4 ms·

This was good too: "Why would anyone want to watch anything other than new releases" And this is why Netflix's share price is a good 15 times higher than Block

This was good too: "Why would anyone want to watch anything other than new releases" And this is why Netflix's share price is a good 15 times higher than Blockbuster's right now

rudyfink 18y ago
At the heart of it, I think the "new release" is a market strategy rather than a consumer goal. Creators want consumers to believe that they should forget everything in light of the "latest and greatest". The creators' strategy is to attempt to drown out all other consumer thoughts with marketing. Consumers just want a good trade-off for their time. In the past, information was substantially easier to find on things that were new. Finding good movies in the so called "long tail" of a video store involved book research, knowledgeable friends, or lucky guesses. You could choose what had been recently marketed to you or the devil or the unknown box. Modern information networks have changed this reality largely in favor of the unknown box. The truth is that a large percentage of new creation is not really worth your time. The biggest advantage the new stuff has is frankly that it is new. As information systems progress, people will have an easier time separating hype from substance. This will effectively make older quality creations more desirable. It is probably fanciful, but I'd expect his statement to be exactly wrong in the long run. The reality may become "why would anyone want to watch new releases"?
thorax 18y ago
Well, I wouldn't worry about share price so much as their overall worth. It's heavily reflected there, though: Netflix ($1.8 billion) has nearly four times the market capitalization of Blockbuster ($472 million). The fact that the CEO is confused really is obvious in the market as well as in the interview.
caudicus 18y ago
Well, to their credit Netflix's market cap is only 4x that of Blockbuster. ;)
briansmith 18y ago
"Why would anyone want to watch anything other than new releases" is pretty much the slogan of RedBox. Why pay $5 for a movie rental when you can pay $1 at McDonalds or the grocery store or the gas station for the same new release? Plus, with RedBox, I don't have to show two forms of ID or fill out an application. I pick the DVDs I want, slide my card in, and the movies pop out. NetFlix has become the premium rental service. RedBox is the budget service. Blockbuster is getting squeezed out of the market from both sides.

This was good too: "Why would anyone want to watch anything other than new releases" And this is why Netflix's share price is a good 15 times higher than Blockbuster's right now

rudyfink 18y ago

At the heart of it, I think the "new release" is a market strategy rather than a consumer goal. Creators want consumers to believe that they should forget everything in light of the "latest and greatest". The creators' strategy is to attempt to drown out all other consumer thoughts with marketing. Consumers just want a good trade-off for their time. In the past, information was substantially easier to find on things that were new. Finding good movies in the so called "long tail" of a video store involved book research, knowledgeable friends, or lucky guesses. You could choose what had been recently marketed to you or the devil or the unknown box. Modern information networks have changed this reality largely in favor of the unknown box. The truth is that a large percentage of new creation is not really worth your time. The biggest advantage the new stuff has is frankly that it is new. As information systems progress, people will have an easier time separating hype from substance. This will effectively make older quality creations more desirable. It is probably fanciful, but I'd expect his statement to be exactly wrong in the long run. The reality may become "why would anyone want to watch new releases"?

thorax 18y ago

Well, I wouldn't worry about share price so much as their overall worth. It's heavily reflected there, though: Netflix ($1.8 billion) has nearly four times the market capitalization of Blockbuster ($472 million). The fact that the CEO is confused really is obvious in the market as well as in the interview.

caudicus 18y ago

Well, to their credit Netflix's market cap is only 4x that of Blockbuster. ;)

briansmith 18y ago

"Why would anyone want to watch anything other than new releases" is pretty much the slogan of RedBox. Why pay $5 for a movie rental when you can pay $1 at McDonalds or the grocery store or the gas station for the same new release? Plus, with RedBox, I don't have to show two forms of ID or fill out an application. I pick the DVDs I want, slide my card in, and the movies pop out. NetFlix has become the premium rental service. RedBox is the budget service. Blockbuster is getting squeezed out of the market from both sides.