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We're reminded today that back in the late 1990s, Warner Bros. was looking for leverage in their negotiations with Blockbuster. The studio took on a small ownership stake in the then fledgling Netflix. The other major studios followed suit. This was all prior to Netflix's 2002 IPO. All the movie studios sold their shares about a year after that.
This was probably a financial blunder of epic proportions. Netflix is hugely popular, and its stock is trading over $150 per share. It started at $15 in 2002. Aside from the monetary cost, the studios have to contend with the fact they could have had some control over this extremely popular entertainment option. As it stands, they may find themselves benefitting less from their interactions with Netflix.
What might have been if Hollywood had kept their stakes in Netflix? Maybe Blockbuster would have fared better if Netflix was being managed by the studios. Or perhaps we wouldn't be enjoying the plethora of streaming options on Netflix.
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bling581
October 21, 2010 at 10:13am
I'm not largely impressed with the variety of selection Netflix has, but this really depends on personal taste. Even with just their streaming selection I can see myself going for many months before running out of content. Took a good 2-3 weeks to get through all the Heroes episdoes alone and now I'm on Law & Order SVU, which is probably a good 1-2 months or longer to get through all the seasons. If you're done after 3 months you probably didn't do much exploring. Start watching random movies and you'll find there's some good ones out there you just never heard of or didn't have the desire to watch based on the previews.
Hopefully they will get going on the selection pretty soon but this is a service that does have a limited time before you just run out of content.
TechLarry
October 21, 2010 at 8:24am
28 day new-release delays, limited streaming.
I don't see the fascination with NetFlix. It's a half-assed service (not neccessarily due to their fault).
I cancelled after 3 months.
zepontiff
October 21, 2010 at 1:50pm
Who cares about new releases. As far as I'm concerned they are now new releases 28 days later. I value my time. When I want to watch something I should be able to choose what I watch. I'm not going to sit on my couch and consume what the man decides to give me.
I Jedi
October 20, 2010 at 7:30pm
I think that the lesson we can all take from here is that even when a company does not seem popular, just holding on even, that it can still find ways to be useful and innovative. Look at Apple... Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started off in a garage, and now the company is worth more than Google currently is. Don't discount the underdog because we all know the big dog will eventually fall.
