The Power of Netflix
The landing page of Netflix is one of the most powerful influencers of common culture on earth.
If a television or film is prominently displayed on that remarkable digital billboard it will quickly and swiftly enter the cultural zeitgeist.
It can literally drag years old and forgotten content and push it onto the world stage.
I noticed this recently in the UK with “The Fall”, a mildly popular BBC TV show that aired between 2013 and 2016.
Netflix purchased the rights, advertised it prominently on its landing page, and it quickly became extremely popular. It was trending on Twitter and people were talking about it in the same way “Game of Thrones” was talked about the day after a new episode aired.
And I spotted a similar occurrence yesterday. The 2004 film “Mean Girls” had just arrived on Netflix and it was main thing presented to me – and I’m sure many other people – when I logged in. Today? It is number one on Netflix UK.
If I was the director, scriptwriter or producer of a new movie that was being shopped around I would gladly take less money to be on Netflix than more money to be on say Amazon Prime Video. Simply because the chances of my work being seen, enjoyed and entering the public imagination is far higher on Netflix than anywhere else.
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