I will be the first person to admit that I have a complicated relationship with Netflix.
As a financial reporter covering the media sector, I first interviewed Netflix's Reed Hastings in 1999, when the company wasn't much more than a year old and was nothing more than a DVD warehouse in the Bay Area combined with many ambitions. I remember he spent most of the interview talking about a day sometime in the future when customers would stream their movies and that was an ambitious vision at a time when most people still had dial-up internet access.
Over the years, I've had pretty good access and relationships with various Netflix executives. Both date back to the time when they worked elsewhere or because someone else at the company vouched for me. I've never drunk the Netflix Kool-Aid, but I have been a journalist who tries to understand the nuances of the streaming business and I believe I have a reputation as someone who is tough but fair.
And that relationship has continued until today. During last year's strike, I had sources I could call to provide insight into negotiating tactics and the nuances of what factors Netflix uses when deciding if a project is a success. When I participated in the Television Critic Association's press tour last month, I spent the day before the tour meeting with Netflix executives for some off-the-record discussions about their business and what to expect in the coming months. I'll argue that I probably have as solid a relationship with Netflix's executives as any reporter in the business.
But that's not the case when it comes to Netflix's PR and communications staff.
Now I always hesitate to complain about PR response because frankly, it's a tough job. And while Netflix pays their communications and PR people very well, like every other streamer they don't have enough resources to do around.
There was this piece last March, in which I laid out how difficult it can be to obtain even the flimsiest amount of information about upcoming titles:
Even though Netflix releases more originals by far than any other streaming video service, trying to sort out which publicist handles a specific project can feel as complicated as trying to determine who killed JFK. You're sent from person to person, sometimes a half dozen times before you find the correct contact. And probably half the time, you just end up smacking your keyboard against your head until you move on to the next show.
Let me give you a small example. Netflix has an email list that distributes premiere date announcements, etc. As lists go, this is a pretty important one for an independent journalist like myself. It's not just the heads-up about upcoming projects, the emails also include contact info and other useful coverage ideas.
For whatever reason, I dropped off the list at one point. Asking someone to add me to the list again would be easy at any other streaming service. But Netflix doesn't have a master list of publicists that the media can access. I have no clue who handles the list and have been randomly emailing individual show publicists for help. Often they have no idea who is handling it. Or they pass me off to someone else. And so begins the Netflix PR circle of life.
The Netflix media website does include publicist contacts for their higher profile originals. But many originals only include a generic email address. Or just as often, there is no information at all. The situation is even more challenging with global originals, which are often listed without even a bare minimum of information. Much less a press contact.
I have collected a list of some Netflix PR contacts in other territories and when I am stumped, I will blindly email them with a request to help point me in the right direction.
Early on, I just assumed that some of this was neglect or a lack of attention to detail. But at some point, I realized that Netflix doesn't really feel that it needs to interact with the press the way that the lesser networks and streamers do. From talking to company executives, I can tell you many of them believe their app UI and data-driven recommendations can do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to promotion and content discovery.
You'll see some interviews in the press connected with major Netflix shows of interest to an American audience. And some reviews that are mostly embargoed until the title's release date. But if you think about it, the vast majority of Netflix titles receive little or no press coverage, aside from the release of the trailer or some casting news. Both as a company and from a communications department standpoint, the belief is that press coverage is essentially no different than billboards or pop-up brand activations. It's something you have to do, even if it's mostly done just to keep the talent happy.
And in recent years, Netflix has backed away from many of the events that most networks and streamers continue to see as valuable. The streamer is barely a presence at SDCC, and it doesn't appear to have any interest in appearing in front of TV critics at the TCA. The company has adopted the same approach in the U.S. that it has in other territories: focused its PR efforts on its own events and the occasional limited-access presentation for the press, like this one Netflix did in Los Angeles for a select group of journalists a week ahead of this February's TCA tour.
But even worse, Netflix has increasingly focused its press coverage on its company-owned in-house publicity outlet Tudum. The site gets "exclusives" on everything from premiere dates to interviews and recently that has extended to Netflix's decision to sometimes time embargoes for reporters that expire just after Tudum has beat them to publication.
And this is one situation where the Bork-like Penske Media outlets aren't faring much better than the smaller independent journalists. With the rare exception, they're left covering Netflix via trailer releases and premiere announcements. Which is just fine with Netflix, which wants to protect its brand and messaging above all else.
But it's a terrible idea for everyone who isn't a Netflix employee. There's a reason why when people decide to purchase a new car, they don't look for suggestions at Ford Rocks! magazine or the Tesla 4-Ever website. Customers value unbiased coverage from reporters who aren't getting paid to repeat the company line. They're not looking to be Tudum'd.
Now you might be asking yourself why this matters. If you're a creator, showrunner, or actor with a Netflix series it matters because if your show isn't properly promoted - if you have to depend on the Netflix app for your project to be discovered - then you are truly screwed. This is why we've seen a sharp increase over the past few years of people hiring outside PR firms to promote the projects Netflix should already be promoting in-house.
If you are a subscriber, you are missing out on a lot of titles that are worth watching. In-house press outlets promote the shows and movies the owner prioritizes, no matter the quality or relevance to your interests. One thing human TV critics do better than any machine is provide relevant content discovery. I cover the shows and movies that I find interesting, whether it's a comedy from Brazil or some dark independent noir movie produced in France. And I provide a fair but critical take on the higher-profile American projects, as well as look at Netflix's various unscripted projects. The harder Netflix makes my job, the more difficult it becomes to provide value to my readers.
And that brings me to Netflix's investors. The company's stock is rising high now and there is no question it leads the streaming industry. But as any veteran investor can tell you, no king stays on the throne forever. There will be a time in Netflix's future when the stock price suffers, when the company faces business tailwinds and it struggles to find new subscribers and markets.
Those are the troubled times when Netflix will need some goodwill from the industry press. It will miss having journalists familiar with the company and capable of highlighting the reasons why it's still the best in class. And when that time comes...well, I won't say that many industry journalists will be celebrating. But we certainly won't have a lot of sympathy. Or much of an appetite to cooperate with a company that has spent years treating us like we were a chore that needed to be handled instead of a partner in the industry.
