Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Apart from Luther the top 10 looks pretty grim.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

I read the following article with interest.

http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/09/n...-apple-google/

I've long said and been laughed at on here that Google and Apple will eventually have more of a say when it comes to streaming whilst this is only 3 games it really would give them the opportunity to assess whether these packages are viable.

Apple already has its tv box , what's to stop it selling these bundled with its own streaming service , it certainly has the money to develop a product or even buy a current streaming serice like Netflix.

With global reach these services could offer relatively cheap subscription packages and still make huge sums from advertising. Youtube Red already offers ad free Youtube and Google Play Music throw in a Netflix type service for say £15 a month and I'm sure people would snap it up.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

And they have the front to demand £146 a year upon pain of being dragged through the courts for this rubbish. :rolleyes:

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Den, do you sleep................:sleep::D

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

ten till four last night as l am not the best sleeper in the world due to my ongoing discomforts.:)

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

I compare this to when DVDs first came out and to this day, are still released on a region to region basis.

The big media and electronics companies wanted different DVD regions, but in the end if you wanted to watch a film from a different region there were ways and means.

It always amazed then and still does, that I used to be able to order a DVD from a Canadian or Australian store and it arrived within 2 days and all for under £10. All UK prices cost more (HMV etc a LOT more) and it always took a week or more for the discs to arrive.

I think Netflix is a disrupter to shake the old guard (the big media giants) and I agree they have done a lot right. But I think that is changing, they are getting too complacent, raising prices, taking liberties with customers by removing content and not giving forewarning of it etc.

Whether it be Time Warner first, Murdoch, or one of the others, eventually they'll adapt (kicking and screaming) and will come up with something better than Netflix.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

An update on the Time Warner story is that they're hoping to start offering boxsets on TW owned channels:

http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/09/t...emand-seasons/

---------- Post added 10-01-2016 at 00:08 ---------- Previous post was 09-01-2016 at 23:40 ----------

One final link about how the global tv market is changing and streaming services are part of that:

http://variety.com/2016/tv/awards/go...-4-1201671700/

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

I think you underestimate the technological advantage that Netflix have, both in delivery infrastructure and algorithms / data. In round one against print media the Internet giants won, in round two against the music companies they won, in round three against the mobile companies they won and - while nothing's certain - in round four against pay TV I'd bet they'll win again.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Agreed however don't forget the traditional broadcasters have a far greater amount of content at their disposal , content they can easily move to their own services leaving Netflix with nothing but it's originals.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Very true but in fairness a lot of Netflix originals as of late have been way better than what the big networks have produced, i think we are going to see the big networks start up their own on demand services allready cbs have done it with cbs access which is about £3p/m i think the likes of WB etc would need to look along the lines of that kind of price range to be succesful.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

ABC have an idea about how the online/streaming tv world might evolve, at least for them, but putting more adult versions of its shows online (it's an interesting idea!):

http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/abc-...on-1201675959/

---------- Post added at 21:02 ---------- Previous post was at 20:53 ----------

I agree in part, but as I'm talking a lot about Time Warner at the moment, remember it wasn't that long ago when the company was called AOL Time Warner. The AOL bit being the "better" bit, at least according to some at the time.

But I don't understand your first point about Netflix's delivery infrastructure, what infrastructure? They don't own any delivery methods that I'm aware of, ie cable/telecom cos.

But again, I don't understand your remark about mobile. We still have mobile companies.

Your point about music companies is particularly on the mark, the music companies didn't see the threat of the internet on their business until it was too late. Again, on Time Warner, a large part of their business was music..was....

I think with the tv networks though, its different, as they create content whereas the music industry was just the middle men between the singers/songwriters and customers.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

I worked for TimeWarner for fifteen years. To be honest, the current management has a poor track record with adopting new technologies and usually chooses to sell divisions rather than adapt (e.g. Warner Music, AOL, TW Cable, Time Inc., etc). TimeWarner had a relatively poor 2015 and there's discontent on Wall Street so I think you're more likely to see the company being bought up by a cash-rich Fox or Amazon this year rather than see over-the-top innovation from TW.
http://nypost.com/2016/01/10/time-wa...le-of-company/

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

I am not sure how you say they are getting complacent? All companies have to raise prices, the service was dirt cheap £5.99, they raised prices but told existing customers they would keep paying the old price for 18 months (I can't remember the exact time frame).

