“Do you have a subscription?” Asks CEO of Netflix Reed Hastings at the company entrance in Los Gatos. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, briefly taken by surprise, answered the question in the affirmative. “Then you can come in,” Reed Hastings said. That was a very famous comic incident by the fun-loving founder of the world’s largest TV streaming service for movies and shows with 150 million subscribers, Netflix.
“TV Revolutionary”, “TV Visionary”, are the names given to CEO of Netflix Reed Hastings. Netflix’s Balance sheet profit in 2018 was one billion dollars. His Internet TV has become the nightmare of all conventional TV companies. In terms of users, Netflix already has more viewers in the US than any conventional TV network.
But Reed Hastings wants to have mercy on the old TV world. According to him, this will keep conventional TV’s task limited to news and sports. He also jokingly sends reassurance as if he is in a mood to decide the future of TV.
Netflix does not just rewrite movies and shows. The streaming giant is already making its own productions like the TV hit “House of Cards”, and Reed Hastings has become a real big name among the Hollywood moguls and the big celebrity of show business, for whom the little stars dance.
Even Barack Obama’s producing for Netflix
Diversity is in the Netflix world, right through life. Recently, Barack and Michelle Obama have produced socio political documentaries for Netflix.
Their first work is called “America Factory” and is about a troubled US company, which was taken over by a Chinese billionaire and a company of Chinese foreman – and what that means for the American workers there is that instead of lawful wages, they get $19 per 12.5 hourly wage, unpaid lunch breaks, Chinese criticism for the work ethic of the local workforce; American fight for their middle class status. The film should be Oscar worthy.
The French Resistance
During the process running like clockwork, resistance emerges from France, which always considers its cultural independence before and capitalistic idea. Under the leadership of the state, the public and the two private broadcasters want to set up a common “French Netflix”.
The Competition
In the US, Netflix competition has woken up to Disney, Amazon & Co. They are now preparing for the big counter strike. The speculations of a brutal price war are flooding the market. The customer is pleased because of obvious reasons.
Reed Hastings had begun in 1997 with a DVD rental through the mail delivery. In 2007, the transition to online streaming began.
In 1998, Netflix made it into the New York Times for the first time when Reed Hastings lowered the price for a four-hour documentary to 2 cents to explain a historical event. The content was the complete testimony of President Bill Clinton in his Monica Lewinsky affair.
From where we stand, Netflix’s future looks bright but the competitors are not going to give up easily. After all, it’s about the 60 year old Journey of the television.
Some unknown facts about Reed Hastings
1. Hastings is one of the directors on the board of Facebook.
2. Prior to that he also served on the board of Microsoft.
3. No matter what the media says, Hasting has no hobbies. He once said in an interview ““I don’t sail, I don’t fish. I’m a pitiful failure as a Renaissance man.”
4. Hasting’s first company was ‘Pure Software’. It used to develop troubleshooting software.
5. Reed Hastings is also a philanthropist. He has also created a $100 Million fund to improve education.