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What I don't get is why Netflix never licensed their technology to other platforms. For instance, why not white label their tech for Disney, Paramount, sports

by mattm 4y ago

What I don't get is why Netflix never licensed their technology to other platforms. For instance, why not white label their tech for Disney, Paramount, sports leagues, etc. Their tech is better than competitors and it would have been great to watch MLB through a white-labeled Netflix experience rather than MLBAM. Maybe they did try to pursue this path but it wasn't lucrative enough? I also wonder if Netflix thought that perhaps content could be licensed on multiple platforms. It's unfortunate that movie/TV content seems to have exclusive licenses in contrast to music which is available on multiple platforms.

mcphage 4y ago
Maybe they thought it would be difficult enough to replicate their streaming tech, that it would serve them as a moat? And by the time they realized that it wouldn’t, nobody else was interested because they already did it?
arnvald 4y ago
My guess is that they tried to keep advantage as long as possible to remain number 1 in streaming, so they didn't want to give their leverage to competitors. Their advantage was licensing (Marvel, Friends, The Office etc.) and tech. In both cases eventually competitors caught up - they launched their own platforms, and licensing contracts expired. That gave Netflix a few years more to develop their own content, but now it's over.
lozenge 4y ago
Disney, NBC, HBO etc would never pay Netflix, their competitor in the video entertainment industry, for any tech. At best Netflix could provide tech for smaller players like Crunchyroll, Nebula, Mubi, Spuul etc.
- mattm 4y ago
  "never" is a strong statement especially if it meant that Disney, NBC, HBO could have launched online platforms years earlier.
treis 4y ago
>What I don't get is why Netflix never licensed their technology to other platforms. For instance, why not white label their tech for Disney, Paramount, sports leagues, etc That's probably a company worth billions. But not the hundreds of billions Netflix is valued at.

by mattm 4y ago

mcphage 4y ago

Maybe they thought it would be difficult enough to replicate their streaming tech, that it would serve them as a moat? And by the time they realized that it wouldn’t, nobody else was interested because they already did it?

arnvald 4y ago

My guess is that they tried to keep advantage as long as possible to remain number 1 in streaming, so they didn't want to give their leverage to competitors. Their advantage was licensing (Marvel, Friends, The Office etc.) and tech. In both cases eventually competitors caught up - they launched their own platforms, and licensing contracts expired. That gave Netflix a few years more to develop their own content, but now it's over.

lozenge 4y ago

Disney, NBC, HBO etc would never pay Netflix, their competitor in the video entertainment industry, for any tech. At best Netflix could provide tech for smaller players like Crunchyroll, Nebula, Mubi, Spuul etc.

mattm 4y ago
"never" is a strong statement especially if it meant that Disney, NBC, HBO could have launched online platforms years earlier.

treis 4y ago

>What I don't get is why Netflix never licensed their technology to other platforms. For instance, why not white label their tech for Disney, Paramount, sports leagues, etc That's probably a company worth billions. But not the hundreds of billions Netflix is valued at.