Their HD package is £7.49, add in a DNS service, and you pretty much have unlimited content. Prices have gone up but it has been poured into making superb originals, Networks have been making rubbish superhero TV shows for decade and Netflix comes along and hits it out of the park with their first attempt. In fact they have gotten so good at their originals that network TV doesn't excite me at all anymore.


There is already talk of some networks wanting to delay the time frame in which it sells content to Netflix, I think TW has even publicly mentioned maybe holding onto content for 2 to 3 years before allowing them access. Here is the thing I think the Networks are about to get a rude awakening their content isn't that good, Netflix is producing HBO and Showtime quality shows, they are ramping up to 31 new shows this year.

While the quality of shows on Netflix is consistent, Network TV is struggling, people are fed up of shows being cancelled after one season, they are churning out cop procedural shows one after the other.

Netflix has almost 70 million subscribers worldwide, and they just launched in 130 new countries last week, they will easily break the 100 million. No one has that kind of reach, sell your show to Netflix and you have a global audience, you can generate global buzz about your show.

TW may talk about it but if they launch it will be US only for years, look at Hulu they have had to abandon their plans for the UK as they simply couldn't get the content deals.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

One premium cable network has come out against that idea (can't remember which one, but I did post it at the time) because airing the previous season on Netflix, before the new one begins, generates viewers for the up-coming season.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Ridiculous 6 now thats good.:D

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Well, Netflix's price rise since launch has been lower than VM's TV component over the same period of time. I joined the day of the UK launch and am still paying the same price.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

You are not going to line every show or movie they do, they have to get some cheap tat in there and there is a audience that likes that sort of stuff. Also it's been one of Netflix's highest rated videos.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Now now MM behave yourself.;)

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Dedicated fibre to ISPs, CDN boxes in ISPs, neat distribution tech that takes a raw video and encodes it for a variety of devices and bitrates and gets it to where it is needed in the world on request, some very efficient proprietary video streaming servers which do adaptive bitrate better than most, plus the agreements with ISPs and some in-progress patents on all of this. While much is replicable by new entrants that takes time and Netflix can do it more efficiently for now. For example, look at how long it took Now TV to iron out the problems using off-the-shelf kit or services like UKTV Play which many months down the line still have problems inserting ads into the stream and being able to restart the programme after.

This explains some of the delivery side: http://www.wired.com/2016/01/the-cou...ldwide-launch/

I mean in the way that handset makers and telcos have ceded control and revenue to Apple and Google. Those two are the ones making money off mobile media sales like music and apps while WhatsApp now does more messages a day than the global SMS system. Despite their attempt to retain some of the video pie, as I wrote some time back I think broadband / cable TV companies will end up just as pipes for video too.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Netflix 'unblockers' to be banned.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-st...-a6812711.html

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Yeah, good luck with that Netflix! BBC tried something similar with iPlayer and it worked for a day or two.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

This old horse again? Good luck with that netflix as john said others have tried and failed, if netflix somehow are succesful (if this isn't just the independant fantasy writing again) then netflix i think would lose a lot of subscribers.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Hopefully companies like unotelly would be able to get around it anyway

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

As long as VPNs still work then I'm good

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

This is an interesting snapshot of quite how much you get for your Netflix sub in each country: http://www.finder.com/netflix-usa-vs-world-content

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

It's actually easier than you think , all Netflix need do is only allow access to the country you sign up in.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

If that is the case, then it means that Netflix have never wanted to do it before. And I suspect that they don't want to do it now, but have come under too much pressure from content providers, who have always been opposed to Netflix's lack of action on it.

The question is, is the official statement to appease content providers, and implementation will be slower than suggested, or have the content providers won?

