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NYTimes: Time Warner Views Netflix as a Fading Star

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entremet

entremet

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For the past year, executives at big media companies have watched Netflix with growing resentment — for its success in delivering movies and television shows via the Internet, for its stock price nearly quadrupling, for its chief executive being named businessperson of the year by Fortune magazine.

Now many of the companies that make the shows and movies that Netflix delivers to mailboxes, computer screens and televisions — companies whose stocks have not enjoyed the same frothy rise, and whose chief executives have not won the same accolades — are pushing back, arguing that the company is overhyped, and vowing to charge much more to license their content

“It’s a little bit like, is the Albanian army going to take over the world?” said Jeffrey L. Bewkes, the chief executive of Time Warner, in an interview last week. “I don’t think so....”
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/business/media/13bewkes.html?_r=1&hpw

The full article is very interesting and talks about the expiring digital rights that Netflix has coming up, specifically for Sony and Disney. They'll have to renegotiate and most likely pay higher for new contracts.

It's funny seeing how afraid these old media companies are afraid of DD and new media, instead of finding ways to monetize it.
 
It really sucks that they're all turning guns towards Netflix for streaming services when they're doing jack shit to make their own service like it.
 
mjc said:
It really sucks that they're all turning guns towards Netflix for streaming services when they're doing jack shit to make their own service like it.
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Well the media companies are trying to find another golden goose as DVD sales have started to slow. BR sales are not quite up there. DVDs were such a money making machine for the studios.
 
Netflix is excellent, these cable companies needs to suck it up and improve their own product instead of trying to turn people against superior things.
 
I really wish I could just pay $5-6 a month for ESPN and dump the rest of my cable service. Aside from sports, cable TV is mostly just back ground noise.

Nerd Cable>>>>>
 
While of course I like Netflix, you have to admit the current price is absurdly low for the amount of content they are giving away.
 
Nameless said:
I really wish I could just pay $5-6 a month for ESPN and dump the rest of my cable service. Aside from sports, cable TV is mostly just back ground noise.

Nerd Cable>>>>>
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NEVER EVER GOING TO HAPPEN... sadly.
 
entrement said:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/business/media/13bewkes.html?_r=1&hpw

The full article is very interesting and talks about the expiring digital rights that Netflix has coming up, specifically for Sony and Disney. They'll have to renegotiate and most likely pay higher for new contracts.

It's funny seeing how afraid these old media companies are afraid of DD and new media, instead of finding ways to monetize it.
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They're not afraid of anything, they sat and watched netflix experiment and will now see netflix go away. They were quite smart about it, really.

Netflix is done. This is what happens when you own no pipe or content.
 
aswedc said:
While of course I like Netflix, you have to admit the current price is absurdly low for the amount of content they are giving away.
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You're right I hate paying absurdly low prices for great services! C'mon Neflix jack your prices up or I'm unsubscribing!
 
I just canceled my Netflix subscription the other day (partly due to financial situation) but also it just wasn't worth the content. 75% of the stuff on streaming is older than shit or cheap B movies. They have maybe like 2 dozen actual worth while movies. Not to mention the lack of HD content. I will say that the TV streaming is quite good and had a lot of good selection.
 
Nameless said:
I really wish I could just pay $5-6 a month for ESPN and dump the rest of my cable service. Aside from sports, cable TV is mostly just back ground noise.

Nerd Cable>>>>>
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The fact that theyll never do this is the problem. They need to embrace the idea that getting 200+ channels for a flat fee is a terrible selling point nowadays. With the internets and on demand shit, channel watching I bet is gettin smaller at least with the younger generation. Modernize what they offer instead of threatening bandwidth fees to force revenue
 
Did Netflix kill some puppies or something? I've seen and heard a lot of "Netflix isn't that good" sentiments.

My wife and I are one of "those" people that don't have cable television but we watch boatloads of Netflix. Honestly I'm trying to figure out the downside to having all these tv shows without commercials that I can watch on demand plus 2 blu-rays out for 16ish bucks a month.
 
