I thought that had typed "Maori" because you were having a stroke.
     
  20. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Oooh baloney, they do care about two types of ratings: how many new subscribers come in thru the HoC ads (and stick around after the free trial) and whether HoC has impacted the rate of existing subscriber churn. Why spend a dime on a show that doesn't influence either number? They just have no motive to make either of those measurements public, except...

    There is a motivation to release ratings, namely for the PR value. And they have a golden opportunity here to set the expectations for the whole category by spinning those numbers deftly. They've already set an expectation that "binge viewing is good" but now they should be figuring out what the baseline for success is in a streaming series, and then declaring that HoC is a success according to that metric.

    Of course if they think they can set a higher baseline with a different series (maybe that Eli Roth horror series?) they'd be smart to hold off for now and set the baseline higher, so that it's harder for competitors to meet it. Right now they're still in learning mode. It's possible that a political thriller and a horror series are vastly different in their appeal on streaming, and what about a revival of a cult series like Arrested Development?

    Netflix has shown a lack of sophistication in PR before, with the whole Quiwkster debacle. The tension here is between Netflix setting the wrong baseline by jumping too soon, vs waiting too long and letting Amazon beat them to the punch.

    EDIT: Oh wait, we will get the numbers...in April...when Netflix releases its financials for the quarter. THEN we shall see! :D And no doubt we'll get some indication of coming attractions before then, as Netflix sets expectations. The fact that Reed Hastings isn't spinning wildly now is a good sign that Wall Street will not be terribly unhappy with the results.
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2013