This is a summary of a book titled “Binge Times: Inside Hollywood’s furious billion-dollar battle to take down Netflix” written by Dade Hayes and Dawn Chmielewski and published by Wiliam Morrow in 2022. As Netflix moves to acquire Warner Bros. this looks at how it grew. Netflix had already positioned itself as a leader in streaming when pandemic struck. As the streaming industry boomed and brought more players including traditional media companies into a fierce competition, Netflix’s business became so mainstream that only Disney posed a significant threat.
In the mid-1990s, the seeds of a revolution in entertainment were quietly being sown. Streaming, as we know it today, had its humble beginnings in 1996, when visionaries like Jonathan Taplin launched Intertainer, a service that delivered movies to computers via the internet. Back then, the idea of watching a film online seemed almost fantastical—computers were slow, the internet was new, and streaming a movie required both technical ingenuity and a leap of faith. Yet, as high-speed internet became more widespread, the groundwork was laid for a new era in media consumption.
Amid this technological ferment, Netflix emerged—not as the streaming giant we know today, but as a mail-order DVD rental service. Subscribers paid a monthly fee to receive DVDs by mail, a model that quickly gained a devoted following. Netflix’s innovation didn’t stop there: in 1999, it introduced a system allowing customers to keep DVDs as long as they wanted, and soon after, a recommendation engine that harnessed user ratings to personalize suggestions. This data-driven approach would become a hallmark of Netflix’s strategy.
By 2007, with over half of American households enjoying broadband internet, Netflix recognized the time was ripe to move online. The company launched its first streaming service, Watch Now, which, though technically imperfect, marked a pivotal shift. The success of YouTube had already shown that audiences craved on-demand content, and Netflix was determined to deliver. Hollywood, wary of piracy after witnessing the upheaval in the music industry, hesitated, but Netflix pressed forward.
The true turning point came in 2013, when Netflix debuted its first original series, House of Cards. The company made a bold $100 million bet on 26 episodes, signaling its commitment to original content. The entire first season was released at once, inviting viewers to binge-watch—a radical departure from traditional television’s weekly release schedule. This strategy not only captivated audiences but also set a new industry standard. Netflix’s global reach meant that viewers around the world could watch the same shows simultaneously, transforming it into the first truly global television network.
As Netflix soared, traditional media companies scrambled to adapt. HBO, once a pioneer in premium cable, struggled to transition to streaming. Despite the storied history of groundbreaking shows like The Sopranos and Game of Thrones, HBO’s streaming ventures, such as HBO Now and HBO Max, were hampered by legacy contracts and late launches. Meanwhile, Apple entered the fray, leveraging its vast ecosystem of devices. By 2019, Apple’s services business, including streaming, was generating more revenue than its iconic Mac computers and iPads. Yet, Apple TV+ stumbled out of the gate, revealing the challenges tech companies face when entering the world of entertainment.
Disney, too, underwent a profound transformation. Under CEO Bob Iger, Disney recognized that the era of the traditional media conglomerate was ending. The company invested heavily in high-quality content, acquiring Marvel and Lucasfilm, and eventually launched Disney+, which rapidly amassed over 120 million subscribers in more than 50 countries. Disney’s approach was to focus on strong brands and global reach, but it still faced limitations as it remained primarily an exporter of American content.
Amazon, with its acquisition of MGM in 2021, further intensified the competition. Amazon Prime Video, initially an add-on to its retail membership, began to carve out its own identity with original films and series. The MGM deal brought a vast library of movies and iconic franchises under Amazon’s umbrella, fulfilling CEO Jeff Bezos’s ambition for a global entertainment powerhouse.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 accelerated these trends. As lockdowns forced people indoors, streaming became not just a diversion but a lifeline. Netflix, already entrenched as the default streaming service, saw its influence grow even further. The global success of shows like Squid Game, which topped charts in 90 countries, underscored Netflix’s dominance, and the shift toward international, multilingual content. Between 2019 and 2021, the number of Americans streaming Netflix in languages other than English soared by 71%.
By 2022, Disney stood as the only real challenger to Netflix’s supremacy. Other competitors, like Apple TV+ and HBO Max, faced cultural and contractual hurdles. The old Hollywood model of exporting domestic titles was fading, replaced by a new paradigm of global, on-demand entertainment. Despite predictions that Netflix would be overtaken, it remained at the forefront, continually adapting and thriving in an industry defined by relentless change.
“Binge Times” thus chronicles not just the rise of Netflix, but the seismic shifts that have reshaped Hollywood and the way the world watches television. It is a story of innovation, disruption, and the fierce battles waged in pursuit of viewers’ attention in the streaming age.
#continuation of yesterday's article: https://github.com/ravibeta/ezbenchmark/