You’ve seen the memes (and if you haven’t, read this Fusion article for a complete history and explanation of the Internet slang term). “Netflix and chill” has become a common catchphrase among the teen audience and, thanks to Netflix’s smart marketing team, it’s not going away anytime soon.
Earlier this week, Netflix unveiled a new invention that will aid in the binge-watching culture of their product. The prototype they showed off at the 2015 World Maker Faire is a button that will dim the lights, silence your phone, gear up your Netflix account, and even order takeout. Netflix calls it “The Switch,” but a better name might just be the “Netflix and Chill Button.”
Regardless of whether this new feature comes to fruition or not, Netflix is winning with teens. According to a 2014 Nielsen report, teens are watching less traditional TV in favor of streaming services they can access on their laptops and mobile devices, such as an iPad or Kindle Fire. This means that Time Warner’s big idea to have pay-TV distributors make all episodes of a season or more than one season available on-demand may work with an older demographic but the teen audience will most likely still binge-watch a show via Netflix.
Cord-cutting is not just a buzzword but rather a reality for Gen X. In my opinion, no matter how hard they try to adjust their strategy, pay-TV distributors will not win with teens.
What do you think?
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