Netflix interactive: Choose what happens next

Since its launch, Netflix has constantly turned the concept of television upside down. From creating an initial experience centered around consumer choice to then leveraging the best of the internet to invent the world’s first personalized global television platform, Netflix has always been at the forefront of re imagining what TV could be — and all the while keeping innovation, creative freedom and consumer control at the heart of its mission.

Today, Netflix goes beyond just churning out quality content for their viewers; evolving the demand of “what” type of story to watch, to “how” the story will progress to suit the viewers palate.

For many, TV viewing has always been a passive experience.  You’re a spectator watching a story unfold.  What if you could affect how the story goes?  Well, Netflix is introducing a brand new innovation that allow parents and their young children to interact with their favorite kids’ TV shows.  Instead of being passive experience, Netflix new interactive storytelling TV shows lets users, in this our kids, control the outcome of the stories that they want on TV – thus giving them the ability to influence the course of the story line and sway the outcome of the episode.

This also a great way to influence parents who are concern about their children’s viewing habit, allowing them an opportunity to move away from passive watching to building engaging minds and unleashing creativity.

So, imagine ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ books intertwined with internet television – where the viewer gets to decide where to take the story next. Thus, Netflix will launch its first “branching” narrative titles with Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale (coming June 20) and Buddy Thunderstruck: The Maybe Pile (coming July 14).

The viewer gets to decide where to take the story next.

Netflix worked with renowned content creators – DreamWorks Animation Television, American Greetings Entertainment and Stoopid Buddy Stoodios – that took on the challenge of creating such a complex story for internet TV.

Perhaps, this is a perfect example of how Netflix is the unique blend of Silicon Valley and Hollywood. Creatives have a desire to tell non-linear stories, and Netflix provides the freedom to roam and do their best work.

Netflix admits being an internet-based company enables them to try out new formats, deliver it at scale to millions of members all over the world on multiple device types and, most importantly, learn from it.

What are the other reasons driving this new form of story-telling?

Over half of Netflix members worldwide watch kids content, andthe kids and family content audience is growing more rapidly than the overall Netflix membership base.

According to a Netflix blog post, “The children’s programming space was a natural place for us to start since kids are eager to “play” with their favorite characters and already inclined to tap, touch and swipe at screens. They also talk to their screens, as though the characters can hear them.”

This feature would be compatible on most televisions with iOS support, unless they are older legacy models.