Comparing the financial performance of Netflix vs. HBO

Those "almost costless revenue streams" that HBO has abroad will be insta-killed if Netflix manages to enter those markets.

We here in Germany (and much of Europe) are stuck in a world where Television and DVD/Bluray are the only viable legal options for series and shows. This is of course absolutely not what the consumers want, but a consequence of the byzantine licensing structure that exists over here.

There are two ways in which this can flip almost instantly:

1. The EU decides to end the bullshit and bans regionally limited licensing deals, thus making the market much more accessible for all those VoD companies that keep trying to break through.

2. Netflix or some other major player muscles their way in.

If one of those two happens, then the bottom will fall out of the foreign revenues of HBO.