Content owners can see Netflix's share price. As soon as they start doing well the price will go up on content licenses. Unless Netflix negotiate 5, 10, or 15 y

Content owners can see Netflix's share price. As soon as they start doing well the price will go up on content licenses. Unless Netflix negotiate 5, 10, or 15 year terms they aren't going to be able to avoid arbitrary price hikes. this has been claimed for a couple of years now. It hasn't played out that way so far. I haven't looked closely in 6 months but generally their content costs have been flattish rather than a sharp escalation (this is after the ramp up to make their initial content acquisitions). Furthermore, I think there are 2 reasons why content providers won't be in a great bargaining position. 1. Part of what makes a show a success is the built in audience. Think Friends or Seinfeld ... Thursday night prime time slot used to guarantee an audience in the millions. The networks don't have that advantage anymore. It's Netflix that has a guaranteed audience of millions. 2. If content providers push for major price increases, Netflix has the option of producing their own content, which they've shown they are capable of. Netflix has been disciplined in their content spending. I don't think content providers will be in a position to change that.