Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings is a happy man this afternoon as it has emerged that his company is well on their way to surpassing HBO in paid subscriptions in the US, closing in on transforming Netflix from a streaming service to an online television network.
The success of recent Netflix original series such as House of Cards and Orange Is The New Black, as well as the premiering the fifth season of Breaking Bad and the fourth season of Arrested Development, has redefined how people consume their television - indicating that people prefer the 'binge-viewing' method of watching multiple episodes per night instead of being dictated to by a television network's schedules.
While this presents potential problems down the line for advertisers, principally regarding how to serve commercials when you give the consumer the option to ignore of fast-forward them, Hastings presumably isn't too concerned - at least not yet - as his company now boasts 30 million subscribers in the US alone.
HBO, which stands for Home Box Office, invigourated the television market in the US in the 80s and even produced the first original movie ever made by a TV network - a 1983 biopic of Canadian athlete Terry Fox - but now that model has been adapted to the online age and Netflix look set to take the baton and run with it, continuing to redefine the concept of television.
