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Cable-Cutters Continue Their Trend

posted by CoolHand on Friday April 17 2015, @02:25AM   
from the as-soon-as-my-bandwidth-increases dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

Netflix shares rose 13% in after-hours trading after the company announced it had added 5 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2015:

That brings the total global subscribers to the service to 62.3 million.

Netflix also said revenue increased by 23% from the same period a year earlier to $1.57bn (£1.06bn).
...
Shares in Netflix have risen by nearly 40% since the start of this year.

However, the company has faced increasing threats as companies such as Hulu and HBO have sought to commission their own, original on demand content to compete with Netflix [shows] like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black.

The last couple of years have seen other companies like Hulu, HBO, and now CBS following suit. If ESPN or other sports players do the same the cable industry could end with a bang, not a whimper.

• Re:This is great for consumers.Re:This is great for consumers. (Score: 4, Interesting) by c0lo on Friday April 17 2015, @03:27AM

  by c0lo (156) on Friday April 17 2015, @03:27AM (#171869) Journal

  Now, if only the movie studios would license out more of their top-end movies for longer durations...

  Good luck [wikipedia.org] - Universal Studios is owned by Comcast, Time Warner controls heaps including HBO and Warner Bros, Viacom controls both Paramount and CBSNetworks, MGM has control from Sony and Comcast, 20-21 Century Fox is under ...you guessed... Murdoch, Columbia owned by Sony.
  (Sony - mmmm... not a cable company as such? But... Playstation as an entertainment platform, movies included?)

  --
  https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford

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  Starting Score:	1		point
  Moderation		+2
  Interesting=1, Informative=1, Total=2
  Extra 'Interesting' Modifier		0
  Karma-Bonus Modifier		+1
  Total Score:		4

• Re:This is great for consumers.(Score: 2, Insightful) by kadal on Friday April 17 2015, @03:28AM

  by kadal (4731) on Friday April 17 2015, @03:28AM (#171872)

  Yeah, this is what sucks. Eventually, you'll need to subscribe to 10 different services to get access to most flicks. Irritating...

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• Re:This is great for consumers.Re:This is great for consumers. (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 17 2015, @12:11PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 17 2015, @12:11PM (#171980)

  > Time Warner controls heaps including HBO and Warner Bros,

  Time Warner Cable hasn't been associated with Time Warner since 2009. [wikipedia.org]

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  • Re:This is great for consumers.Re:This is great for consumers. (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday April 17 2015, @12:59PM

    by c0lo (156) on Friday April 17 2015, @12:59PM (#172000) Journal

    Time Warner Cable hasn't been associated with Time Warner since 2009.

    Et alors? They sold one subsidiary.
    Time Warner [wikipedia.org]:

    It is currently the world's third largest television networks and filmed TV & entertainment company in terms of revenue

    HBO [wikipedia.org] (owned by Time Warner)

    HBO (Home Box Office) is an American premium cable and satellite television network

    Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. [wikipedia.org]

    Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (often abbreviated Turner Broadcasting, TBS, Inc. or simply Turner) is an American media conglomerate and subsidiary of Time Warner, managing the collection of cable networks and properties initiated or acquired by Robert Edward "Ted" Turner

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford

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    • Re:This is great for consumers.Re:This is great for consumers. (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 18 2015, @03:40PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 18 2015, @03:40PM (#172445)

      > Et alors? They sold one subsidiary.

      The one subsidiary that matters - the one with a cable plant.
      Thus they are no longer aligned with the interests of cable companies and are free to sell streaming video without the worry of hurting themselves.
      You yourself realized that was the key issue when you said "oh sony isn't a cable company but their playstation network is kinda sort like one so maybe that's close enough to make my point sort of relevant."

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      • Re:This is great for consumers.(Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday April 19 2015, @12:31PM

        by c0lo (156) on Sunday April 19 2015, @12:31PM (#172807) Journal

        The one subsidiary that matters - the one with a cable plant.

        Wrong. Read the thread again and you'll see the context of my answer being:
        "I hope movie studios would license out more of their top-end movies for longer durations...".

        As long as the movies studios are part of a conglomerate which are able to distribute the movie themselves (cable or other means, Internet included), they won't license the movies to "Netflix et al" for longer times.
        E.g. Sony: why should they licence the movies to Netflix for 50 years when they try to push/grow their own "Sony Entertainment network"?

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford

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