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Wonder if they are going to lose a lot of subscribers if they do this, Limiting users to a single country makes the service less desirable

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Personally l don't think they will hardly lose any subscribers.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

It was always going to happen at some stage in my opinion , let's be honest if you owned a UK channel buying exclusive US content and people where using this method to watch when you were the UK rights holder you'd be complaining to the studios.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

They will lose a load many people use Netflix when traveling, having that option restricted is going to ruffle a few feathers one feels.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

The simplest way to deal with that would be allow you to use Netflix in territories other than the one your credit card is registered to for only a certain number of days each year. Until it happens nobody will know what the measures will be though.

According to a recent piece in Wired, they have 20M+ customers in China using VPNs - which is a lot of revenue - though given recent crackdowns there on VPNs and the terrible connectivity outside the country I'm not sure I believe that's how many are really active.

Couple of other interesting recent articles on whether Netflix can maintain its current success:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/te...t-netflix.html
http://www.adweek.com/news/televisio...casters-168985

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Sky Q signs content deals

http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2016/...content-deals/

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

People soon adapt to things when the option is there no more.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Even easier is to only allow access to content available to territory user is registered in (or their payment is or however). Then you can allow usage anywhere provided content is available to that server.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

I look forward to similar deals being struck when our new Tivo is launched later this year.....:rolleyes:

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Why not of course....

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

I'm sure it will be coming soon, Den.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Patience is a virtue one has to learn OB.:)

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

I wonder if they'll be anymore successful than the ISP's trying to stop proxies accessing The Pirate Bay. As in total epic fail despite court injunctions.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

It'd be impossible to wipe out the use of a VPN.

I think it's going to head down the route of region locking the account. PSN do something similar to this. Still ways around it but far less convenient.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Do you mean that people will either accept reduced content or leave, or are you referring to something else?

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

If a loophole is closed then most people generally adapt to the new circumstances they are faced with.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Do you ever give a straight answer these days Den?

Are you suggesting that they will find a way around the expired loophole and find a new method, or just accept the new situation?

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Accept that the days of free perks are over PB in this case.:)

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Yeah it's called torrents pr grey area streams.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Never heard of them.:)

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Yes, that's what Amazon do.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

We will. As already put further up. Assuming it's region lock as blocking VPNs one by one just won't work then I've already signed up an American one and Canadian one and will then VPN both. Used PayPal for payment on each. Not sure if their measures are even in place yet but so far so good. If they in turn bugger up PayPal I'll give prepaid cards a try.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Doesn't that work out a bit pricey,paying 3 subscriptions?

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Sounds like your fully clued up. No offence mate but that seems like way more messing about than I could be arsed with. Could become an endless game of trying to beat the system.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Netflix share prices soar as company reaches nearly 75m subscriptions.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/201...on-new-viewers

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Wow, that is some serious income Netflix has now, using £6 a month as an example, that is nearly £5.5 billion a year! :shocked: OK, there may be a few customers in a free trial but that is a hell of a lot of money

No wonder they can afford to produce good quality originals, good luck to them

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Sky Go refreshed with new design, additional features to follow

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/1365...ures-to-follow

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Totally agree with you there Chad, I mean how important to your life is it to keep trying to beat the system? after all it is only TV.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

An interesting read

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/netfli...20160117-00032

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Yes, I think that Sky and the terrestrial broadcasters are going to have to up their game over the next few years. As Netflix and others such up all the good stuff, the only way I see that our broadcasters here in the UK will be able to keep up is by making or commissioning their own programmes.

That HBO deal Sky has until 2020 is not likely to be re-newed, in my opinion.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

I'd say the complete opposite most of the production companies are owned by the very broadcasters you talk about.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

I agree that UK broadcasters have set up production companies to make programmes for them, but my point is that there is an over-reliance on US imports at present, which is not sustainable in the medium to long term.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Sky signs exclusivity deal with Twin Peaks maker Showtime
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...-Showtime.html

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Bad news for Virgin customers unless one subscribes to Now TV.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

That's a good deal for Sky, and as the article reminds us, BT have a deal with AMC.

