Netflix To Offer Streaming-Only Service Plans 151
MojoKid writes "Debates are raging as to what the future of movie distribution will look like.
There are those who claim that physical discs, like DVDs, Blu-ray, and whatever format will eventually supplant Blu-ray, will always deliver a superior viewing experience versus anything that will be available via streaming. Pundits on the other side of the debate say that as broadband's footprint continues to expand, quality is improving.
Interestingly, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is siding firmly with the latter camp, and it would even appear that Netflix is gearing up to move all of its eggs
from the mail-distribution basket to the online streaming basket. Hastings indicated that perhaps as soon as later this year or sometime in 2010, Netflix might start offering online-streaming-only subscription plans beyond just its current Starz
plan."
Support more Systems (Score:3, Interesting)
With Hulu letting us watch on our Linux boxes, will Netflix move towards this as well if this is going to be their new distrubution model?
I hope so.
Playon does not help us.
NetFlix vs Blockbuster (Score:4, Interesting)
The real challenge is how do you give users the flexibility to watch multiple movies at the same time or watch without an active internet connection?
BB advantage is that not only do you get videos by mail but you can return at stores for an instore rental plus 2x month I get free game/video rental coupons. As a result, BB is a better deal since I get about 2x the DVDs at a time, plus a large mail back catalog of stuff not in the store. As a result, I get the latest releases from the B&M and the older stuff by mail. BB has so far leveraged the online/ B&M model quite well with something NetFlix can't match. So for only a few bucks more than NetFlix I get a better deal.
The challenge I see for NetFlix is dealing with the moves towards bandwidth caps - a movie a night is likely to rapidly push people to the cap; and they are likely to be mad at NetFlix, not their ISP. As a result, I see pressure form larger ISPs, at least, to pressure NetFlix in paying for bandwidth or working out a revenue split where NetFlix is bundled with the service.
Of course, once WalMart buys NetFlix and RedBox all bets are off for BB. You read it here first.
Re:Support more Systems (Score:4, Interesting)
Netflix doesn't have ads, Hulu has. I moved away from TV to Netflix exactly because of ads.
Re:Not ready for prime time (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:"all their eggs" (Score:3, Interesting)
Exactly...
In fact Netflix may just be showing us the future of content monetization.
Offer, for a fee, media people are willing to pay for, not based on your technology choices, leave it, as much as possible, to them.
Netflix has the distribution platform, check, the client base, check, the mindshare, check. They are waiting for the MPAA licenses etc... But as long as they give more freedom to the consumer(not necessarily for free) and keep it as much a "I gave you my money, I just want it to work" experience, they will print money with it.