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Netflix to stream original series, in full

Nancy Marshall-Genzer Jan 5, 2012

Steve Chiotakis: Shares of Netflix jumped more than 11 percent after the online streaming and movie-renting service said subscribers watched more than 2 billion hours of movies and old TV shows in the last three months of the year. Meanwhile, Netflix is producing its own TV shows, releasing its first original series “Lilyhammer next month” — all episodes, at once.

Marketplace’s Nancy Marshall-Genzer explains why.


Nancy Marshall-Genzer:  Some of my favorite shows are on at 8 o’clock — smack in the middle of a delightful bedtime ritual of book reading, stalling and tantrums with my 2-year-old twins.  So I’ve started watching episodes back to back on DVD when I’ve got some spare time.

Steve Swasey: People are watching when they want, as much as they want.

That’s Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey. He says that’s why Netflix decided to release all eight hours of its new series, “Lilyhammer,” on Feb. 6.

Swasey: You don’t want to wait week-to-week when you can have the next episode right now. You know, we’re becoming a society of instant gratification.

Media analyst Ken Doctor says it’s not a bad strategy.

Ken Doctor:  Overall, this gets them greater market share because it’s going to make a bigger splash.

Doctor says Netflix is also hoping the instant gratification will be enough to lure back some of the 800,000 subscribers it lost last year.

I’m Nancy Marshall-Genzer for Marketplace.

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