Future said:
The fact that theyll never do this is the problem. They need to embrace the idea that getting 200+ channels for a flat fee is a terrible selling point nowadays. With the internets and on demand shit, channel watching I bet is gettin smaller at least with the younger generation. Modernize what they offer instead of threatening bandwidth fees to force revenue
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They'll never do that because it's unsustainable.


wienke said:
Did Netflix kill some puppies or something? I've seen and heard a lot of "Netflix isn't that good" sentiments.

My wife and I are one of "those" people that don't have cable television but we watch boatloads of Netflix. Honestly I'm trying to figure out the downside to having all these tv shows without commercials that I can watch on demand plus 2 blu-rays out for 16ish bucks a month.
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How long have you had netflix? You will soon realize their streaming content is quite limited.
 
bigtroyjon said:
That announcement is for television shows, the article is talking about the Disney owned movies that stream on Netflix through the Starz agreement.
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Understood, though one would expect that to be coming as well. The fact there is no mention of it at all is a bit ... odd.

Certainly there is some merit to the overall point, but the article itself is ridiculous. To say Mr. Bewkes has a conflict of interests here is an understatement. To use him as the central interview, with little in the way of a counterpoint, is just shit journalism. It's a FUD storm.
 
wienke said:
Did Netflix kill some puppies or something? I've seen and heard a lot of "Netflix isn't that good" sentiments.

My wife and I are one of "those" people that don't have cable television but we watch boatloads of Netflix. Honestly I'm trying to figure out the downside to having all these tv shows without commercials that I can watch on demand plus 2 blu-rays out for 16ish bucks a month.
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People usually bash the streaming forgetting that their disc service is actually pretty damn amazing. I'd pay just to have that really since the disks come so quick
 
Memphis Reigns said:
I just canceled my Netflix subscription the other day (partly due to financial situation) but also it just wasn't worth the content. 75% of the stuff on streaming is older than shit or cheap B movies. They have maybe like 2 dozen actual worth while movies. Not to mention the lack of HD content. I will say that the TV streaming is quite good and had a lot of good selection.
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Yeah, I don't watch a lot of movies on netflix, but I watch tv on it almost daily.
 
otake said:
They're not afraid of anything, they sat and watched netflix experiment and will now see netflix go away. They were quite smart about it, really.

Netflix is done. This is what happens when you own no pipe or content.
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I know, right? iTunes is so finished. Oh, wait...
 
Future said:
People usually bash the streaming forgetting that their disc service is actually pretty damn amazing. I'd pay just to have that really since the disks come so quick
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I've been with Netflix since the beginning. While I like the streaming, I rarely use it. Love the discs though.
 
entrement said:
:lol Good God. Is the Sony contract still in negotiations?
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I'm sure they're in constant negotiations with everyone.

I will say however, expect prices to rise. The free ride is over, but I don't see them as the 'fading star' Time Warner would love people to perceive them as. 'Cause yeah, Netflix is the also-ran in this conversation :lol
 
otake said:
Totally different industry. No comparison.
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Netflix has market reach. Their streaming services are showing up in consumer electronics boxes everywhere. At worst they will be bought out, but for the near term the studios will have to deal with them whether they like it or not
 
Fuck Warner and all those other companies. Theyre just mad because they didn't think of it first. And it's not like they're not making money off it, either.
 
evilromero said:
Netflix has a lot of good documentaries. I spend most of my time watching those.
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This is what I liked most about Netflix. The documentaries on marijuana, wine, beer, writing, food, etc. They were all excellent compelling programs that are genuinely hard to find and netflix has them.

Or at least some. They've added very little in the 6 or so months I've had the service. It's always the same national geographic and Enron documentaries. Oh and food inc.

golem said:
Netflix has market reach. Their streaming services are showing up in consumer electronics boxes everywhere. At worst they will be bought out, but for the near term the studios will have to deal with them whether they like it or not
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That's optimistic. Users flip sides real quick, see blockbuster. Content on netflix, both the streaming and the disks, is limited and already doing them PR damage. Content licenses are for a lot of the content on Netflix streaming are about to expire (2012) meantime, blockbuster is doing ad campaigns touting having the latest releases available for streaming. I want to be as optimistic as you but these details make it very hard.
 
otake said:
Totally different industry. No comparison.
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No it isn't. Netflix has device and market ubiquity with content providers who wish they hadn't created a monster. Its a really good comparison, actually.
 
The consumer will end up getting shafted one way or the other. Either we'll pay a much higher premium for quality content going forward or we will be forced to pay for a tiered bandwidth package that essentially punishes those who use internet streaming and digital distribution as an alternative to cable television.
 
otake said:
How long have you had netflix? You will soon realize their streaming content is quite limited.
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About a year or so, honestly we spend most of our times watching the various television series that they have, which I think we all agreed is a decent selection.

The Starz Play section gets a moderate amount of use when we do watch movies and they seem to switch it out every 2 months or so which is fine since I spend way more time playing video games than watching movies. Anything we really want to see is supplemented by the discs we get in the mail.

For the value the only thing I see coming close to Netflix is Redbox. Isn't HBO like 15-20 bucks a month by itself? And digital cable is what? 70 bucks a month?

As long as Netflix can somehow stay under 25-30 bucks a month, I think it'll still be the best option out there.
 
I'm curious to see if they actually start offering premium subs? Basically you pay your normal price and that gets you 'basic cable' ... you want current HBO content? $1/month. Showtime? $1/month ...
 
I watch a lot of TV shows on Netflix instant. It seems like a steal at $9 a month so I'm hoping they don't start thinking the same.
 
wienke said:
For the value the only thing I see coming close to Netflix is Redbox. Isn't HBO like 15-20 bucks a month by itself? And digital cable is what? 70 bucks a month?

As long as Netflix can somehow stay under 25-30 bucks a month, I think it'll still be the best option out there.
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I'd definitely pay $24.99 for a unlimited streaming + 2 DVD plan(I definitely think that if they raise the price due to studio posturing they'll have to throw an extra DVD in as an incentive for the average person to more than double what they're paying now).
 
otake said:
They're not afraid of anything, they sat and watched netflix experiment and will now see netflix go away. They were quite smart about it, really.

Netflix is done. This is what happens when you own no pipe or content.
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dude, netflix and amazon (who is also going the netflix route) are not going away. cable companies can bitch and fight the evolution of tv/movies becoming fully on-demand, but it is going to happen.

them sitting around isn't them being smart about it, they're too scared and trying to delay the inevitable.
 
Meh.. everyone on the internet is a complete ass about topics like this.

I seriously get depressed. So many people sound like douchebags with huge entitlement issues.

In the end it is the content creators that are the most important. And if they aren't getting paid, we won't have content.

At this point Netflix is a bargain bin service.. with bargain bin content. I have a Netflix account and 5 devices I can watch it on.. and think it's cool.. but I can't help but wonder who all these "Netflix fanboys" are and why they think it's so amazing.. or why they think somehow a company like Netflix is truly different than any other. They are a large corporation out to profit from you.. they aren't the "good guys" in some evil game.
 
Tobor said:
No it isn't. Netflix has device and market ubiquity with content providers who wish they hadn't created a monster. Its a really good comparison, actually.
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massive difference. Netflix doesn't have its own hardware line to use as leverage like Apple could and did - the multitude of streaming boxes that hook onto the service can just as easily be updated to utilize any rival streaming effort (like Amazon) if enough gears are greased with dough.
 
otake said:
How long have you had netflix? You will soon realize their streaming content is quite limited.
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I have been watching their streaming stuff for the past year and it seems pretty awesome to me. So much great tv content.

For movies I agree that it is limited, but I love the ability to watch any episode at anytime (pretty much anywhere with my iPhone).
 
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