[opendtv] Re: Punching Above Its Weight, Upstart Netflix Pokes at HBO - NYTimes.com

  • From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2014 07:32:54 -0500

Sadly, both this article, and the article by Rocco Pandola illustrate the 
naïveté of the authors, as it relates to an understanding of how the content 
congloms work.

Rocco thinks Comcast/Time Warner can wave their magic wand and make the bundles 
go away. They do not have that much power, nor would they use it to "help" 
consumers. They will use it to help themselves, at least to the extent that the 
Feds will allow, as the FCC and FTC put together conditions to approve the deal.

The Feds cannot force ConWarner to move to ala carte, as this condition would 
change the competitive landscape for the entire industry, not just Concast and 
Time Warner. Given the fact that the FCC has been unsuccessful in the 
enforcement of the 1995 law that requires the unbundling of STBs, they could 
impose this requirement on the deal, and hope that competitors will follow 
suit. This could open up the market to Apple and others.

Likewise, Mr. Smith appears to know nothing about content licensing. Apple has 
negotiated the rights to popular content, including all kinds of current movies 
that cannot be found on Netflix. These contracts are based on pricing that 
would make the Netflix "all you can eat" model unworkable. THERE IS A GOOD 
REASON that the movie selection sucks on Netflix; to get the price down to a 
level that works for the $7.99/mo price point, they must wait until content has 
had its run on pay per view services like iTunes and the shiny disc services 
like Redbox and the Netflix mail service.

As everyone keeps saying in these articles, the content owners have the power 
to decide how to sell their programs, and the political power to maintain 
monopoly pricing power.

Wish'n an Hope'n that consumers are going to get a better deal may get people 
to read these articles/blogs, but the reality is that these fantasies are no 
more real than Hollywood movie scripts.

Regards
Craig

> On Feb 18, 2014, at 5:24 PM, Cliff Benham <flyback1@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> Then there's this:  http://tinyurl.com/o39ypom
> 
> Cliff
> 
>> On 2/18/2014 9:56 AM, Craig Birkmaier wrote:
>> Bert should find this somewhat tedious NYTimes article interesting. Some 
>> interesting numbers and charts...
>> 
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/17/business/media/punching-above-its-weight-upstart-netflix-pokes-at-hbo.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1
>> 
>> Regards
>> Craig
>> 
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