

How Netflix Could Suffer Blockbuster's Fate - _halcyon_
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-netflix-could-suffer-blockbusters-fate-2013-05-01

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ctdonath
Netflix's vulnerability is content offerings: it _must_ have the biggest
selection of movies possible. Much of its audience relies on it being the
near-sole source of content, being unwilling to fiddle with more than 2-3
content providers (ex.: I'm content with Netflix for bulk/old content, iTunes
for premium, and Redbox for latest & cheap...if it's not there, I'm not
watching it). A headline today notes Netflix is about to lose >1700 titles
soon for want of licensing; I wonder how much of my 100+ item queue is going
to evaporate as a result, and how annoyed I'll be (there's no hint as to
what's going away).

Word now is Netflix is starting to focus on "exclusive content". That's fine,
so long as it is _not_ to the _exclusion_ of other content. I'm not interested
in House Of Cards or other particular shows to the point of giving up anything
else I want to see on a moment's notice. Be sure there's enough available that
there's far more I want to see than I possibly can at any given time. When
users go to Netflix and decide "there's nothing I want to watch", it dies.

Losing prolific titles in favor for a handful of high-profile exclusive
offerings? Doom awaits.

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zwieback
Horrible article, poorly written plug for "plateaus". Somebody should tell the
authors of this article about "House of Cards", apparently they missed the
fact that Netflix is trying to become a content provider.

