 "Netflix tracks piracy charts before deciding which shows to pick")
So you think piracy can only have negative effects on the TV industry? Think again. This time, the practice has been helping one of the biggest on-demand Internet streaming media services in the world, Netflix.
It has emerged that Netflix has been taking into consideration piracy statistics before it decides which shows to pick up for its users. The service recently forayed into original programing and provides entire seasons of TV shows instead weekly or daily episodes. This tactic has resulted in shows like House of Cards, Orange is The New Black and the return of Arrested Development. All three have been hugely successful ventures for Netflix.
Netflix picked up Prison Break due to its overwhelming popularity on pirate websites in the Netherlands
Even as Netflix rolled out its services to Netherlands, in an interview to Tweakers, the company’s Vice President of Content Acquisition, Kelly Merryman, has admitted that “with the purchase of series, we look at what does well on piracy sites.” For example, the service picked up the highly popular show Prison Break. While the show may not be doing that well in the US, in Netherlands it is one of the most popular shows to be pirated_. “Prison Break is exceptionally popular on piracy sites,”_ Merryman said.
TorrentFreak also sheds light on an interview with Reed Hastings, Netflix’s CEO, who said that while he’s aware of the amount of piracy that is taking place, it isn’t such a bad thing since it also creates demand for the content Netflix was offering. “Certainly there’s some torrenting that goes on, and that’s true around the world, but some of that just creates the demand,” Hastings said.
For a few dollars, says Hastings, Netflix ends up providing a better experience than torrents. This could legitimately replace torrenting to a huge extent in the western world, if all goes according to plan. “Netflix is so much easier than torrenting. You don’t have to deal with files, you don’t have to download them and move them around. You just click and watch,” Hastings said
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