Netflix didn’t run the table last night. The streaming service started with six Golden Globe nominations last night and walked away with just one trophy, for Best Actress in a Drama. Last year at the Emmy Awards, Netflix had over a dozen noms and won one major award and two non-televised ones. It looks like the predictions that Netflix is changing the face of entertainment are wrong, right? Wrong.
Netflix’s competition — other networks like Fox, NBC, ABC and CBS, did not fare much better. In fact, some fared worse. ABC and CBS didn’t walk away with a single trophy. NBC got one for Amy Poehler in Parks and Recreation and Fox surprised many with two awards for Andy Samberg’s Brooklyn 99.
See also: Golden Globes Recap: Winners and Best Moments
Granted, the Globes is an odd award show, with strange categories like “Best Supporting Actor in a TV Show, Miniseries or TV Movie” and an unnerving blend of film and TV competitors. Even though it lacks the gravitas of an Oscars (or even an Emmys), the yearly entertainment bacchanalia is a bellwether for future awards events and, like other major award shows, the future of the entertainment medium.
Netflix, a company I assumed moribund just a few years ago is undoubtedly ascendant in the entertainment space, though it did not always seem that way.
Company CEO Reed Hastings made some terrible moves in 2011. First he tried to split the company into two: one for DVD Delivery and another for streaming content. Then he essentially doubled the rates: streaming became a separate charge. At the time, he lamented the high cost of content. Netflix's library was full of B Movies and tired, old content. You "can't have all the new stuff and have the $8-a-month price we have," Hastings argued. "We don't have everything ... Apple and Amazon are very good at being comprehensive," Hasting lamented at AllThingsD's D9 conference.
Now, with the company producing its own high-quality content, I wonder how differently things might have gone had he not aggressively shifted the business to streaming and had he not played hard ball with studios.
If Hastings had said, “I will pay as much as it takes to fill Netflix with first-run releases,” it’s a good bet there would be no Netflix Studios and no House of Cards, Orange is the New Black or fourth season of Arrested Development. The shows look like $1M-per-episode product and, even if they are not, there is nothing cut rate about them: not the stars, not the sets, not the dialogue and certainly not the acting.
Netflix's success — and, yes, winning major industry awards in your first year and first seasons of two out of two shows should be considered such — is propelling competitors into the original streaming content breach. Amazon has almost a half-a-dozen original series in the works or already online. And while they have the same quality production values and casts (see: John Goodman in Alpha House), none of them appear to have reached Netflix-level creative heights. One has to wonder how long it’ll be before Apple starts producing original content for its Apple TV service.
When asked if it mattered to her if her show is on TV or the web, House of Cards, and now Golden-Globe-winning actress Robin Wright said, “Apparently not. TV is the new future. And we are not even TV, by the way; we are live stream — different.”
Those differences are not only changing how TV (content) is produced, but how we consume it. The ability to down 13 episodes of House of Cards in a few evenings is directly related to how quickly it becomes part of collective consciousness. Binge-watching shows like this leads to what I like to call “The Netflix Effect.”
Prior to the Emmy Awards back in September, I had not seen House of Cards. So I was somewhat perplexed by actor Kevin Spacey in full Congressman Frank Underwood character speaking to the camera at the opening of the Emmy Awards show. You only do something like that if a large majority of your audience is in on the joke. Apparently many of them were. The show launched on Netflix only a few months before the awards show. How was this even possible?
Now look at this in contrast to the critically acclaimed (and Golden Globe-winning) Breaking Bad, which ran on AMC from 2008 to 2013. Early reviews weren’t great, though critics soon recognized the show for the brilliant gem it was and star Bryan Cranston started winning Emmys for his role has the cancer-stricken, meth-cooking, morally-conflicted Walter White. Viewers, however, weren’t quite so interested (I know I ignored the series for its first four years) and the show generally pulled in a little over 1 million viewers per episode.
Breaking Bad, however, benefited from the Netflix Effect almost as much as House of Cards. Word of mouth did spread on the meth-cooking show and soon people like me were binge-watching all four seasons on, you guessed it, Netflix. By the time the finale aired last year, millions of people were queued up to make it a cable network TV blockbuster.
This Netflix Effect has made it possible for shows like House of Cards, which might have had a slow burn in critical and ratings success, to break through into the public consciousness almost immediately (hence the Emmys bit). I have to admit, I wasn’t wowed by the first House of Cards episode and we put it aside in favor of other Netflix Fare: Orange is the New Black, a show that grabs you by the throat and pretty much doesn’t let go for many, many hours. This show, too, went from Season One launch in the summer to awards contender by the fall.
