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Is Netflix approaching monopoly? If anything I've seen a ton of competition coming up from the likes of Amazon, HBO, and a billion smaller services.

by aqme28 9y ago

EGreg 9y ago
That's why I never liked having Netflix be the poster child for "Net Neutrality". Like with Pro Life vs Pro Choice we have two campaign slogans "Net Neutrality" and "Internet Freedom" coined by entrenched interests.
- quadrangle 9y ago
  Netflix is the poster child not because of monopoly issues but because there's a public, known record of Comcast slowing down Netflix before the Title II regulation came into being, it's the most prominent and widely concerning proof that non-neutral stuff does (and will) happen.
notheguyouthink 9y ago
Agreed, I have no idea what the OP might be referring to about Netflix. It's got a ton of competition, and has had an increasingly smaller selection of media due to companies pulling their own content to roll their own media services. Netflix is becoming more of an HBO than anything. Hardly the holder of all media on the internet or some type of media monopoly.
adamlett 9y ago
Netflix is on the trajectory to becoming a monopoly, yes. HBO is hamstrung by its lucrative cable tv deals in the US, which prevents it from competing effectively with Netflix in the streaming market. They will keep making money hand over fist from cable tv until suddenly they don’t. If Netflix is Google, HBO is Yahoo. Amazon in this analogy, of course would be Bing. At a glance they seem to have what is required to compete with Netflix: Deep pockets and technological competence. But to compete in this market is for Netflix a matter of life or death, whereas for Amazon, it’s a side show. As for the multitude of smaller competitors, they are all the search engines we’ve forgotten the names of or never heard of to begin with.
- pkill17 9y ago
  If HBO is hamstrung by lucrative deals, then it stands to think that HBO's own deal making has prevented them from usurping Netflix. To my knowledge, I haven't heard of Netflix having overtly anti-competitive behavior but I'm all ears for examples. It seems as though HBO is capable of competing, but they have to make a risky play and get out from their cable TV bubble to do so, which is no fault of Netflix. If anything, this shows that the monolithic telecoms that have large stakes in these cable TV brands are facilitating monopolies elsewhere because likely competitors are locked into their current markets. EDIT: to be clear, HBO's unsuccessful attempt to be level with Netflix in the streaming arena is more "don't want to" and not "can't". I wouldn't call a lack of wanting to be monopolistic. If HBO suddenly turned around and wanted to compete directly with Netflix and got boxed out by Netflix in some way, i.e. Netflix striking deals with Level 3 or similar providers to prevent HBO from getting equal treatment, then there's a strong case for them being labeled a monopoly.
  - adamlett 9y ago
    To my knowledge, I haven't heard of Netflix having overtly anti-competitive behavior but I'm all ears for examples. I’ not aware of any either, but one does not have to engage in anti-competitive behavior to become or be a monopoly. If anything, this shows that the monolithic telecoms that have large stakes in these cable TV brands are facilitating monopolies elsewhere because likely competitors are locked into their current markets Yes, that’s right. But like HBO, they are trapped by their business model.
- morley 9y ago
  > HBO is hamstrung by its lucrative cable tv deals in the US I'm not sure this is true. HBO Go is available for subscription in the US, is available on many streaming platforms. Additionally, you can subscribe to HBO through Amazon Prime (among other places; I just happen to use the Prime subscription). I can't comment on differences in marketing spend or consumer goodwill, but from my perspective, I see the same level of service between HBO and Netflix (though admittedly, Netflix is usually more stable).
- stcredzero 9y ago
racl101 9y ago
Exactly my thought. It is one of the biggest companies facing a ton of competition and still doing a superb job.
daodedickinson 9y ago
Hulu, Shudder, FilmStruck
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
devwastaken 9y ago
Disney is rolling out their own streaming service in 2018. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/08/disney-will-pull-its-movies-from-netflix-and-start-its-own-streaming-services.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/08/disney-will-pull-its-movies-... Netflix was just there first, but they don't own most of the content.
hobarrera 9y ago
Yeah, Netflix is a monopoly, or almost a monopoly. Amazon Prime is basically US-only. HBO gets hired during GoT season and then dumped. Meanwhile, the majority of the people out there have Netflix. We even see ads on the streets and all over the place, while the other two competitors are still inexistent.
mc32 9y ago
http://fortune.com/2015/10/08/netflix-bandwith http://fortune.com/2015/10/08/netflix-bandwith Netflix 35% of internet traffic; AMZ Video 2%. I'd say it looks like it.

