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Some time last year, we had a discussion in the office: Has Netflix got as big as it’s going to get, or is there more room to expand?
And then someone said the following: Mark my words, the next big thing on Netflix will be podcasts. We all laughed at it, what a crazy statement. Why would a film and TV streaming platform host podcasts? Who sits in front of the TV watching a podcast, instead of listening to it when they’re out for a walk or driving, or for background noise while they’re up and moving?
As it transpires, it wasn’t such a crazy statement after all. Throughout January, Netflix has announced that a wave of video podcasts will be added to the platform spanning news, entertainment, sports, and true crime. Seems a strange move, doesn’t it? Well, no, not really.
If this move teaches us just one thing, it’s solidifying that consumer behaviours have changed, and Netflix has its fingers right on the pulse.
Once upon a time, a Netflix subscription was the symbol of sitting on your sofa and watching Friends for four hours straight. Similarly with YouTube, it was either a quick how-to video in between tasks, or you’d sit and watch content on your computer as your evening entertainment. But like I said, behaviours have changed.
Ask yourself this – you’re on a train in rush hour: what’s everybody doing? If you guessed staring at their phones, you’d probably be right. So, what are they doing? They’re on Netflix, or YouTube, or iPlayer, or another streaming service.
Now ask yourself the same question, but imagine it’s 2010. The train is still busy, and probably still borderline unaffordable, but something’s different. Everyone is still sitting with headphones in, but they’re scrolling some kind of social media, or they’re staring absently into space. Sure, they’re still using their phones, but they’re using it very differently.
So why the big change? Well, two reasons:
1: Phone technology is a lot better, and you can fairly comfortably stream an hour or so of video without draining your battery.
2: The way people consume content has changed.
That’s fairly obvious, but what if there’s a third, less visible reason.
When Netflix first launched, it was a one-stop-shop for all kinds of TV and film content. Now, with competition like Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Paramount+, Discovery+, BBC iPlayer, Sky, and everything else available. All those £9.99s a month add up, and those services are amongst the first to get the axe when someone reviews their monthly subscriptions.
Let’s put you in another scenario: You have a Netflix subscription, and a Spotify subscription. You use both semi-regularly, but you listen to more podcasts than music. Something happens and you need to tighten your belt for a few months, which means cutting back on those nice-to-haves.
Which one is easier to say goodbye to: Your Netflix that you can get your podcasts on as well as some films and TV, or your Spotify, which doesn’t get much use besides your weekly episodes?
Yep, easy answer – and that’s what Netflix is doing. For now, it’s a novelty to be able to watch your favourite podcasts - and maybe have a visual identity to the faceless voices in your ears - but it’s actually much more than that. It’s a strategic financial move.
Netflix Games was a bit of a miss (there’s some good timewasters, but I’ve never heard anyone say “I played this great game on Netflix last night”) but expanding to include podcast content is a serious move from Netflix to cover more bases for its users.
Would you pay for a podcast platform when you can get all your favourite shows on a platform that offers you a wider range of content?
If you were cutting back on your subscriptions, would you get rid of the ones that give you content in one area of interest, or would you get rid of the one that gives you a bit of everything?
Personally, I’m the latter.
Unfortunately, it seems like Netflix Podcasts aren’t available in the UK for now, but I can’t imagine it will be long until it is (at least that’s what I’m hoping).
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