Netflix can’t be compared to HBOs beginnings. The road has already been paved. Series producers are already used to providing quality TV for outlets other than broadcast networks. Netflix is producing shows head and tails above HBO’s initial original shows (sludge like “The Hitchhiker”)

Also. The broadcast model is near dead. If networks don’t change to streaming models in the near future they will be, as Francis Underwood would say, – cleaved from the herd and die in the wilderness.

While Netflix long term survival isn’t known, I believe this is the model that will kill boadcast TV

“Doesn’t mean consumers are morally right to demand how content is offered to them”

They can demand all they want, but it is morally wrong to steal content since it is not in the format of their choosing. This is not something that is out of print or held up by rights, it is available in the cartoon, but the kid just doesn’t want to pay for it. This attitude seems to have stealing confused with boycotting, if it is not in a format you are willing to purchase you do without it and the company does without the revenue, thats the unwritten agreement, not give me what I want NOW, how I want it or I am just going to find a way to take it anyway.

If you see the comic as a justification for piracy, then I can see why you hate it. But I don’t think that’s the message. It is, after all, the devil on the shoulder that wins out.

I think the comic is criticizing the wisdom of media distribution companies that are failing to capitalize on the potential of modern communications technology and the demands of the marketplace.

It may be wrong that the guy in the comic gives up looking for legal access and settling for illegal access, but it is a reality in the world we live in. People do this. The huge success of iTunes for the music industry proved this. If you offer your content cheaply and conveniently, people will largely take you up on that. If you don’t, they’ll go to illegal means.

Doesn’t mean you’re morally wrong not to offer your content cheaply and easily. Doesn’t mean consumers are morally right to demand how content is offered to them. But it is nevertheless a reality that a lot of consumers behave in this way. If you’re a business seeking to monetize your assets, you’re leaving tons of money on the table if you try to keep too tight a hold on your content and/or get too greedy with your price points.

I do agree there’s too much entitlement in what people somehow believe is theirs for the taking. As I write this I think of myself just 3 weeks ago getting pissed at how many sites I had to go to find a song and a TV show, when two weeks prior one was on the shelf. Other songs from the same freckin’ album were available but only a re-recording of what I was looking for could be found.

As for Netflix, I have streaming only but sometimes wonder if I wouldn’t be better off w/only DVDs. I don’t really have a ton of time to watch. Maybe I will with football ending but it’s a good year for college hoops. Anyway, I have at least 20 items in my queue ready to go and know there’s more I want to see. However, it is a bit depressing that I don’t log onto the site and see many movies that were recently in theaters that make me say “Oh cool! I totally wanted to see this but can’t believe I missed it. And just in time for awards season.”

I probably could’ve done well putting it on hold for the past 5 months but I have to admit part of me likes having it around jic. Like friends over hanging out and now we need something to watch. Well, we can check out netflix…

That’s why, for me, Netflix is such a godsend still, because it has practically everything in a reasonable time whether by streaming or DVD. Of the top 30 films in MCN’s compendium of critic top 10 lists, 19 are available on Netflix via DVD, and many are available to stream. Sometimes I get agitated when a great doc like THIS IS NOT A FILM takes 11 months to get released, but I wouldn’t think of depriving the filmmakers a dime.

And the arguement was not that Starz did not matter but they were not worth the cost. Now the 300 goes to a studio instead of a middleman, and besides the theatrical they get all that dtv crap that kids can watch for hours (my kid has been going through the Tinkerbell movies for the last few days). With Epix they are also dealing directly with the respective studios. Revenue has increased despite numerous public relations disaters and they are not taking on debt even while expanding.

But I do agree with you about the cost of the original programming, without the extra revenue of commercials or cable fees Netflix is at a distinct disadvantage. HBO switched to more originals when the rental window started shrinking and people were able to get the product at the corner Blockbuster a few months before cable. And it only got worse once DVD was priced as sell through and people started compulsivly filling up their walls with whatever came out that week. HBO smartly changed their endgame and instead of simply replaying other peoples product they used it as filler for the rest of the schedule while creating unique original programs. USA, FX, TNT, and AMC have all followed this model to success, but again it is the cable fees that keep them afloat. Netflix can get away with a few of these series to keep the news articles flowing, but I do not see them pursueing it as adamantly as the cable channels.

But then again they don’t need to, they have thousands of hours of other peoples programming at your fingertips for the price of a burrito.

But yeah… listened to that kind of crap for a year before summer 2011 turned and showed that I has been right all along.

Netflix was a groundbreaking, game-changing, hard to replicate idea. And now, it is in the water with all the sharks… but people are still talking about Netflix as though it owns something. It is in a better position to stay alive than MySpsce, but it’s a very similar situation now. And if you watch what the management of the company does – which is quite different from what is reported – it’s clear that they agree with me a lot more than they agree with the hype… which is why they are trying to rebrand this week for the third time in 2 years.

Perhaps it is different on other platforms, but I felt like I was looking for a needle in a haystack.

Joe – The DVD business changed the budgets and the amount of original programming that HBO was doing. Instead of being bait to make their offering unique, it became a cash cow. That was the point at which HBO went from being mostly movies to being dominated by the originals.

hcat – The movie product is very limited on Netflix and yes, there are a lot of old TV shows… almost all of which are non-exclusive and available elsewhere. The window it’s eaten is syndication, which went from being in trouble to enhanced by DVD and streaming, to now being in greater trouble as prices keep dropping because of alternate availabilities. This is one reason why Big Bang Theory and other shows with a decent syndication life aren’t on Netflix.

As for Disney, that was not poaching, that was a survival issue. Without Disney, game over. Now, for $300 million a year, which is MASSIVE, they get a reprieve… which ends in 3 years.

Of course, last year, the argument was that Starz didn’t matter. This year, half that dead – Disney – is the savior.

We are just at the start of the shake out.