Is Netflix approaching monopoly? If anything I've seen a ton of competition coming up from the likes of Amazon, HBO, and a billion smaller services.

by aqme28 9y ago

Is Netflix approaching monopoly? If anything I've seen a ton of competition coming up from the likes of Amazon, HBO, and a billion smaller services.

EGreg 9y ago

That's why I never liked having Netflix be the poster child for "Net Neutrality". Like with Pro Life vs Pro Choice we have two campaign slogans "Net Neutrality" and "Internet Freedom" coined by entrenched interests.

quadrangle 9y ago
Netflix is the poster child not because of monopoly issues but because there's a public, known record of Comcast slowing down Netflix before the Title II regulation came into being, it's the most prominent and widely concerning proof that non-neutral stuff does (and will) happen.

notheguyouthink 9y ago

Agreed, I have no idea what the OP might be referring to about Netflix. It's got a ton of competition, and has had an increasingly smaller selection of media due to companies pulling their own content to roll their own media services. Netflix is becoming more of an HBO than anything. Hardly the holder of all media on the internet or some type of media monopoly.

adamlett 9y ago

Netflix is on the trajectory to becoming a monopoly, yes. HBO is hamstrung by its lucrative cable tv deals in the US, which prevents it from competing effectively with Netflix in the streaming market. They will keep making money hand over fist from cable tv until suddenly they don’t. If Netflix is Google, HBO is Yahoo. Amazon in this analogy, of course would be Bing. At a glance they seem to have what is required to compete with Netflix: Deep pockets and technological competence. But to compete in this market is for Netflix a matter of life or death, whereas for Amazon, it’s a side show. As for the multitude of smaller competitors, they are all the search engines we’ve forgotten the names of or never heard of to begin with.

pkill17 9y ago
If HBO is hamstrung by lucrative deals, then it stands to think that HBO's own deal making has prevented them from usurping Netflix. To my knowledge, I haven't heard of Netflix having overtly anti-competitive behavior but I'm all ears for examples. It seems as though HBO is capable of competing, but they have to make a risky play and get out from their cable TV bubble to do so, which is no fault of Netflix. If anything, this shows that the monolithic telecoms that have large stakes in these cable TV brands are facilitating monopolies elsewhere because likely competitors are locked into their current markets. EDIT: to be clear, HBO's unsuccessful attempt to be level with Netflix in the streaming arena is more "don't want to" and not "can't". I wouldn't call a lack of wanting to be monopolistic. If HBO suddenly turned around and wanted to compete directly with Netflix and got boxed out by Netflix in some way, i.e. Netflix striking deals with Level 3 or similar providers to prevent HBO from getting equal treatment, then there's a strong case for them being labeled a monopoly.
- adamlett 9y ago
  To my knowledge, I haven't heard of Netflix having overtly anti-competitive behavior but I'm all ears for examples. I’ not aware of any either, but one does not have to engage in anti-competitive behavior to become or be a monopoly. If anything, this shows that the monolithic telecoms that have large stakes in these cable TV brands are facilitating monopolies elsewhere because likely competitors are locked into their current markets Yes, that’s right. But like HBO, they are trapped by their business model.
morley 9y ago
> HBO is hamstrung by its lucrative cable tv deals in the US I'm not sure this is true. HBO Go is available for subscription in the US, is available on many streaming platforms. Additionally, you can subscribe to HBO through Amazon Prime (among other places; I just happen to use the Prime subscription). I can't comment on differences in marketing spend or consumer goodwill, but from my perspective, I see the same level of service between HBO and Netflix (though admittedly, Netflix is usually more stable).
stcredzero 9y ago

racl101 9y ago

Exactly my thought. It is one of the biggest companies facing a ton of competition and still doing a superb job.

daodedickinson 9y ago

Hulu, Shudder, FilmStruck

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

devwastaken 9y ago

Disney is rolling out their own streaming service in 2018. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/08/disney-will-pull-its-movies-from-netflix-and-start-its-own-streaming-services.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/08/disney-will-pull-its-movies-... Netflix was just there first, but they don't own most of the content.

hobarrera 9y ago

Yeah, Netflix is a monopoly, or almost a monopoly. Amazon Prime is basically US-only. HBO gets hired during GoT season and then dumped. Meanwhile, the majority of the people out there have Netflix. We even see ads on the streets and all over the place, while the other two competitors are still inexistent.

mc32 9y ago

http://fortune.com/2015/10/08/netflix-bandwith http://fortune.com/2015/10/08/netflix-bandwith Netflix 35% of internet traffic; AMZ Video 2%. I'd say it looks like it.