[bit_logic]

The hype for Netflix stock was based on them becoming the Spotify of video and a tech advantage in streaming. It became clear a while ago that the studios wouldn't allow this and they no longer have a tech advantage. The market is finally adjusting their stock to match reality.

Now they are fighting a battle they can't win. HBO, Disney, etc. have huge back catalogs that immediately makes their streaming services more valuable, in addition to all the new content they make.

They shouldn't have given up so quickly on physical media. Physical media does not have the licensing issues. They could've invested heavily like the way Amazon did on lowering delivery time. Maybe they could've gotten physical media delivery down to one hour or same day. This would counter the studios back catalog because while Disney can instantly stream their back catalog, it's only Disney. Netflix would have access to back catalogs of all studios (at the tradeoff of waiting for the physical media) That's a tradeoff that many customers would make (access to more back catalog diversity in exchange for the delay of waiting for disks).

At the same time, they could produce streaming content with a different business model. How many times do customers complain about favorite shows getting canceled after a season? What if there was a way for customers to select which shows they want supported? Like pick your top five every month and your subscription money will go to that show.

Instead, they went the route of just spending a lot of money making new content as if they're a studio. But they can't beat the studios at being a studio, Disney and the others are the best at that.

[asadlionpk]

You think selling vhs and dvds is a better business? I don’t know anyone who has a bluray player.

[iamevn]

> I don’t know anyone who has a bluray player.

Everyone with a playstation or an xbox has one.

[asadlionpk]

Well, every home has a smart display/phone/tablet and a high-speed internet. I feel not even 0.1x of that population has a gaming console.

[bgorman]

The new Xbox and PlayStation consoles come with variants without physical media

[ALittleLight]

If Netflix had kept and improved physical delivery maybe you would.

[tempestn]

I don't know why you're being downvoted; this seems at least plausible. In this scenario Netflix would still have dominated streaming over the past number of years, so they would have had a huge platform from which to pitch their parallel physical media service. Given its infinite selection, it's at least possible it could have caused a substantial number of people to hold onto their players.

[asadlionpk]

It's a dying medium. The foundations have moved; internet got insanely cheap and fast, if Netflix hadn't done this somebody has would have eaten their lunch.

[zo1]

Can't believe I didn't think of this. They could have been for rental stores what UberEats is for restaurants. Instead, they killed off the video rental stores.