[jalaziz]

I think this is a terrible idea, but time will tell. As a former Hulu employee, I can say that the media rights business is a mess. It took us (and Netflix) a very long time to convince media companies that the future is streaming. Now that they understand that, it's natural that they want to control all the revenue streams for their content.

What they fail to understand is that online streaming is not easy. Netflix and Hulu have invested a lot of resources into their tech stacks. Also, have you tried building an app that works on all the different streaming devices out there? It's annoyingly difficult. You have to do all that, keep up with the latest technologies (e.g. 4K), and still provide unique features and value. Storing the content is the easiest part.

Point is, media companies should stick to what they do best and let the likes of Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon do what they do best.

[datasage]

They are pushing forward with this by purchasing a controlling stake in BAMTech, which is the streaming tech company behind HBO Now, MLB and others.

[jalaziz]

I saw that and I can't speak for HBO Now, but my experience with WatchESPN (which apparently also streams through BAMTech) has been abysmal. This may be incredibly naive of me, but I'd much rather have an independent tech powerhouse like Netflix focused on content delivery.

In my experience, traditional media companies stifle innovation instead of encourage it. It was never easy to work with them and they held us back. The whole industry is a mess. I can't imagine Disney buying a controlling stake in BAMTech will make things better.

That being said, Disney is better with technology than most other media companies. Of course, I could be completely off-base here. It's just my opinion.