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It’s also not zero sum though. There doesn’t have to be just one successful company standing.

mac01021 8y ago
Is it not zero sum? In other words, is there a way that Netflix and Amazon Video can cooperate with the result that each earns more income than would be possible if they were purely competitive? There are only 8 billion people in the world, and each can spend at most X hours per day watching streaming video. It seems to be clearly in the interest of each provider to try to obtain all X of those hours.
- MaxBarraclough 8y ago
  > It seems to be clearly in the interest of each provider to try to obtain all X of those hours. Not so. You're confusing subscription-based revenue-stream with advertising-based revenue-stream. Netflix's subscription is a flat rate, and they have no ads, so unlike YouTube they don't make money per hour of viewing. The ideal case for Netflix is if I pay my monthly subscription, but don't watch anything at all. They get their money, but it minimises their server load. Of course, in reality, if they want to persuade me to keep my subscription, they'd better offer good content - if I'm watching nothing at all, I'm likely to cancel.
  - mac01021 8y ago
    But if they capture all x of my available hours, then I'll drop my Hulu subscription and they can increase their monthly fee.
    - MaxBarraclough 8y ago
      I really don't see what you're worried about. They're operating under the most pro-consumer conditions possible: honest competition to maximise consumer value. If they out-compete Hulu, they can charge more than Hulu. Sure. What's the worry? In a functioning marketplace, an inferior service is priced lower. I don't think there's much risk that they'll go the clickbait route and start acting against the viewer's interests for revenue. I don't see how they could. Subscription services are much more resistant to that kind of thing than free services. The competition is tough. They're unlikely to feel free to charge significantly more... because they aren't. I'm fairly confident Netflix aren't dumb enough to try anything like adverts. Millennials hate that kind of thing, and it would be a real mistake.

Is it not zero sum? In other words, is there a way that Netflix and Amazon Video can cooperate with the result that each earns more income than would be possible if they were purely competitive? There are only 8 billion people in the world, and each can spend at most X hours per day watching streaming video. It seems to be clearly in the interest of each provider to try to obtain all X of those hours.

MaxBarraclough 8y ago
> It seems to be clearly in the interest of each provider to try to obtain all X of those hours. Not so. You're confusing subscription-based revenue-stream with advertising-based revenue-stream. Netflix's subscription is a flat rate, and they have no ads, so unlike YouTube they don't make money per hour of viewing. The ideal case for Netflix is if I pay my monthly subscription, but don't watch anything at all. They get their money, but it minimises their server load. Of course, in reality, if they want to persuade me to keep my subscription, they'd better offer good content - if I'm watching nothing at all, I'm likely to cancel.
- mac01021 8y ago
  But if they capture all x of my available hours, then I'll drop my Hulu subscription and they can increase their monthly fee.
  - MaxBarraclough 8y ago
    I really don't see what you're worried about. They're operating under the most pro-consumer conditions possible: honest competition to maximise consumer value. If they out-compete Hulu, they can charge more than Hulu. Sure. What's the worry? In a functioning marketplace, an inferior service is priced lower. I don't think there's much risk that they'll go the clickbait route and start acting against the viewer's interests for revenue. I don't see how they could. Subscription services are much more resistant to that kind of thing than free services. The competition is tough. They're unlikely to feel free to charge significantly more... because they aren't. I'm fairly confident Netflix aren't dumb enough to try anything like adverts. Millennials hate that kind of thing, and it would be a real mistake.