It seems reasonable to think that the cable companies at first saw Netflix at a threat only to Blockbuster, etc. Too bad for them that they did not take a broa

It seems reasonable to think that the cable companies at first saw Netflix at a threat only to Blockbuster, etc. Too bad for them that they did not take a broader view of their competition. When a person says, "I want to be entertained by narrative" (not that they would really say such a thing explicitly), cable, Netflix, movie theaters, live theater performances, novels, etc. all compete with each other for the person's attention and dollar. Cable had the advantage that it was always there and required little effort to consume on a per-unit basis (meaning, the effort of turning on the TV). However, it had the disadvantage of lacking variety -- much like the airport bookstore compared to a "real" bookstore (purposefully ignoring Amazon to keep the historical perspective intact). It was this unique position of availability which allowed Cable to survive alongside Blockbuster, and everything else I listed above. Netflix tipped this balance.