House of Cards spurred a lot of binge viewing. Gary Delfiner is one who binged and thinks there might be an opportunity for additional revenue to producers by preselling a popular series to the most ardent fans first. Give them early access before the “free” (or no additional payment) version some weeks later.
His article, House of Opportunity: Disrupting the Programming Model explains:
Let’s assume “House of Cards” got the result Netflix intended: added value for current customers plus new viewers. Let’s take this added value one step farther: What if offering of an entire season, all at once, became a new revenue driver for content producers and digital distributors? What if AMC offered the entire season of “Madmen” in advance for a premium on iTunes, even though it was available for free later? What if Showtime did the same with “Homeland”? What if network TV got in on the act, offering the entire series of “The Good Wife” in advance for a premium?
Some might be skeptical about getting people to pay for content that would soon be offered for free, but we did see this model work with “Downton Abbey.” I was one of the die-hard fans who gladly paid $14.95 for the third season, which included the last five episodes in advance, even though they aired for free just weeks later.
2 replies on “Preselling a popular series to fans first?”
Where do you get TV shows for free?
Free to air broadcast, or no additional payment on cable or to your netflix account. That’s why I wrote it the way I did.
And technically its advertising or subscription supported but no additional payment.