Tinseltown underestimated the revolution that Netflix had unleashed with its bet on streaming original programming. Netflix’s current market capitalisation of US$270 billion ($366.12) is almost as much as all its listed competitors including Walt Disney, Paramount Global and Warner Bros Discovery, combined.
I have long been a movie buff. There is a multiplex cinema complex walking distance from where I live. It is mostly abandoned except on weekends. Like everyone else, I watch movies mostly on TV or on my iPhone when I am on the gym treadmill or stationary bike.
Streaming pioneer Netflix, which made money renting DVDs mailed in red envelopes, began dabbling as a distributor of streaming content for other Hollywood studios like Walt Disney and Time Warner in 2011. Eventually, Netflix pivoted away from being merely a content distributor for Hollywood studios to producing its own original shows like House of Cards. Hollywood has never been the same again.
