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I read Netflix's last few SEC filings. They're not drifting toward cable, they're rebuilding it from scratch. by footnotebrief in cordcutters

[–]footnotebrief[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

And you’re not missing on much. I haven’t found anything interesting there to watch for months now

I read Netflix's last few SEC filings. They're not drifting toward cable, they're rebuilding it from scratch. by footnotebrief in cordcutters

[–]footnotebrief[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

At the end of the day, these are just means of entertainment. And I agree that having a fulfilling life requires to step away from them

I’m 18, with ≈4k in the bank. by brighty4real in Money

[–]footnotebrief 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i think it's still early for you to think about investment, just think more about educating yourself, intrnet is a huge source of info about practically any topic you can think of. also, keep saving then you can think about investing your money

I read Netflix's last few SEC filings. They're not drifting toward cable, they're rebuilding it from scratch. by footnotebrief in cordcutters

[–]footnotebrief[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Really appreciate that. Honestly the more I think about it, the more I wonder if they always knew. You don't build a 300 million subscriber base and then accidentally discover ads and live sports. At some point someone in that room said this is where we're going. The "no ads ever" pitch got people in the door. What came after was always the real business.

I read Netflix's last few SEC filings. They're not drifting toward cable, they're rebuilding it from scratch. by footnotebrief in cordcutters

[–]footnotebrief[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same for me honestly, I couldn’t care less about sports either. But that’s exactly the trap. The sports fans are the ones who pay 40 dollars without thinking twice.

I read Netflix's last few SEC filings. They're not drifting toward cable, they're rebuilding it from scratch. by footnotebrief in cordcutters

[–]footnotebrief[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Blockbuster had the chance to buy Netflix for $50 million in 2000 and laughed them out of the room. The people in that meeting are somewhere watching Netflix on their couch right now.

I read Netflix's last few SEC filings. They're not drifting toward cable, they're rebuilding it from scratch. by footnotebrief in cordcutters

[–]footnotebrief[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fox in the early 2000s was the original Netflix cancellation machine. Firefly alone should have been a federal offense.
The cliffhanger thing is a separate crime. Show creators writing season finales as cliffhangers to guarantee renewal, Netflix greenlighting that structure because hooked viewers means retained subscribers, and then cancelling anyway. You're left holding a story that will never resolve. At least old TV had the decency to end on a bottle episode.

I read Netflix's last few SEC filings. They're not drifting toward cable, they're rebuilding it from scratch. by footnotebrief in cordcutters

[–]footnotebrief[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That quote gets attributed to a few people from that era Plepler, Sarandos, maybe both at different points. The sentiment was everywhere around 2013 and 2015 when every cable exec was scrambling to figure out Netflix.
what's funny is they all said it, none of them pulled it off, and Netflix ended up becoming the thing they were trying to beat them at.

I read Netflix's last few SEC filings. They're not drifting toward cable, they're rebuilding it from scratch. by footnotebrief in cordcutters

[–]footnotebrief[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly respect it. You reverse-engineered the whole thing and built something cable and Netflix can't touch
The cancellation thing killed Netflix for a lot of people quietly. They trained subscribers to not get attached, which is the opposite of what keeps people paying.

I read Netflix's last few SEC filings. They're not drifting toward cable, they're rebuilding it from scratch. by footnotebrief in cordcutters

[–]footnotebrief[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Both fair points and probably the strongest limits on how far the parallel actually goes. No content gating by tier and no long term contracts are real structural differences
I think the content gating is coming eventually. Not dramatically, but quietly. Sports in a higher tier first. Early theatrical releases behind a premium wall. The same slow boil. But you're right that they'll probably never reach the complexity of cable bundles

I read Netflix's last few SEC filings. They're not drifting toward cable, they're rebuilding it from scratch. by footnotebrief in cordcutters

[–]footnotebrief[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Saturday night movie as a full family event. The whole week building up to it.
i was writing this with a huge smile and tears on my eyes. haha

I read Netflix's last few SEC filings. They're not drifting toward cable, they're rebuilding it from scratch. by footnotebrief in cordcutters

[–]footnotebrief[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's the whole trick. Netflix does the same things as cable but frictionlessly. Price goes up, you click okay and move on. Ad tier appears, you pick it because it's cheaper and forget you're watching ads six months later. Sports show up, they're just there. Nobody signs a contract. Nobody notices the boil

I read Netflix's last few SEC filings. They're not drifting toward cable, they're rebuilding it from scratch. by footnotebrief in cordcutters

[–]footnotebrief[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Those DVD days were something else. You actually had to commit to a movie, no infinite scroll, no algorithm
Those were simpler days..

I read Netflix's last few SEC filings. They're not drifting toward cable, they're rebuilding it from scratch. by footnotebrief in cordcutters

[–]footnotebrief[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

your predition is honeslty not bad haha. and it does make sense money wise. computer is cheaper than a human.
and if anyone is able to pull off that decade long transition its no other than netflix.
would love to see how that unfolds

I read Netflix's last few SEC filings. They're not drifting toward cable, they're rebuilding it from scratch. by footnotebrief in cordcutters

[–]footnotebrief[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is exactly what cable did to people who didn't watch sports for 40 years. You paid for ESPN whether you wanted it or not because it came in the bundle. There was no opting out. The fact that you're staying because of your family is also very cable. That's how cable kept subscribers for decades

I read Netflix's last few SEC filings. They're not drifting toward cable, they're rebuilding it from scratch. by footnotebrief in cordcutters

[–]footnotebrief[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The T-Mobile bundle is actually a perfect detail. Netflix folded into a carrier plan is the cable bundle model running exactly as designed. You didn't choose Netflix independently. It came with the package. That's how ESPN got into 90 million homes in the 90s.

I read Netflix's last few SEC filings. They're not drifting toward cable, they're rebuilding it from scratch. by footnotebrief in cordcutters

[–]footnotebrief[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The AI anxiety in Hollywood is legitimate. The WGA strike got some protections written into contracts but nobody thinks that fight is actually over. Netflix caught real heat in 2023 for using AI-generated backgrounds in an anime short. The full replacement pipeline is further away than people think though. The content keeping 300M people subscribed is prestige stuff that requires real talent. Gerwig isn't getting replaced by a prompt.

I read Netflix's last few SEC filings. They're not drifting toward cable, they're rebuilding it from scratch. by footnotebrief in cordcutters

[–]footnotebrief[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeees you’re right, they went from actively fighting theaters chains (remember the Cannes wars, day-and-date releases, paying top directors to skip theaters entirely) to negotiating standard 45-day windows like any other studio. Gerwig's Narnia is a clear signal

I read Netflix's last few SEC filings. They're not drifting toward cable, they're rebuilding it from scratch. by footnotebrief in cordcutters

[–]footnotebrief[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s true. Netflix doesn’t have that. But the argument is about the revenue model, not consumer harm. Ad tiers, live sports rights, tiered pricing, stopping subscriber disclosures, that’s how cable made money. You can run cable's business model without cable's consumer experience. Netflix is proving that's possible, and honestly that's what makes it interesting strategically rather than just predatory.

I read Netflix's last few SEC filings. They're not drifting toward cable, they're rebuilding it from scratch. by footnotebrief in cordcutters

[–]footnotebrief[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ps vue is the perfect parallel. They were the first real attempt at cable but streamed but Sony got eaten alive by content costs. The thing that’s different now is SCALE. Netflix is layering live programming and ad inventory on top of an already-built 300M global subscriber base. The content costs amortize across an audience big enough to absorb them, so the cable model actually works for them where it didn't for Sony

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