Ken Auletta's Outside The Box

Like many people in the U.S., my parents use the web-based streaming service Netflix to get their television fix. However, they also make use of a cable TV provider, mainly to watch live sporting events such as baseball or the Olympics. The fact that both services are present in the household seems to be a pretty typical topic of discussion when I return home. My mom, who wants to have just the Netflix, claims that the cable should be disconnected because “all of the shows on TV are on here anyways” while my dad argues that Netflix doesn’t have ESPN or the Giants games or ‘The Daily Show,’ and therefore only contains a portion of what he wants. In their banter, they both present sides of the growing discussion regarding the future of television

Auletta arrives at several conclusions regarding the future of television, but the thought that interested me most was his views on how the different genres of television between streaming providers (such as Netflix) and broadcast television (such as Time Warner and CBS) would be split as time goes on. Auletta believes that broadcast networks, in an effort to prevent being crushed by Netflix competitively, will have to offer more of what Netflix does not have at the moment: live television events. To quote Auletta directly: “What Netflix and the other new platforms still can’t offer is the kind of appointment viewing…that has been the mainstay of broadcast television and certain cable operators…The future of traditional television…is in airing more live events, which attract higher advertising rates” (Auletta 14). Also, he states that “Netflix will have to invest further in original content” (Auletta 17) in order to remain competitive with broadcast television and cable network such as HBO, which have traditionally dominated in this

In one quarterly report in 2011, Netflix itself admitted “that it was ‘fundamentally correct’ to characterize the company as ‘rerun TV’” (Auletta 9). In 2011, Netflix was basically just that—a website for watching shows that have happened already on broadcast television. Netflix’ modus operandi has always been to release shows in full seasons after networks have sold these shows off. Recently, however, Netflix has expanded its horizons into the original television content market, and has been very successful. This is evident in the Netflix original shows such as “House of Cards” and “Orange is the New Black,” which have each won three Emmys. On top of being award-winning shows, Netflix’s original shows are often preferred by consumers over broadcast television shows. In Auletta’s article, Reed Hastings, the C.E.O. of Netflix, explains Netflix’ superiority: “Think of it as entertainment that’s more like books…You get to control and watch, and you get to do all the chapters of a book at the same time, because you have all the episodes.” Instead of antagonizing viewers with weeklong breaks between a show’s episode and commercial breaks within episodes, Netflix draws them in with the promise of no-hassle viewing. Netflix releases all original programming in seasons