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by coloroadie 4104 days ago
That's exactly why the cable guys have been saying that bundling is the most economic option for consumers that want a large content catalog. As content creators stand up their own streaming services they'll begin to pull their content from third party streaming services (see Starz/Netflix). Consumers will eventually have two choices: purchase a very small subset of services directly from providers or go back to the big bundle.

Netflix and Amazon realize this, which is why they're scrambling to become content creators. Without original content, they're doomed to be nothing more than the Internet version of Nick at Nite.
3 comments
virmundi 4104 days ago
I wonder if there is a third way, just not consuming content. As netflix becomes narrower as well as others in the space, could it led to a natural dry out of media? If I'm trained to not really use Netflix, but I already learned to get rid of cable bundles, I think I'll look to spend my time somewhere else.

I'm already doing this. For the most part I don't want to watch Netflix. I watch because my wife watches. I'm on my phone most of the time the TV is going.

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coloroadie 4104 days ago
The average American watches 34 hours of TV a week. Keep in mind: the HN audience is not representative of your average American. I don't think the media companies are too worried about a natural dry out.
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dragonwriter 4103 days ago
> Consumers will eventually have two choices: purchase a very small subset of services directly from providers or go back to the big bundle.

I don't think the cable-style "big bundle" will exist much longer, just premium sources which you pay for per source (or, for the highest-value premium content, per individual piece of content or individual viewing) and advertising-supported disaggregated content. There might be (advertising-supported) portals and aggregators for this providing something like the big bundle, but consumers won't be directly paying money for it (with the cable model they do, but over time that's going to go to paying for internet access.)

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coloroadie 4103 days ago
Why do you think the big bundle will go away? Sure, subscribing to a small number of one-off streaming services may make sense for some consumers, but not all.

For example: if you collect the top three must-have channels from each member of your average American family, you'll discover that mom, dad and the kids have very different tastes in media. By the time each family member finds and subscribes to the streaming service that provides them the content they want, they'll be paying much more than what they paid for the big cable bundle.

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dragonwriter 4103 days ago
> Why do you think the big bundle will go away?

Because the big bundle -- especially the big-bundle of sources that are themselves advertising-supported -- is an artifact of access-provider-as-gatekeeper. Especially with net neutrality, that's a feature of cable TV that doesn't exist on the internet.

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ctdonath 4104 days ago
How long until someone provides a bundling service? For just $50/mo they'll give you Netflix/HBO/Discovery/PBS/etc thru a single interface.
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jerf 4103 days ago
Ah, but how will they?

Startup: "Hey, Comcast, I'm a new startup trying to provide bundling services for all the fragmented streaming services out there! We feel we can offer a real win-win for both you and our customers by making it easier to subscribe and consume your service! And look at this awesome new Angular UI we built for your service that runs on Node.js backed by Mongo! It's web-scale!"

Comcast: "Sorry, kid, we have every intention of being the Uber-service. Have a lawsuit."

Startup: "Um, okay, well, that burns down our runway a bit. In the meantime, fake it 'till you make it! Hey, HBO, we're a new startup that can win-win yada yada webscale!"

HBO: "Sorry, kid, we have every intention of being the Uber-service. Have a lawsuit."

Startup: "Ack, now my runway is even shorter. Hey, Amazon..."

Amazon: "Sorry, kid, we're already the Uber-service and we intend to stay that way. Have a lawsuit."

Startup: "Shit."

Netflix: "No, we're the Uber-service! And also, have a lawsuit."

Startup: "Chapter 7 ho!"

Aereo: "Nice try, kiddo. Have a beer. Sucks, donnit?"

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ctdonath 4102 days ago
Apple: "Hey, Netflix & Hulu & Crackle & ... & HBO, we can double your revenue overnight if you'll consent to our bundling service."

Netflix & Hulu & Crackle & ... & HBO: "OK."

(Simplistic, yes; you fill in the details.)

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