EPIX, a consortium of major movie studios and distributors, marked the end of its exclusive content licensing deal with Netflix by inking a content licensing deal with Amazon. Amazon's announcement of the deal comes on the heels of a series of content licensing arrangements with MGM and Warner Brothers.
"We are investing hundreds of millions of dollars to expand the Prime Instant Video library for our customers. We have now more than doubled this selection of movies and TV episodes to over 25,000 titles in just under a year," (said) Bill Carr, vice president of video and music at Amazon,As Amazon continues to expand its streaming business and content archive - and is joined by Hulu+, Blockbuster On Demand (affiliated with Dish Network), VUDU (affiliated with WalMart), Google TV (through its Android Store), Apple's iTunes Store, and YouTube movie rentals - Netflix faces an increasingly competitive content marketplace. And one where content owners are likely to want to have their content available through multiple channels, rather than making exclusive deals. A more competitive market can be good for consumers, but not as beneficial for firms that had virtual monopolies (and was able to use that monopoly power to its advantage.
It's not surprising that Netflix's share prices dropped 10% with the Amazon announcement.
Source - Amazon Adds EPIX Content to Prime Instant Video, Prompting Netflix Slide, Online Video Daily
I have heard that “all good things must come to an end” and this certainly has been true lately for nearly everything concerning Netflix. Sinking so much money into original programming won’t make up for a lackluster selection. Amazon is just starting out, but they’re still not giving the selection both streaming and by-mail discs can give. Now, I’m just thankful that my employer, Dish, bought Blockbuster because now Blockbuster @Home gives me both streaming and discs by-mail for less than both services from Netflix. The best selection and quality of movies with instant gratification are what I get from both streaming and mail, so I get to have my cake and eat it too.
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