Cosmos: Possible Worlds<\/em> featuring Neil deGrasse-Tyson saw 18 times the average demand for science and nature documentary content, according to Alexander. And let\u2019s not forget that the data-driven nature of platforms can steer viewers to specific types of shows.<\/p>\n\u201cNetflix and other streaming platforms are able to create niche content like this because they are able to use their customer data to match the content to the interests of their consumers,\u201d Michael Smith, an information technology and marketing professor at Carnegie Mellon University, told Recode in an email. <\/p>\n
Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are also acutely aware that their launches can act as advertising for their brands, affiliated companies, and commercial space tourism in general. Accordingly, they\u2019ve invested heavily into incorporating expert commentators, live updates, and streaming coverage of launches. Virgin Galactic has even recruited a TikTok influencer for an upcoming flight. <\/p>\n
Millions tuned into Blue Origin\u2019s YouTube channel for the July 20 launch that carried Jeff Bezos on a suborbital flight along with the oldest and youngest person to ever visit space, pilot Wally Funk and Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe also wanted to show this is a true rocket ride experience. There are fewer than 600 people who have ever been to space,\u201d Linda Mills, Blue Origin\u2019s vice president of communications, told PR Week of the event. \u201cTo demonstrate that specialness and uniqueness of the flight was something we were trying to get across to future customers.\u201d <\/p>\n
Bezos\u2019s flight was also the first \u2014 and for now, the only \u2014 rocket launch that Amazon customers could watch live on Prime Video.<\/p>\n
More reality shows filmed from space are planned for the near future. An American production company called Space Hero is working on a contest-based show that will have average people train and compete for the chance to win a very expensive trip to the International Space Station. Like Netflix, the company says it\u2019s focusing on \u201copening space up to everyone\u201d while offering the first-ever truly off-planet experience.\u201d Space Hero even signed a contractor agreement with NASA in April.<\/p>\n
Of course, rocket launches as blockbuster media events predate the streaming era. From the early days of the space program, NASA missions were live demonstrations of national achievement, and humanity\u2019s journey to the final frontier was the stuff of national news broadcasts. An estimated 600 million people watched Neil Armstrong land on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. While enthusiasm for broadcasting space events in real time dwindled after the Challenger explosion in 1986, private space companies are once again trying to market launches as something everyone on Earth can watch live. <\/p>\n
That messaging has the convenient effect of distracting viewers from the fact that commercial space tourism, at least for now, is an environmentally questionable hobby for the ultrarich that won\u2019t immediately accomplish much in terms of advancing our scientific understanding of space. But while criticism of billionaires\u2019 space dreams surged following Bezos\u2019s launch, that same narrative may not pop up with Netflix\u2019s latest SpaceX show, says Alexander from Parrot Analytics.<\/p>\n
\u201cI imagine SpaceX has some form of say in what is going on,\u201d she told Recode. \u201cNetflix just wants to carry it and make the best docu-series possible.\u201d <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When SpaceX launches its first all-civilian crew into space later this fall and takes a multi-day trip circling the Earth, humanity can follow along online thanks to an exclusive documentary deal Netflix sealed with Elon Musk\u2019s private space company. The first two installments of the five-episode miniseries, Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space, will debut on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9821\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}