This is bad news for Virgin, though, because Sky will inevitably show the Showtime programmes only on Atlantic, and we don't have access to AMC on BT.

So what will we get from Virgin? Clue: You don't need any fingers to count the number of exclusive deals we'll have...

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

There is zero chance of us getting Sky Atlantic sadly so the only reasonable option now is Now TV.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Good to see old Rup and his ilk getting worried and having to band together with others because Netflix know what global viewers want and are going for it.

They're like modern day luddites standing against the progress that most viewers want.

And at the same time, you have to hand it to Rupert; he knows how to make good moves to further his cause.

The above means no HBO Go, or Showtime streaming service in the UK for a good few years. A battle that the US has won and the UK has lost. It now makes Now TV an even better option.

And certainly can't help VM retain customers, who primarily subscribe to their pay TV offerings.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Oh they are certainly going for it , but at some point the subscribers will be the one's who foot the bill just like the traditional pay tv customers now. The article below says Netflix's 3rd party content costs are approximately 4.6 times its $7.7bn net revenue. If the pay platforms start working together you'd expect this to rise further meaning ever increasing subs for all. No wonder original content is becoming more and more popular among providers.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/201...r-priced-plans

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Some think that Now TV will never appear on Virgin's boxes. If that's the case, the future for cable customers in the UK is bleak. I am getting worried that I might have to go with Sky in the future, which is such a shame. I hope VM pull a rabbit out of the hat soon.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Well the only rabbit they will pull out of the hat this year is a new TiVo STB but whether that is enough we shall see.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

This is worth a watch (from a few days ago) Netflix Q4 2015 Earnings Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvIsZxcV7Y0

---------- Post added at 18:02 ---------- Previous post was at 17:45 ----------

Content wise, there are no rabbits left. But many people aren't interested in premium US cable network content such as HBO, Showtime, Starz and AMC, so it will make no difference to them. US Network TV content generally gets bought by the channels available to VM for the most part (although there are a few exceptions such as Blue Bloods).

But for those who do want the premium cable content, there are streaming options that make it unnecessary to resort to a yearly Sky pay TV contract.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

I don't think it's of no interest, it's just that they can't go to all the trouble of vpns, etc, to access that content. I agree that quite a bit of it gets taken up by UK channel providers, but looking to the future, it's beginning to look as though the big global guys will get there before our little UK channels and leave them with the dregs.

I do think there are rabbits left and VM should seize them. We need more streaming services on the Tivo box and VM need to do those difficult deals with Amazon and Sky.

Whilst I'm all right because I have a smart TV and a Roku streaming stick, a huge proportion of the British public do not have a smart TV, and have never heard of Roku, let alone a streaming stick! VM really need to act now, before it's too late.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

All I can say if a studio wants big audiences go with Netflix, sell an exclusive to a national broadcaster and watch your show disappear. How many great shows failed to catch on in the UK because broadcasters didn't give them a fair shot or the channel just din't have the reach. How many people do you know that watched fear the walking dead on AMC? C5 treated Braking Bad appealingly, And Californication got dropped by Sky and only got picked up again a few years later as a filler for their newly launched Sky Atlantic.

From a studio point of view if Netflix is paying the money and they have the audience makes sense to go with them.

They maybe building debt but that is no bad thing when you are talking such a global endevour, they will break even at somepoint.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Sorry, but I don't think adding a bunch of smart apps to Tivo is going to make a huge difference, when inexpensive boxes to do the same thing are readily available.

Many people are content with VM's TV offering, which essentially only lacks Atlantic (which is now boosted by the Sky Showtime deal). Some people don't care about such content. Many of those that do will add a Now TV subscription, with a £15 Now TV box. Some will move to Sky, and I think more people will start to consider the option of completely cutting the cord.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

I can assure you it's of no interest to me.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Someone I know who works for a big TV company was trying to pitch me the idea that Virgin Media is an acquisition target for Sky, perhaps as part of the expected Sky / Fox deal.

