

Netflix, bundling, and the future of video - dangoldin
http://dangoldin.com/2013/05/05/netflix-bundling-and-the-future-of-video/

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kbenson
Unbundling is not about only getting the shows you want, it's about only
getting the _channels_ you want. Netflix has no channels, so there's nothing
to unbundle.

That said I would love it if they treated license holders as channels and
allowed management of subscriptions.

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dangoldin
In the context of cable yes but people want channels for the shows themselves.
I think the reason people like channels is due to the real time nature of
television and having first access to the shows. If entire seasons of a TV
show become available immediately I suspect people won't care for the channel
anymore. People also like being able to just turn on the TV and watch whatever
is on without having to think so maybe there's always room for channels -
similar to why Songza can exist alongside Spotify.

The only thing that make sense to do live are sports and concerts since that's
the natural state.

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kbenson
Don't we already have unbundling for shows? That's what you get when you buy a
season, or a single show, from Amazon or iTunes. There's no reason to argue
for that since we already have it.

What we don't have is unbundled channels, or sets of channels/content based on
IP holder (which I think makes more sense in Netflix's case). I wouldn't mind
paying for whatever A&E allows for streaming, and NOT paying for whatever
licensor supplies TLC and the History channel.

I also wouldn't mind a service that allowed me to pay two different levels for
the content, one for the shows with advertising, one for the shows without,
preferably toggle-able per IP pack.

Then you can start talking about whether we are referring to all (including
current) shows for a rights-holder, or just back-catalog, or just the ones
they pick (as Netflix is now).

In the end, it's all very complex, but I think there's room between Hulu and
Netflix, so hopefully someone can fill it.

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dangoldin
Interesting point. It seems you want to pay for the channel to just have
access to it without even worrying about the shows on that channel. Is your
habit to just turn it on and watch it in the background?

I guess the ideal solution for me would be to actually have shows unbundled
entirely and then have 3rd parties create "channels" from them that can be
tuned in whenever.

The user experience just needs to be such that all this is intuitive.

