Abstract
When Netflix launched in April 1998, Internet video was in its infancy. Eighteen years later,
Netflix has developed into the first truly global Internet TV network. Many books have been
written about the five broadcast networks – NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, and the CW – and many
about the major cable networks – HBO, CNN, MTV, Nickelodeon, just to name a few – and this
is the fitting time to undertake a detailed analysis of how Netflix, as the preeminent Internet TV
networks, has come to be.
This book, then, combines historical, industrial, and textual analysis to investigate, contextualize,
and historicize Netflix's development as an Internet TV network. The book is split into four
chapters. The first explores the ways in which Netflix's development during its early years a
DVD-by-mail company – 1998-2007, a period I am calling "Netflix as Rental Company" – lay
the foundations for the company's future iterations and successes. During this period, Netflix
adapted DVD distribution to the Internet, revolutionizing the way viewers receive, watch, and
choose content, and built a brand reputation on consumer-centric innovation.
This reputation served it well during its second phase, "Netflix as Syndicator" (2007-12), when
the company turned from DVD rentals to online distribution. In chapter two, I explain who
Netflix adapted syndication – a business model that has been a staple of US broadcasting for half
a century – to Internet distribution. By doing so, Netflix up-ended both the TV industry's
traditional content release structures and viewers' habits. By shifting TV distribution to the
Internet, Netflix drastically increased the control viewers have over where, when, and on what
devices viewers watch TV.
In its third phase, Netflix entered the original programming business by subtly adapting
traditional program genres, content, and release schedules to Internet video. I split this phase –
"Netflix as Internet Network" (2012-present) – into two chapters. While many of Netflix's
concerns parallel those of traditional networks – in terms of production and financing, for
example – Internet networks also have a number of unique concerns in areas such as Net
Neutrality and distribution windows. Netflix has led the charge on these issues, and chapter
three explores Netflix's role as the first Internet network, including the development of its binge-
viewing strategy and its push into international distribution.
Finally, chapter four takes a deep dive in Netflix's foray into original program production. In its
third phase, Netflix has adapted traditional TV structures to Internet distribution. Despite the
innovations in short-form and user-generated content that sites like YouTube, Crackle, and
Twitch have named, Netflix's traditional approach to programming has set the template for
successful Internet networks that has been adopted by the likes of Hulu, Amazon, and Yahoo
Screen. Chapter four analyses Netflix's biggest programs - including House of Cards, Orange is
the New Black, Daredevil and others - to explain how Netflix has adapted traditional TV genres
and structures to the freedoms in production, marketing, and content possibilities that the Internet
affords.
In the same was that NBC set the example for broadcast networks in the 1950s and HBO
developed the framework for cable TV in the 1990s, Netflix has set the template for Internet TV