The concept of binge-watching into the wee hours of Friday night to finish the latest season of a show is relatively new to India. While the Indian OTT platform Hotstar may have been the first one to introduce us to online streaming, it was Netflix that truly transformed the scene. Today, Netflix is more than just a streaming giant; it’s a cultural phenomenon.
With a legacy spanning over two decades, Netflix has an interesting history. Before Netflix, the streaming giant, there was Netflix, the mail-based DVD rental service founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph. As one of the most globally popular OTT platforms turns 22, here’s a bunch of fun facts about Netflix that we bet you didn’t know!
1. Netflix in the Pre-Online Streaming Era
Before establishing itself as the streaming that it is today, Netflix was a DVD rental website in the USA that launched in 1997. A major competitor to Blockbuster - a very popular rental service chain. However, unlike Blockbuster, Netflix offered unlimited DVD rentals for a very minimal monthly subscription fee.
In fact, Netflix’s origin story is often accompanied by a cheeky anecdote (which isn’t entirely true). According to co-founder Reed Hastings, Blockbuster once charged him with a fine of 40$ for not returning a DVD of Apollo 13 on time and that’s what sparked the idea for Netflix.
2. Netflix Goes International
After operating as a mail-based DVD rental service for a decade, Netflix emerged as an online streaming platform in 2007. In the good old days when internet was THE most fascinating thing to experiment with, Netflix pioneered as a unique service that allowed people to watch their favourite TV shows and movies directly on their PCs!
Three years later, in 2010, Netflix Canada was launched. Followed by Latin American and Caribbean versions of it in 2011.
In India, Netflix did not make an appearance until very recently i.e. 2016.
3. The First Netflix Original Ever
As Netflix made its foray into the world of streaming, it became clear that original content is the only way the company could retain and create a loyal consumer base. In 2013, Netflix commissioned its first original - the Kevin Spacey-starrer House of Cards. The first season of House of Cards had 13 episodes and premiered on Netflix on 1 February 2013.
But, plot twist! House of Cards wasn’t technically the streaming platform’s first original. In 2011, Netflix created a test show titled Example Show with two episodes. Each episode has 11 minutes of footage and is available on the American Netflix website. The show is nothing but a collation of the most random shots. A man moon-walking with a laptop in his hand,dramatically reciting Shakespeare, footage of flowers, buildings, waterfalls.. it’s bizarre.
4. Guess What Netflix Was Initially Called?
You know that pressure you feel while setting up your first email address or choosing a catchy name for social media? Well, the Netflix founders were no stranger to it. Marc Rudolph initially struggled to come up with something catchy so he decided to go with ‘Kibble’ - like the dog food name. Of course, Kibble was always supposed to be a test name and Marc eventually came up with the word ‘Netflix.’
5. Binge-Watch or Binge-Racer?
In the last few years, the act of ‘binge-watching’ has become a cultural phenomenon. With Netflix (and other streaming platforms) dropping entire seasons in one day, it’s difficult to keep curiosity at bay. So much so that in 2015, the term was declared as world of the year by a survey done by Collins.
However, Netflix has a different term for such superfans and it’s ‘binge-racers.’ In 2017, a Netflix official told Associated Press that the term was “bubbling up on social media.” Netflix has reserved that term to describe people who finish watching an entire season within 24 hours of its release on the platform.
6. ‘Spoilers’ As Legitimate Science
In today’s day and age, spoilers are a very touchy topic, to say the least. But given how the content consumption is changing rapidly, it’s no surprise that Netflix actually went ahead and commissioned an anthropologist to study the science behind spoilers. Grant McCracken conducted an ethnographic research on the nature of spoilers vis-a-vis new social norms and the politics that surrounds it. He categorised spoilers into different types: Power spoilers, Coded spoilers, Impulsive spoiler, Shameless spoiler etc. Unbelievable, right?
7. A Netflix Bug That Went Viral
Despite its amazing user interface and AI (I swear by Netflix recommendations!), Netflix is not immune to technical glitches. In 2014, a Netflix bug started combining plot summaries of different movies together. The result was a hilarious!
For example, the plot summaries of Power Rangers combined with Inglorious Basterds resulted in something like this: “The Samurai Rangers get stuck in the Megazord’s cockpit on Christmas Even when it breaks down. Can the Rangers get out and assassinate Adolf Hitler.”
A Twitter account @SummaryBug has these glitches documented for life, check it out!
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