What Hollywood Execs Privately Say About Netflix [Hollywood Reporter]
It started as an alternative to movie rental places like Blockbuster, and has grown into a company that is planning to spend $1.2 billion in 2012 on online video content.
Netflix is obviously not viewed favorably by the Blockbusters of the world, but what's more interesting is the number of content owners who view the Netflix business model with suspicion. Hollywood Reporter has published an interesting profile of several content company executives views on Netflix.
Notable programming executives have made negative public statements about Netflix, including Phil Kent, CEO of Time Warner's Turner Broadcast Systems, who has gone as far as warning other executives against selling their shows on Netflix. Kent's concern: that selling programming to Netflix will ultimately affect programmers’ syndication deals, which is where they derive the majority of their profits. Jeff Bewkes, CEO of Time Warner, has also made similar comments about Netflix , and Time Warner has declined a licensing agreement with Netflix that would give Netflix the right to stream HBO programming.
Still, Netflix continues to make deals with many distributors. Mark Cuban, who owns 2929 Entertainment, Landmark Theatres, and HDNet, views Netflix as a “friend to producers and distributors.” Cuban also noted that Netflix has interestingly found opportunities where DVD sales used to thrive by focusing on library assets, like drama series that are meant to be viewed in chronological order.
Others see Netflix as simply a buyer of content that many others don’t see as extremely valuable, including the library assets that Cuban described. If Disney can sell Netflix the rights to old episodes of Lost, which are no longer airing on cable or satellite television, why wouldn’t they?
This, of course, has spurred debate about whether Netflix’s future is simply as a catalog of online television series or as a disruptive business model that could fundamentally change the way video content is distributed.
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