It’s easy to see why: the company has much to lose if providers prioritize their streaming services over Netflix‘s or otherwise hamper its ability to reach customers.
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The fact there is any agreement at all is an eye-opener, although what they agreed upon isn’t that different than deals Netflix previously struck with smaller US outfits, including Dish Network and RCN, as well as some global carriers.
Netflix has been pushing for integration into traditional pay-TV platforms and set-top-boxes (STBs), that in theory, makes Netflix just another channel (or app as user interfaces are migrating to) like HBO or ESPN.
Netflix has been a disrupter and wreaker of havoc.
“The line between IP-cable and Internet services is blurring”, Wired added. More than one-third video customers of Comcast have X-1 platform that will have Netflix-compatible. Netflix continued to get new followers with time.
Netflix has faced increasing competition among streaming services and is having to fight harder than ever to grow, although it has wisely expanded overseas and developed more original programming. It may not be a fatal blow to the plugin streaming business, as many customers using those devices do so for other streaming services as well, like Hulu.
“For Netflix, this should reduce consumer friction and help support higher usage and subscriber levels”, Hargreaves said in a report.
Netflix did what it had to do but never stopped prodding the Federal Communications Commission on net neutrality. The Company’s primary businesses include Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal.
Netflix continues its push into the traditional pay-TV experience with news that a Netflix Comcast X1 integration is now underway. For Comcast, there are potentially a multitude of benefits, including a subdued competitive threat, stability to the subscriber base and reduced scrutiny from regulators. The report deemed potential cost to Comcast’s existing pay-per-view business insignificant. Netflix has 82 million US subscribers – about half of all USA households – so it’s a pretty safe assumption that millions of people are already subscribing to both Comcast and Netflix.
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Efforts to attract subscribers overseas also will be “more modest than consensus expectations” as Netflix grapples with “local players (which carry more local content), language barriers, underdeveloped infrastructure in emerging markets, and an expensive price point, among other cultural challenges specific to individual countries”.
