posted its strongest quarter for subscriber growth
He's also experimenting with staggered release schedules for reality series that have elimination rounds and other overarching narratives.This post was originally published on March 17, and has been updated to reflect Netflix series and first-quarter earnings announcements. Netflix only recently hit its stride in reality-TV, as it rolled out unscripted hit after hit, including docuseries "Cheer," competition show "The Circle," "Love Is Blind," "Tiger King," and "Too Hot to Handle."
"We're never going to be 100% one category or another, which is what you see with a lot of cable networks," Riegg said. "It really was tackling the challenge of coming up with programming that would cater to all different types of tastes and moods and categories."Some of Netflix's early unscripted hits were true-crime docuseries like "Making a Murderer" and food shows like "Chef's Table.
Take the music competition series, "Rhythm + Flow," which was recently renewed for a second season. Where most music competitions like "The Voice" or "American Idol" focus on pop, "Rhythm + Flow" centers on hip-hop, whichin the US in 2017. Artist John Legend and TV producer Jeff Gaspin brought that series to Netflix, Riegg said. They incorporated aspects of hip-hop culture like rap battles and cyphers, and held auditions at well-known music venues like S.
Riegg has ordered another series with Kondo, called "Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo," in which the organizational guru will attempt to tidy up one US town.Riegg is also experimenting with the way Netflix rolls out its unscripted programming. He's used similar release strategies for other competition shows since, including "The Circle," and "Love Is Blind."
But Riegg has noticed one trend across the unscripted space: Netflix's global audience tends to embrace reality series that are more aspirational and positive tone, such as "Queer Eye" and "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo," which were both about improving people's lives, and the uplifting cheerleading show, "Cheer."