[opendtv] Netflix: A war with cable would kill us
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 20 May 2013 15:22:03 -0400
http://advanced-television.com/2011/05/04/16282/
Netflix: A war with cable would kill us
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings fears that getting too large will start “an
Armageddon” with cable networks. Hastings talked about Netflix’s “niche”
philosophy of staying “not too big, not too small” — in a discussion at the
Wired Business Conference in New York City.
“We’ve consistently said getting into current season TV or newer movies would
not be profitable for us,” Hastings said. “It would be an Armageddon. It would
be World War III, and we likely wouldn’t survive that battle.”
Hastings acknowledged that his company doesn’t expect to compete on sports and
breaking news, which are suited to live broadcast. “[Netflix is] not every
single thing all of you folks want to watch, but it’s $8 a month,” he said.
Nonetheless Netflix is prioritising quality content; on top of licensing its
first original series — “House of Cards,” it has recently snapped up reruns,
including “Mad Men” and the first season of “Glee.” “You have to make a deal
with the content owner,” Hastings said. “Luckily we’re bigger now, so we can
write the check and get the content flowing.”
Hastings says that although Netflix attracted most of its subscriber base —
which now tops 22 million in the US — through its DVDs-by-mail rental service,
streaming has been the real goal ever since the company’s inception in 1997.
“We had set up the whole business essentially for streaming, but the network
wasn’t big enough years ago,” he said. “But in 2005 we clicked on YouTube and
watched cats on skateboards — and we thought, it’s here! Since then, we’ve had
so much fun finally delivering on our name: Net.”
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