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Comment by Belphemur | Hacker News Reader

When you see that the content holder make it harder and harder for Netflix to license their content, it makes senses to invest so much money on creating their own content.

It seems in the end, we're really returning to the cable era.

Be ready for packages giving you access to Netflix, Amazon, and channels...

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I think that Netflix (and Amazon) is trying to create enough content that you don't need anyone else. That would certainly justify their spending, and give them tremendous leverage against the other players.

It also puts them in a better negotiating position. They still want and need the content but if they're producing their own, it allows them to be more selective in what they take on.

Exactly. Their "What happens if we walk away?" goes from "Back to DVDs" to "We'll produce more of our own stuff."

As opposed to Spotify, which only acts as a distribution platform, and therefore plays nicely with all labels. Imagine if Spotify would "become" a label and start producing music directly with artists... They'd quickly be shunned by the record labels

Netflix didn't have original content for a long time, but they still had a lot of trouble with the studios. Their original content was (probably) a response to that.

So the situation isn't quite the same.

For what i know, that is already happening in NL with HBO Go. It disappeared from the market as separate, independent service and now only available via bundle package of one of NLs largest cable providers, Ziggo.

At least in the states, HBO Go was always bundled with a cable subscription. HBO Now is the standalone streaming product, although standalone is a bit of a stretch because it's frustratingly tied to some other platform's billing system.

Ziggo also replaced their in house streaming service with Netflix directly on the cable boxes because there was no chance of them being able to compete. I believe Liberty Global (the worlds largest cable company and owners of Ziggo) is planning to do the same across Europe.

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