However, once you watch a show like that on Netflix, it occurs to you that their other products might be worth watching, too. Three episodes into House of Cards and we were hooked.
This ability to deliver entire seasons as a package is, of course, going to put pressure on traditional networks, which have been doing this for decades and have a much worse awards show win-loss ratio.
One of Golden Globes host Amy Poheler’s (she co-hosted with Tina Fey) best jokes of the night was about Netflix's recent success:
Amy Poehler: Enjoy it while it lasts, Netflix. Won't feel so cool when Snapchat is up here next year accepting for best drama. #GoldenGlobes
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) January 13, 2014
It got a big laugh, but I could only think that she was half-joking. Netflix’s ability to stay ahead of the pack could be hampered by the relative ease with which competitors are joining the streaming fray. As noted earlier, Amazon is already in the mix. YouTube's reputation as a playground for viral cat videos is belied by recent data that says at least one third of its viewership is on long-form videos. It’s only a matter of time until YouTube, which you can easily stream on your TV with products like Google’s Chromecast, finds a winning series formula.
Even traditional networks have woken up to the fact that access to content is a key to success. Shows like the Golden Globe-nominated Scandal have, in part, built a viewership by the network placing at least one full season on — you guessed it — Netflix. They also used cable-based on-demand technology to ensure that viewers can find past episodes — though that approach lacks consistency: some shows are available in HD, others are not. Also the networks often wait a few weeks to place the shows on demand (where, by the way, they do show with most of the commercials intact).
As for Snapchat competing in best drama: Yes, that’s a long shot, but the point is well-taken. The Netflix Effect is everywhere and it’s not confined to Netflix.
Actress Jennifer Lawrence attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actord Kevin Spacey and Corey Stoll arrive on the red carpet for the Golden Globe awards on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actresses Tina Fey and Amy Poehler attend the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Anna Gunn attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress and director Lena Dunham arrives on the red carpet for the Golden Globe awards on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio arrives on the red carpet for the Golden Globe awards on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Taylor Schilling attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Amy Adams attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Singer Taylor Swift attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actor Aaron Paul and wife Lauren Parsekian attend the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Robin Wright attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Zooey Deschanel attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actor Bryan Cranston and wife Robin Dearden attend the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Kerry Washington attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actor Jim Parsons attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Kate Mara attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Margot Robbie attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Jemima Kirke (R) and husband Michael Mosberg attend the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Julianna Margulies attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actor Bradley Cooper attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Reese Witherspoon attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actor Matt Damon and wife Luciana Damon attend the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Amy Poehler attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Sofia Vergara attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actor Jonah Hill attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Aubrey Plaza attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Former boxer Mike Tyson attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Musician Joanna Newsom and actor Andy Samberg attend the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actor Bruce Dern and Andrea Dern attend the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Olivia Wilde attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actor Michael Fassbender attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actors Naomi Watts and Liev Schrieber attend the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Musicians Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr., Bono, and The Edge of U2 attend the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
Actress Uma Thurman attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
TV personality Rocsi Diaz attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
(L-R) Actress Kyra Sedgwick, Miss Golden Globe Sosie Bacon, and actor Kevin Bacon attend the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actors Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally attend the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actor Kevin Spacey attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Emma Roberts attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Edie Falco attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Caitlin FitzGerald (fashion detail) attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Ariel Winter attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actor Beau Bridges attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
TV personalities Savannah Guthrie and Matt Lauer attend the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Monica Potter attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
TV personality Nancy O'Dell attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress June Squibb attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Melissa Rauch attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Sarah Paulson attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Lizzy Caplan attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actor Kunal Nayyar attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Sarah Hyland attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
TV personality Maria Menounos attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actor Steve Coogan arrives to the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014.
Actors Rico Rodriguez and Nolan Gould arrive to the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014.
Kelly Osbourne arrives on the red carpet for the Golden Globe awards on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Amber Heard attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Lupita Nyong'o attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actor Corey Stoll (R) and guest attend the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Emilia Clarke attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Laura Dern attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Emma Watson attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actress Emma Thompson and daughter Gaia Romilly Wise attend the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actor Matthew McConaughey and wife Camila Alves attend the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Actor Don Cheadle and wife Bridgid Coulture attend the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
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