Any woman between the ages of 20 and 35 learned what it meant for dreams to come true this week, when it was announced that Gilmore Girls would return to TV.
The show, about a quick-witted, fast-talking, junk food-eating mother and daughter, went off the air seven years ago. It will now return (in the form of a limited series) to Netflix with the show’s original lead writer and director, and many of the same actors.
So how did I get away with writing about one of my favorite TV shows from my teenage years?
I realized (after I finished jumping up and down and texting all my friends) that this news is a tremendous indicator of the direction our media landscape is headed. The means by which we consume media, even TV shows, has drastically changed, and I believe Netflix is the catalyst.
Here’s why:
- Netflix’s subscriber base continues to increase. With its subscription rate recently identified at 65.6 million users, Netflix grew its base by three million people in just one quarter.
- It rivals traditional network TV. In fact, for this year’s Emmy Awards alone, Netflix original shows generated 34 nominations for 10 different programs. On average, House of Cards has won two Emmys a year for the last three years.
- “Netflix Binge-Watching” and “binge streaming” are commonly used terms today. The company even studied its viewership to identify how many episodes it would take to hook the viewers into binge-watching the whole season (only 2 for Breaking Bad!). And, a Deloitte survey found that 1/3 of America binge-watches a TV series at least once a week!
- The organization’s business model innovated the category. Consumers identified their willingness to pay a premium up front for the ability to skip out on ads and to easily watch shows without having to battle the buffering on ABC.com.
- Today’s younger consumer is addicted to their multi-screen universe and Netflix is available on all of them. Move over millennials; Fox Business believes we’re the “Netflix Generation.”
You may be disgusted with the couch potatoes of America right now, or figuring out ways to leave work for your couch. Either way Netflix is brainstorming ways to maximize all your screen time, and I bet they’ll get you back to Orange is the New Black in no time.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfmTcT2cfC8[/youtube]