Additional reporting by Nathan Ingraham


The television industry has been holding its breath. Just a few years after TV manufacturers banked on 3D to drive another round of TV purchases, they’ve found themselves having to change direction, using 4K as the latest carrot to entice consumers. But there hasn’t been anything to watch, and on the content side, viewing habits are in a state of wild flux as television viewers detach themselves from decades of convention thanks to DVRs, time shifting, and subscription service binge-watching.

Riding like a white knight into CES this year was Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. Having proved itself as a trusted entertainment brand and producer of Emmy-winning original programming, Netflix is now working with a host of TV manufacturers to bring 4K content into the home. The company is uniquely positioned to meet the needs of manufacturers and the consumer market, and 4K may be the disruptive masterstroke that turns Netflix from a company that changes the way we watch TV to the one that changes the TV business itself.