At a time when BT are expanding into TV and satellite is on a slow decline it would enable Sky to reduce their dependency on BT infrastructure. The city would like it as it would immediately add 4 million more direct customers and Sky is felt to be better at monetising them than Liberty Global has been. Competition authorities are less of an issue now having already allowed through the BT / EE deal, there's the growth of competition from streaming services and also the cosy relationship between Murdoch and the Tories, though the broadband market is a more significant problem, especially as TalkTalk seem unlikely to survive.

Sky also have leverage over Virgin that come the end of the TV contract in 2017 they won't really need them any more if they can sell customers Now TV direct instead, which would make Virgin's TV offering unviable. John Malone and Rupert Murdoch have been on better terms the past few years which would make a deal easier and it's been reported in the press that Malone's not that attached to keeping Virgin as part of LG if someone comes along with a decent offer. If he can push up short term profitability and get Sky into a bidding war with Vodafone for it then even better.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Sky will not be buying Virgin Media........

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

The UK's biggest pay tv provider buying the UK's second biggest pay tv provider I tend to agree not a chance in my opinion.

Surely that would be a massive competition issue.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

I don't think SKY would be allowed to by VM anyway even if they wanted too.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

As MM says there would be serious competition issues and l echo the same sentiment.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

A year ago I would have dismissed the idea completely. Now with the way the market has changed and the big appetite for mergers in telecoms I'd at least entertain the idea even if I still think it unlikely to get past the regulators. Old Rupert wants his legacy to be world's biggest media and communications company though and what he wants he usually gets...

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Virgin Media isn't a standalone company any more - they are are part of Liberty Global and a very big part of them at that.

Any change to the ownership of Virgin Media involves the wider company. When a Vodafone take over was being discussed, that talk was about Vodafone buying all of LGI, not just VM UK.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

No big loss but Ant and Dec may move to Netflix or Amazon http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2016...?ncid=webmail2

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Good riddance to the rubbish as some in this country compared the talentless duo to the great double acts of yonder.:nono:

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

I don't watch the sort of shows they are on, but I have seen them in the past and they seem quite good at what they do. Why such vitriol towards them? The people who do watch those shows seem to like them, otherwise they wouldn't consistently win awards.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

l don't particularly pay attention to awards PB but remember its only my opinion which many others probably do not agree with but l have to speak as l see.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Yup, fully agree Den. They have been predictable and useless since they started.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

What about their outstanding pop career. :LOL:

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Quite right, what about their outstanding pop career! ;)

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

I am sure your views on Ant and/or Dec cut them to the quick, and are only mitigated by their net worth of £62 million each... ;)

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Well done to them for making a fortune but l still stick to my opinion that they are short on talent whether its on TV or by singing in front of a mike but each to their own opinion l say as there are many who seem to like them sadly.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Still more talented than a lot of presenters though den.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Well that's not saying much is it Mark......:)

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Well they started their careers by acting for years in a great kids drama and then branched in to singing. I actually still have their album:D

Where as their presenting skills are fantastic and make most of the shows they front a lot more interesting. Even their show about The Princes Trust was highly entertaining and amusing.

Personally they are very talented and it shows. Winning awards every year.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Amazon Prime introduces Prime music stations

http://www.amazon.co.uk/b/ref=dmm_gw...f_rd_i=desktop

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Nice addition , I noticed it this morning on my phone.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

A couple of things, I've noticed Amazon has had a Netflix-type makeover. And secondly, I get a newsletter called "Risk & Reward" and this one was about Netflix, so I've copied it here in full. I don't necessarily agree with what they say, but I thought some here might be interested:



Last week I wrote about an obscure law of business strategy: This "law" predicts which businesses will make it.

Wednesday, 27 January 2016

How Netflix smashed TV's business model to bits

Dear Reader,

Last week I wrote about an obscure law of business strategy: This "law" predicts which businesses will make it.

It's about "the law of conservation of modality". (Horrible name, I know - henceforth I'm calling it LOCOM). I said it was "an incredibly useful and powerful way to think about business strategy", and that it could be applied to any type of business.

Today I want to use LOCOM to explain how Netflix has grown into a $50bn market cap stock market giant (at the expense of the existing TV companies).



