Judging by the buzz shows like Orange Is The New Black and House of Cards enjoy in all corners of the internet, you might think that Netflix has totally knocked it out of the park already in the original content department.
But in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, original content head Cindy Holland says that Netflix is still trying to find that show that connects with the entire subscriber base – a seemingly elusive goal.
Here’s what she had to say when asked how much crossover viewership there is with their original shows.
“There’s some overlap but surprisingly little. We have several series that have been pretty successful, and when that happens there’s a natural overlap. But as a general rule, the audience who watches House of Cards does not watch Hemlock Grove — and yet again, is not the audience that watches Arrested Development. We hope to reach the entire subscriber base with at least one original series by the time we’re done.”
That’s kind of surprising, actually.
If any one of Netflix’s original series was going to connect with users from all walks of life, I’d imagine it would be House of Cards. But that’s clearly not the case, especially when you consider that Hemlock Grove proved more popular than House of Cards during its opening, despite being panned by critics. I can understand why some would shy away from Orange Is The New Black, but as we know, that’s Netflix’s most-popular series.
A point that Holland reaffirmed to THR.
Here’s another interesting tidbit about OITNB’s audience:
“We anticipated that the audience would tilt slightly female; we’re pleasantly surprised that it only has barely tipped female — although what we’re learning through some surveying is that men will often watch with women more often than watch alone. The success of Orange also proves there can be quite passionate and large audiences for content that on the surface isn’t mainstream at all.”
In their quest for that one-series-fits-all, Netflix has a bunch of contenders on the way – a new comedy from Friends creator Marta Kauffman called Grace and Frankie; miniseries based on Marvel superheroes starting with Daredevil; a show about Pablo Escobar called Narcos; a new talk show hosted by Chelsea Handler; and that’s just part of the constantly-growing list of new original content.
Netflix also wants to develop more original comedies and horror series.
Considering the amount of focus they’re putting into new original content, i’s likely just a matter of time before Netflix finds its Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones.