On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 12:23 PM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > We signed up for the Netflix just about a year ago, and immediately felt > that it really was too good to be true. Apparently, it is. Interesting > article on CNN today: > http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_contract/?hpt=hp_p1&iref=NS1 > > that notes the problem with Sony films being taken down from instant viewing > (they reached the cap on the Starz contract on the number of online views) > as just the beginning. Most ominous for people like me is this: "Wedbush > Securities... predicts Netflix's streaming content licensing costs will rise > from $180 million in 2010 to a whopping $1.98 billion in 2012." > > I am not a business man, but it seems like this inevitably must lead to the > monthly Netflix rate going up - and if it goes up more than a couple of > dollars a month it becomes a significantly less useful service. At $10/month > it is a great supplement to my satellite (soon to be cable) package - and > for people who can't and don't want to pay for any extra TV, it would be a > great alternative to basic cable. At $20/month or more (which is not even > close to the percentage increase in their predicted content costs) it > becomes more of a luxury item that I might do without - especially since my > new cable package apparently includes a discount on all premium channels > that will make it significantly cheaper (for the next 2 years at least) than > my current phone+internet+ satellite (HBO only). Moreover, I am told that we > will be able to access a lot of the Comcast content online (which is what my > kids mostly like to do). > > The article also notes that while Netflix got out in front of the steaming > model, it has now attracted competitors with much deeper pockets: "Netflix > had a $161 million profit last year on sales of $2.2 billion, and it ended > last quarter with $342 million in cash on hand. But Netflix's rivals have > much larger bigger wallets. At the end of the first quarter, Amazon had > almost $7 billion in cash, and Google had a whopping $37 billion". Plus Hulu > is for sale, and could go to another deep pocket telecommunications or tech > corporation. > > If online distribution becomes just another form of cable TV, then it will > be less attractive, and these last few years may be remembered as the short > golden age of online content.
Does that mean we non-streamers can get our Netflix-by-mail back? -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
