Live: This is NNN
Why Netflix Should Launch a Live News Channel
Four months ago I joined the legion of chord cutters. I now watch new releases on iTunes, stream back catalogs on Netflix, and catch sports at the gym (thank god for treadmill TVs). So far, life’s been just fine post-cable.
Except for one thing: the News.
It’s a legitimate problem that I’m sure many chord-cutters feel: there isn’t legal access to live news without cable. If anything big happens in the world, you’re SOL.
That led me to a realization: Why doesn’t Netflix launch their own news service?
The more I think about it, the more it makes sense.
Hear me out
Netflix has more or less saturated the US market and needs to begin making more off the subscribers they already have. They’ve proven that original content is a big key to long-term success, and their end game is (more-or-less) to be the replacement to traditional cable.
The last great footholds of the Global cable behemoth are Live Sports and Live News; News is the easier of the two to actually replicate.
Netflix has over 75 MM paying subscribers, in comparison to cable’s median viewership of 2.8 MM primetime viewers by The Big 3 networks combined (2014). That may not be apples to apples, but it shows the disparity between the audiences.
Just look at that growth:
By offering live news coverage, Netflix would increase streaming hours, open an avenue to increase prices, and attract new users all at once. It’s a win-win-win scenario.
On top of the business case, launching a news network would be the morally responsible thing to do in the wake of CNN’s 24/7 coverage of the #Snowpocalypse and Fox’s never-ending Trumpade.
In the words of Jeff Daniels (in the words of Will McAvoy in the words of Aaron Sorkin):
“Reclaiming journalism as an honorable profession. A nightly newscast that informs a debate worthy of a great nation. Civility, respect, and a return to what’s important; the death of bitchiness; the death of gossip and voyeurism; speaking truth to stupid. No demographic sweet spot; a place where we all come together.”
Original content on Netflix is shielded from the pressure to produce hit after hit with widespread audience appeal — rather the goal is to produce content that gives each set of unique customers another reason to fall in love with the platform.
Netflix is positioned with a unique opportunity to tell the news for a diverse, and global demographic without advertisers to answer for.
The concept in a nutshell:
- A newscast hosted by a reputable anchor looking to make a name for themself as the face of News 2.0. (Yahoo’s Katie Couric comes to mind…)
- Two live segments: 7am EST and 7PM EST (playable on Netflix throughout the day for alternate time-zones)
- Live, on-the-scene reporting freelanced or crowdsourced for a lower cost structure.
- Special, high-profile interviews and reports streamed live (and added to a growing back catalog).
- A dynamically updating news ticker with local news and weather (even while viewing a recorded segment).
- A team that could broadcast at any time for breaking news (streamed live to TVs, phones, and laptops).
- Eventually, an expansion to include regional news teams & anchors for markets outside North America.
I’ll say it right now: I don’t have a clue what the cost of launching a global news station would be (I do know it would be ridiculously high), I can’t say the idea aligns with the company’s long-term vision (whatever it may be), and I can’t do anything more than put my thoughts out into the open.
Maybe that’s where this story ends.
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You can follow me on twitter @anderskravis.