How companies prioritise

Here's how I described LOCOM last week.


"The theory starts with a product.


Think of a product as a company's solution to a problem. For example: "people need a device to help them work while they're at the office."

In order to solve this problem, the company builds a desktop computer.

But the computer is really a number of different solutions in one. It has a screen to solve one problem, a hard disk to solve another problem, and so on.

Now, for any product, there's always going to be one part of the problem that's harder to solve than the others. In the example of the desktop computer, the hardest single problem to solve is making a processor that's fast enough.

Making a fast processor is the single biggest challenge. So the computer engineers optimise the entire computer around the processor. Optimising around the processor means making all the other components – the mouse, screen, motherboard, RAM and the like – interchangeable.

In a nutshell, that's Christensen's Law. He says that for any given product, a company optimises around the single hardest problem to solve, and the remaining parts of the problem become interchangeable...

… The business implication of all this is that there's no money to be made from solving the less difficult parts of the problem. All of the value, and all the profits, are made from solving the hardest part of the problem. "



The TV business model is getting smashed to bits

So how does it fit the TV business? What are the different parts of the problem?


- The first part is creating entertaining TV shows – "content".
- The second part is choosing which shows to make and promote – "production".
- The third part is reaching customers – "distribution".


In the traditional TV business model, the TV networks integrate the hardest parts of the problem: content and production. They make TV shows in-house. They decide which shows to make, and which to promote, in-house.

The networks don't handle everything themselves though. Just like LOCOM says, they modularise the least important part of the problem, which is distribution. Most TV networks rely on local affiliates (in the states) or cable companies (like Sky or Verizon) to get their product into people's homes.

In other words, the networks focus their energies on the most important part of the problem (integrating it). And they leave "the small stuff" for other people to figure out (modularising it).

Enter Netflix.

Netflix uses new technology to reach subscribers directly. Anyone with a computer, a phone or a modern TV can access it. And people find Netflix fun to use. It's more convenient than old fashioned broadcast TV.

It's able to offer a wider range of shows, whenever wherever the viewer wants them. And it doesn't rely on Sky or Virgin media or Verizon to reach its customers.

All of which is to say that Netflix has integrated distribution, the third part of the problem I described earlier.

The new streaming technology has changed the game. Because of changes in technology, distribution has gone from being a secondary problem for TV companies to being the most important problem, the one you optimise and build the entire business around.

The TV networks are finding it hard to match Netflix's user experience (aka, distribution). They might have great in-house content, but that no longer matters if their distribution isn't as good as Netflix's.

As for Netflix, they're behaving just like LOCOM predicts. They've farmed out the content side to others – in other words, they've modularised it. They buy in great shows and leave the details of content-creation to the experts.

Netflix is just one example of the general principle of LOCOM, which is as follows: a new entrant to the market can profit by integrating a part of the business model which had previously been modularised, and modularising the parts of the business model which had previously been integrated.

So when you see Uber valued at $62bn, or Amazon gobbling up the retail industry, or use money supermarket to choose a credit card – now you know what they're up to!

If you've made it this far, you're probably like me – a bit of an investing nerd. I find all this stuff interesting because it helps me in my day job as editor of The Penny Share Letter. It helps me think about disruptive companies and new business models – exactly what I'm after as a stock picker.

So if you want to see how I put all this to use, click here.

Best wishes,




Sean Keyes
Editor
Risk and Reward

P.s. Got any thoughts on this article? Reach me at sean@agora.co.uk

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Got rid of the fully loaded version of Kodi that was on my M8S Android box, and just did an install of Blackbox build of Kodi... far superior in both visually and functionality.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

The fully loaded ones tend to be full of dead addons, blackbox and the beast are the two best builds imo, i only use my own build though.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Now TV launches most advanced box yet

https://corporate.sky.com/media-cent...vanced-box-yet

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

It will be interesting to see the pricing details.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Interesting that there's no technical spec in the press release. For instance, does it have 'full' HD and/or - dare I say it - 4K capability? But more likely Sky are keeping 4K as an exclusive to their forthcoming Sky Q offering.