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Channel bundles start with media companies like Viacom, FOX, Disney, Discovery, etc., that sell the channels they own as a bundle to cable/sat providers.

Correct. Basically, ala carte type service will never be available unless the media companies sell ala carte to the providers. If Dish can only get Comedy Central if bundled with Nickelodeon, that will be how it's presented to the customer.

As for consumers go, a lot more thought and discussion has gone into this thread than most consumers will put forth. The reason things pop up at a $6-10 price point is because it works as a marketing technique. You have two kids and you won't pay $5/kid/month to give them Disney? Hey, not all Disney brands are child-centric either so its even more of a bargain! (sarcasm intended) The average consumer, in my opinion, won't notice the small increase until months later when they're trying to figure out why they had less spending money than last year only to find that they're spending $150/month on "small monthly fee" services.

One last thought: I can very much see Disney and others coming back to Netflix in limited form. Just like how movies came to TV only after they were on cable, and that was after they were on pay-per-view, and that was after they were available for rental, and that was after they were available to purchase. You'll see ads for "Want to see Pirates of the Caribbean 14? Its only on Disney Streaming!" Two years later, they'll unload it to the other providers.
 
Aren't Apple and Disney linked anymore? Steve Jobs was a link between the two. Is that link gone?

Currently, Jobs family current owns 4% stake or 64,320,416 Disney shares of The Disney Company. When Steve Jobs initially sold Pixar to The Disney Company, the family owned 7.7% stake or 138 million Disney shares back in January 2006.
 
One last thought: I can very much see Disney and others coming back to Netflix in limited form. Just like how movies came to TV only after they were on cable, and that was after they were on pay-per-view, and that was after they were available for rental, and that was after they were available to purchase. You'll see ads for "Want to see Pirates of the Caribbean 14? Its only on Disney Streaming!" Two years later, they'll unload it to the other providers.

They might, though in the past this direct, on-demand connection to consumers didn't exist and it totally changes the playing field. With TV there are only so many time slots so it makes sense for old content to go into syndication on another network because that's the best way to monetize it, but today older content can be pulled up instantly by viewers. The goal of these streaming services is the same goal as TV channels, they both want the viewer to 'tune in' and not leave. For example, Amazon created original content like Transparent to attract viewers so why would they license it to a competitor like Netflix? They don't want viewers to binge old episodes Transparent on Netflix and then hope they switch over to Amazon instead of just firing up Orange is the New Black. They want viewers to binge Transparent on Amazon and then switch to The Man in the High Castle or Mozart in the Jungle. HBO formed a limited partnership with Amazon 2-3yrs ago, but now that HBO has its own streaming service I highly doubt the partnership with Amazon will be renewed once it expires.

It all comes down to money though. If Disney thinks they'll make more money by licensing out content to Amazon or Netflix they will, but if they think they'll make more money by keeping all Disney content on their own streaming service then they'll go that route.
 
It all comes down to money though. If Disney thinks they'll make more money by licensing out content to Amazon or Netflix they will, but if they think they'll make more money by keeping all Disney content on their own streaming service then they'll go that route.
The question is at what point do consumers say "enough" to segmentation of the streaming marketplace. Balkanization isn't just expensive it's really inconvenient.
 
The question is at what point do consumers say "enough" to segmentation of the streaming marketplace. Balkanization isn't just expensive it's really inconvenient.

Agreed, which is why I think bundling will come back into fashion and in 20yrs my children will be complaining about the high cost of streaming bundles, having to pay for streaming services they don't watch, and why can't they just buy things a la carte. ;)

There certainly is a breaking point, but I think a company like Disney has a deep enough, broad enough and popular enough catalog of content to be able to pull it off (at the right price point, of course). And this isn't the first time someone has left Netflix en masse. Years ago Starz (which also has it's own streaming service now) pulled all it's content from Netflix once it realized how streaming was catching on.
 
Keep in mind this is where Apple's strategy wins out. Netflix loses rights to Disney shows streams from their own app. Apple TV still has it just from Disneys App not Netflix's
 
another comparison could be what is happening to the Steam platform - now with EA's origin, Ubisoft, and other competing services.

Many AAA titles are now gone from Steam!


- I foresee the same thing for Netflix - and they cant keeping making their own expensive series without a big subscriber base - the banks need to keep a limit of their debt!

And privately - I think everybody has a choking point for the number of streaming services that a household can keep running on..

Netflix currently has the largest subscriber base of all the streaming platforms. Over 99 million subscriptions, up 20 million from last year. They’re bringing in some cash.
 
Netflix currently has the largest subscriber base of all the streaming platforms. Over 99 million subscriptions, up 20 million from last year. They’re bringing in some cash.

It’s not sustainable though. Eventually, Netflix will need to raise their prices in order to make a profit. Will as many people still stick around if and when they have to fork out as much as a traditional cable package for Netflix?

Eg: $90 or $100 each month?
 
It’s not sustainable though. Eventually, Netflix will need to raise their prices in order to make a profit. Will as many people still stick around if and when they have to fork out as much as a traditional cable package for Netflix?

Eg: $90 or $100 each month?

Current subscription prices are $8-12 in the US, so we’re a long way from Netflix costing as much as a cable or satellite package.
 
Keep in mind this is where Apple's strategy wins out. Netflix loses rights to Disney shows streams from their own app. Apple TV still has it just from Disneys App not Netflix's

Presumably Disney's app is going to avialbe on on platforms so while Netflix does lose out on the content I don't think that necciarly means it's a win for Apple since anyone that already has a Roku, game console, smart TV, Chromecast, Amazon Fire, etc., will still have access to Disney's movies.


Current subscription prices are $8-12 in the US, so we’re a long way from Netflix costing as much as a cable or satellite package.

I agree that I don't think Netflix's prices will hit the $90-100 range. Netflix is akin to a single channel on cable/TV, not an entire cable bundle.
 
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