Netflix suffers from lack of identity against TV's big boys

Washington

NETFLIX is well on its way to having it all. In its quest to replace the old means of watching TV and going to the movies, the streaming behemoth with 100 million (and counting) worldwide subscribers seeks to offer at least one of every sort of show a viewer might like, pushing towards a goal of 50 per cent original programming.

The pace and budget size are impressive (a reported US$6 billion spent in the last year making its own stuff), but Netflix is still lacking one vital and admittedly ineffable thing, which goes by many names: Sensibility? Aesthetic? Identity?