When choosing a life partner, you need to develop a relationship built on trust. Sometimes your eyes are going to wander to the new, attractive option. But your partner always knows that you’ll come back at the end of the night. The trust and confidence in the relationship are vital. And according to the CEO of Netflix, this is how you should view your streaming options.
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Speaking to investors on a recent earnings call (via Deadline), Netflix’s chief, Reed Hastings, responded to the success of Disney+ and its recent release of “Hamilton” by commenting on the strategy his streaming service has in contrast to what is being offered by Disney, Apple, Amazon, and the rest of the competition. Basically, to use cool terminology that the kids will understand, Netflix is your “ride or die” partner whereas the other services are those Instagram models that will only occasionally attract your eye before you come back to what’s good.
“We want to be like your primary, your best friend, the one you turn to,” Hastings said. “And of course, occasionally there’s ‘Hamilton’ and you’re going to go to someone else’s service for an extraordinary film. But for the most part we want to be the one that can just always please you, be the convenient, simple easy choice.”
Netflix is in a good place to exude this level of confidence. Compared to the other streamers that exist, Hastings’ company is at the top of the list, with nearly 200 million subscribers around the world and a ridiculously large library of original, exclusive content. Disney+, despite its large library, doesn’t have the originals to compete, which is why Netflix is okay with the irregular hits like “Hamilton.” And Amazon and Hulu, while having decent originals and fairly large customer bases, just don’t have the volume and brand-recognition as Hastings’ service. Oh, and let’s not even bring Apple TV+, HBO Max, Peacock, and Quibi into the mix. They’re clearly not ready to play with the big dogs.
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Long story short, while there’s some shade being thrown at Disney+ by discounting the effect that “Hamilton” might have, it’s clear that Netflix is in a position that it can shrug it off and not be overly concerned that anyone is coming to steal the customer base. Because at the end of the day, when you’re tired of flirting with lesser options, we all turn to Netflix and get that relaxing calm that comes from scrolling through your queue and knowing that you always have “Ozark” waiting for you when you’re ready.