Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Now that Netflix has singled out streaming as $7.99...

I see it as an open invitation to compare their streaming head to head with Hulu+, since both are the same price.

In my view:

NETFLIX: The sheer volume of Netflix's streaming content clearly overshadows Hulu+ and you don't have ads, unlike Hulu+.

HULU+: But Hulu+ has a winner with selectable resolution streaming, including 720p, and most current, entire season shows available.

They each have their pros and cons, don't they?

So you know what's going to happen: people are going to drop to 1-DVD at a time, unlimited discs per month, for $7.99 to catch all the new movie releases and to have access to Netflix's huge collection.  Simultaneously, they're going to subscribe to Hulu+ to get entire current and past seasons of TV shows.

The result will cut deep into Netflix's 4th quarter earnings statement, and they'll take a few years to recover, at which point, only until after they've doubled streaming content, will people return.

Or they might miss out on any recovery, if the studios end up cutting deals to create subscription packages for Google TV / Apple TV / Amazon Video.

No comments: