aug 29, 1997 - Netflix was invented

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Netflix was the first online streaming platform for movies and TV. It was founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in the year 1997 and is available in over 200 countries, hosting over 117 million subscribers across each country and is currently worth 135 billion dollars.

It could be argued Netflix was the invention that spring-boarded the movie industry online. In its burst of popularity, it managed to help put one of the biggest movie rental franchises (Block Buster) Into bankruptcy, as well as sending TV viewing rating into a downward spiral and even cinema attendance in the first couple years Netflix blew up. In 2013, when Netflix released its first Netflix original 'House of cards' it was the same year Block Buster shut down.

Netflix was the first online streaming service accessible to everyone anywhere, at the time before Netflix, getting your hands on a movie was a long process (such as having it mailed to you) and most people didn't even have DVD players 20 years ago, but this was a way to watch your favourite movies instantly and with the marketing tactic of it being 'free viewing,' it gave people the illusion that they could watch 100 movies in all one night without a fee. This was the first time monthly/yearly subscription was used in this way, and it was a hit.

This also allowed more independent and low budget films a bigger platform, people were more likely to click and watch your film with the illusion 'it won't cost anymore' and 'why not?' then add an unheard of film in their shopping cart. Netflix also uses personalised recommendation methods such as giving a rating in percentages how likely you would like a film similar to the one you watched. This supports independent films as it recommends them to a wide audience.

Netflix inspired all the other online streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime Movies and Google Movies. Today, online streaming of movies and TV shows is the number one way people consume entertainment, surpassing TV in a lot of countries. It has made it more accessible and faster to watch shows as well as opening up such a huge platform for more independent films and media that typically wouldn't fit in or be given a chance in other mediums. Netflix was the invention that changed how the whole world consumes media.

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