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

  • From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2014 23:20:09 +0000

Craig Birkmaier wrote:

> I'm not sure why this was funny but you took the Pandola article
> seriously.

Why Craig! I thought it was obvious! The article was funny because we knew we 
were going to get a defensive reaction from you! And we did.

> How can there be "too much ala carte?"

I'm just repeating myself, but I'll go ahead. People LIKE some measure of 
bundling. People LIKE to pay a flat rate for all the telephone minutes they 
might want. People LIKE not to feel like they are being nickeled and dimed for 
everything they do. Apple charges a ridiculously high amount for just one show 
or movie. So that model is not going to attract buyers, unless they are after 
something specific.

TV, radio, and the Internet, grew popular specifically because they don't 
nickel and dime the users to death. They evolved that way from day 1. So, a 
scheme like iTunes, which attempts to revert back to pre-industrial business 
models, is not going to appeal to everyone. People will always look for another 
option, and the Netflix and Hulu Plus models are more in line with how these 
media evolved. Even if, on those special occasions when they're looking for 
some specific title, they go and visit iTunes.

> Which raises another interesting point. Who will ConWarner
> compete with?

If they want to survive long term, none of your options. They have to compete 
against Internet distribution of TV. You stubbornly hold on to this belief that 
"lucrative bundles" will last for all of eternity. The truth is, SOME KIND of 
bundling might very well survive long term, BUT NOT the bundles that are 
optimized to the old MVPD walled garden topologies. MVPD bundles today only 
make sense within that walled garden context. They benefit the MVPD broadcast 
walled garden more than they benefit the owner of the content.

Bert

 
 
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