TV has license to kill movies at iTunes, Netflix

news.cnet.com

4 points·raganwald··4 comments

What puzzles me is so confusing that I don't even know if it is on-topic or off-topic: the NFL keeps the networks from showing certain games. WTF? how do they make money keeping their product from people who want it? We're way past "scarcity" (in the Gladwell sense) here.

They don't withhold the product from people who want it. They withhold it from people who want it for "free" (ignoring FOX, and NBC's (or whoever's) billion dollar deals to show the NFL on their networks).

They have a myriad of services such as NFL Network, Sunday Ticket, etc. that give people a chance to see any game they want... for money.

Think iTunes. It's not that Apple doesn't want you to have access to any mp3 you want, it's that they want you to get it from them... for money.

The NFL is pretty good at making (a lot of) money for pretty much everyone involved.

I still don't follow. Wouldn't the NFL get more money if Fox shows two games in my local market instead of one? I guess the obvious answer is no, they would not. But it's not clear to me why not. And I'm not picking a fight here-- I really don't understand it.

I'm beginning to think that the movie "Dumb and Dumber" began its life as a documentary about the Hollywood marketing and distribution business.

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