On Netflix Unlimited Streaming
Today, Netflix announced they are offering their subscribers “Unlimited Streaming” of movies and TV shows “on their PCs” — beginning today their “unlimited” DVD rental subscribers (tiers beginning at $8.99/month) may start streaming unlimited movies and TV shows.
The Netflix press release specifically refers to PCs as being the destination device for their unlimited streaming plan, but depending on the formats and encryption selected, a “PC” could mean any IP-based device connected to a television — an AppleTV or Mac Mini, Tivo, Slingbox or Microsoft Media Center. But, this information is conspicuously absent from the Netflix site which has me suspecting it’s a not-so spectacular Windows-only format.
The announcement of a “Hollywood-fed” full-feed pay-one-price video streaming service is huge, but only if the format is eventually transportable and compatible with mobile and wireline devices. If it is tied to Windows or restricted to a specific player, it’s just another proprietary footnote on the pathway to a useful service.
The number one loser in the market today due to this announcement has to be your local cable company. Cable companies will try to launch stream-based services, to keep their customers inside “The Garden” while they are out and about in Internet land, but will largely fail because cable doesn’t have the mind share when consumers start thinking of feeding their IP-based video devices.
If Comcast scrapes through the FCC hearing on their practice of degrading P2P services used by their subscribers unscathed, you can bet that they (and other operators) will start degrading all third-party streaming services on their networks unless direct per-sub revenue shares are negotiated.
None of the streaming deals are exclusive as far as I know, so as soon as someone in Hollywood starts to see a winning model emerge, they will start feeding the streaming channel directly. Netflix should enjoy their market success now, while it lasts — they will be in Blockbuster’s shoes in three to five years unless they develop some extreme competitive technical and marketplace advantage (highly unlikely).