A reader writes:
Your reader doesn't understand the metrics of Netflix's deals with the studios. Believe me, if Netflix could stream everything, they would.
They aren't holding back. But the studios don't want to give them streaming rights for everything because they are still trying to see where the business is going. Some of the studios are starting their own streaming services. Also, they have deals in place with premium cable and networks that prohibit them from streaming during certain windows. (If "Out of Africa" is playing on HBO one month, it will be pulled off Netflix streaming.)
And another wrinkle: some of the original distribution contracts don't allow for streaming. The contracts have to be renegotiated. "The Wonder Years" TV series, for example, will likely never appear because the music for that show would be too expensive to renegotiate streaming rights. It wouldn't be profitable.
Another writes:
Historically, we as consumers have paid to see popular movies many times over. First, we've paid to see them in the theater, then we've paid to buy and/or rent them on DVD, then we've paid for subscriptions to premium cable channels like HBO, and then we've "paid" to watch them on network television with ads. We've paid A LOT. Which is why Hollywood is able to make movies that cost A LOT.
But now we're asking them to make the same big budget movies we've come to know and love, but we're saying that we're only willing to pay for them once. The math just doesn't work out. It'd be great for us. It'd be great for Netflix. But the studios would go bankrupt.
Another:
Starz (which is Netflix's largest source for streaming content) recently announced they will be pulling the plug with Netflix next February. The thing is, you can't just integrate titles into the streaming system. You have to secure the rights to stream them, and the studios aren't playing ball. Is this snubbing short-sighted on the part of the studios? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean it's going to go away.
Here is the single best take I've read yet regarding Netflix's baffling decision. It's all groundwork for an acquisition, presumably by a player with the clout to go up against the major studios and secure those streaming rights. My money/hope is on either Apple or Amazon. But the way the world's going, it'll probably be Comcast or Time Warner, who will proceed to neuter it into irrelevance.
Another:
Ignoring for a moment the telco threat (really, is there an industry in US that fucks with its customers more?), I predict that less and less content companies are going to be motivated to sell their wares to Netflix. Why? All content companies believe that they are awesome at distributing content as well as producing it. Mostly they are wrong; they completely suck at distribution, which is why Apple dismantled the entire music industry distribution chain with iTunes. Broadcasters and movie companies look at what happened to the bozos in the music industry and don’t want that fate. To them, Netflix is just Apple with a slightly less scary CEO. That’s why you see HBO developing "free" Apps for iOS – but you can only view the content if you already subscribe to HBO via your satellite or cable company. How long before there is an HBO app directly on your smart TV or as an option on Google TV (crap product) or AppleTV (awesome product)?
Anyhoo. Netflix is screwed. They will become a niche player. We already saw with Starz network that Netflix were unable to renew their contract. And Netflix, so the rumor goes, were willing to offer $300 million (the previous contract was around $20 million) for the streamed content rights to their catalog. Netflix will be priced out of deals it can't afford if it wants to be a profitable company. The future of Netflix is most likely, the place you go for old re-runs of Doctor Who (if they are lucky) and not the latest blockbuster or hit TeeVee show.
Shame really. It's a great service. But Apple showed that vertical integration works with hardware and software.
Mathew Ingram contrasts Netflix's readiness to "disrupt itself" with the epic tentativeness of the newspaper industry. One more reader:
Compare the depth of the Netflix DVD offerings with those on the streaming side – no contest. The bridge between the two experiences is only half built. Netflix is foolishly trying to encourage people to take a flying leap over the resulting gap. No thanks – we'll stick with the longer queue on the DVD side. In our household, we'll be calling it "Borders".
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The Dish 