Thread by @finshots

How Netflix gambled $100 Million to create a blockbuster.

A thread. 👇(1/n)

Back in 2011, House of Cards, a remake of an earlier British series was chosen to air on Netflix.

But it was unlike other TV shows because instead of launching a pilot, Netflix commissioned it for two seasons.

It was a $100Mn investment, and they needed this to take off. So how did Netflix secure its success?

Well, before giving the House of Cards a green light, Netflix knew of these 3 things...

1.) Many users watched David Fincher directed “The Social Network'' from start to finish.

2.) Users loved the British version of “House of Cards”.

3.) Users who watched the British version also watched Kevin Spacey films and/or films directed by David Fincher.

And each of these 3 synergistic factors contained a significant number of users, which is why House of Cards happened, with Kevin Spacey in the lead role and David Fincher as the director.

In fact, big data was instrumental in how most of the characters were cast.

Further, Netflix made 10 different cuts of its trailer, and each of these were geared toward different audiences. How? Simple, the trailer you would get to see would be based on your previous viewing behavior.

So if you watched a lot of Kevin Spacey films, you saw a trailer featuring him. David Fincher fans would see a trailer featuring his touch. And so on.
So at the end of all this, was House of Cards a success?

Well, it brought in 2 mn new U.S. subscribers & 1 mn new subscribers from elsewhere in the world. And in total, these 3 million subscribers almost paid Netflix back for the cost of House of Cards.

So now you know the secret sauce behind all the hit Netflix Specials - Big Data.

Sources and further reading:

Netflix Harnesses Big Data To Profit From Your Tastes- Forbes

Giving Viewers What They Want: Netflix

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