Netflix has 11.5 million UK subscribers, 40% of UK households have subscribed to it as stated by Business of Apps.
The global service, whose subscriptions have grown substantially during lockdown offers a variety of cinema and television in multiple languages.
But for millions of subscribers, Netflix is now a new source of information. During lockdown Netflix docuseries have offered the opportunity for viewers to learn in great depth about some of the greatest scandals.
For example, ‘Athlete A’, the latest true crime docuseries released this June, focuses on USA Gymnastic abuse by Dr Larry Nassar and his ability to inflict abuse on hundreds of women. The docuseries explores how the abuse continued for decades and was covered up by USA Gymnastics.
The 11.5 million Netflix subscribers across the UK is a huge number of potential viewers who have the ability to learn about this through ‘Athlete A’. Without Netflix these documentaries may not exist, the opportunity for survivors to tell their story globally may not exist, and the public may not have been informed about this topic at all.
Unlike other television channels, Netflix has the resources, the power, and the influence to reach an audience of tremendous size.
“Watching the show, you can understand the outrage, but would you have felt the same level of outrage in a quick hour program? What about as a written article?”
Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, the documentary television mini-series released on Netflix, explores how the now deceased convicted sex offender rose to fame, uncovering the billionaire’s shocking abuse.
Adrian Horton, writer for The Guardian notes how “It’s difficult to watch Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, a four-hour Netflix series on the now-deceased sex offender without a choking sense of outrage.”
“How many girls had to suffer to get attention? How perversely twisted is the American justice system … he could buy his way out of almost a certain life sentence for child sex abuse and trafficking?”
Watching the show, you can understand the outrage, but would you have felt the same level of outrage in a quick hour program? What about as a written article? Would it be a topic of conversation when you go out for lunch?
Netflix has the platform to create in-depth, emotive, and thought-provoking docuseries unlike any others. This may just be because of the friends I have, but a common thread of conversation is often ‘Have you seen the latest on Netflix?’
“It may sound more trivial, but Netflix docuseries are a word of mouth sensation.”
‘Tiger King’, the hit Netflix docuseries was watched by 34.3 million viewers in its first ten days of release in the US according to Business Insider.
Carole Baskin was trending, with many wondering if she had infact killed her husband.
The docuseries was the most popular overall title in the US for 16 straight days based on the streamers’ own metrics and had a 92% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.
It may sound more trivial, but Netflix docuseries are a word of mouth sensation.
Without them, millions of people would have little understanding of any of these scandals, by using Netflix these docuseries have had the opportunity to become overnight sensations.
Netflix docuseries may be becoming a source of news.
Millie Lockhart
Featured image courtesy of @glenncarstenspeters via Unsplash.
Millie Lockhart
Hi, i'm Millie and I am a 24 year-old Newcastle University graduate. I have recently completed my NCTJ qualification and I am delighted to be part of Empoword Journalism.