Source: Netflix.
The pipeline of fresh exclusive content has been gushing at Netflix these days. A week earlier, it was Flaked, the third Netflix original comedy series starring Will Arnett following the Arrested Development revival and Bojack Horseman. The week before that it was the fourth season of House of Cards, and that came seven days after Fuller House debuted following months of hype.
Fridays used to be a good day to ponder new movies hitting your local multiplex, but now it seems as if Netflix always has something new to kick off every passing weekend. However, in two months, we won't just be viewing Fridays as the day to stream something fresh on the site with more than 75 million subscribers worldwide.
We've been getting a lot of info on Chelsea Handler's new show for Netflix. We found out on Wednesday that the talk show will be a commercial-free half hour, making its debut on May 11. New installments will be available on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. A day later, we found out that the show will simply be called Chelsea, and that it won't be a live show. Complexities in making the show available in 190 different countries will find it taped several hours before it's available for stateside viewers.
It's been two years since Netflix inked a deal with the star of E!'s nighttime talk show Chelsea Lately. The multi-asset partnership consisted of a stand-up performance in 2014, a few topic-specific specials through 2015, and the real prize -- this year's talk show.
If the second season of Daredevil lives up to the buzz of last year's refreshing inaugural season, it's going to be huge. It's hard to get a good read on Pee Wee Herman's prospects, but a holiday-themed flick should get decent seasonal play over the next few years. However, Chelsea is the piece of content that can really drive retention and new additions.
There's something to be said about having three new shows every week. If you're a fan of some of Netflix's shows, it's easy to cancel between binge-viewing sessions. Where's the cancellation window when there's new content three times a week?
Time Warner's (TWX) HBO is the platform that Netflix CEO Reed Hastings routinely refers to as its biggest competitor. It's been able to get away with charging nearly twice as much as Netflix because of the care that Time Warner has taken in assembling a portfolio of high-quality original shows.
Game of Thrones is currently the big draw for HBO, but don't underestimate Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Time Warner has a show that it can count on through most weeks outside of a few seasonal breaks. It has a show that is fresh and relevant, paving the way for a steady trickle of moments that go viral.
If Chelsea can come even remotely close to what Time Warner has achieved with Last Week Tonight with John Oliver -- and it will have three times as many opportunities to go viral -- it's going to make the already sticky Netflix even more popular.
