This article said none of Netflix's competitors had positive cash flow. Well, at least Disney did. Disney+ is unlikely to have positive cash flow, but the Walt Disney company has a cash cow in parks and other media assets. This Stratechery article seems to conveniently ignore that unlike Netflix, other streaming services have revenue-generating assets to fund the streaming war.
It cost Disney $400 million to make the Avatar sequel and probably that amount for marketing. Yet it already has made $2 billion in box office. Netflix spent $200 million on the Gray Man. How much did the movie bring to Netflix? Disney and Warner Bros have incredible franchises. What does Netflix have in comparison?
I also don't see any mention on the fact that while competitors are increasing content spend, Netflix is doing the opposite. If it's the new content, rather than the old stuff, that attracts subscribers, should the fact that Netflix is decreasing content spend be a concern?
If Netflix's future is about creativity and content quality, why should we believe that Netflix will be better at creating quality content in the future than they have so far? What data shows that subscribers come back because Netflix content is the best? Or is it because they have the biggest catalogue? And what does it say about decreasing content spend when Netflix is stretched across markets?
I don't dispute Reed's achievements, but citing the launch of the ads tier is a bit premature and strange. Reed, for years, pushed back against the idea of an ads-supported plan. He only changed his mind only when he had to. Yes, Netflix launched the ads operations in a few months' time, but we haven't got any concrete data on it.
It cost Disney $400 million to make the Avatar sequel and probably that amount for marketing. Yet it already has made $2 billion in box office. Netflix spent $200 million on the Gray Man. How much did the movie bring to Netflix? Disney and Warner Bros have incredible franchises. What does Netflix have in comparison?
I also don't see any mention on the fact that while competitors are increasing content spend, Netflix is doing the opposite. If it's the new content, rather than the old stuff, that attracts subscribers, should the fact that Netflix is decreasing content spend be a concern?
If Netflix's future is about creativity and content quality, why should we believe that Netflix will be better at creating quality content in the future than they have so far? What data shows that subscribers come back because Netflix content is the best? Or is it because they have the biggest catalogue? And what does it say about decreasing content spend when Netflix is stretched across markets?
I don't dispute Reed's achievements, but citing the launch of the ads tier is a bit premature and strange. Reed, for years, pushed back against the idea of an ads-supported plan. He only changed his mind only when he had to. Yes, Netflix launched the ads operations in a few months' time, but we haven't got any concrete data on it.