Netflix has figured out pretty well how to hook viewers into watching one episode, then another, then another, until that “Still watching?” pop-up appears on your screen after several hours and you have to — gasp — raise the remote and click “yes” to watch a few more. The company is so good at it, CEO Reed Hastings explained at Summit LA last week, that they feel they’re not just competing with other entertainment options, but with necessary bodily functions. Which many users are deeming not so necessary if they stand in the way of a good binge.
From Fast Company:
Sometimes employees at Netflix think, ‘Oh my god, we’re competing with FX, HBO, or Amazon,” said Hastings, “but think about if you didn’t watch Netflix last night: What did you do? There’s such a broad range of things that you did to relax and unwind, hang out, and connect — and we compete with all of that.” … “You get a show or a movie you’re really dying to watch, and you end up staying up late at night, so we actually compete with sleep,” he said of his No. 1 competitor. Not that he puts too much stock in his rival: “And we’re winning!”
Sweet streams, er, uh, dreams, folks.
