Save 50% on a 3-month Digiday+ membership. Ends Dec 5.
Netflix is hitching its wagon to the future being video content delivered over the Internet. That basic belief underpins its bold move to de-emphasize its DVDs-by-mail business in favor of its streaming offering. CEO Reed Hastings wrote his quarterly letter to investors after a successful fourth quarter for the company, which now boasts 21.7 million streaming customers. Hastings sees Netflix’s competition less as Hulu Plus, but more as TV Everywhere.
Just as broadcast networks have substantially transformed themselves into cable channels over the last 20 years, both broadcast and cable networks will effectively also become Internet networks like Netflix. As a pure-play we have many advantages, however, just as cable did over broadcast. We are 100 percent on-demand and highly-personalized. Our brand is broad, rather than niche, so we can combine the benefits of multiple channels into one service. Additionally, our Internet culture enables us to create and drive social TV, recommendations TV, and other Internet innovations faster than our cable and broadcast network competitors.
Read Hasting’s full letter from the Netflix website.
More in Media
Digiday+ Research Subscription Index 2025: Subscription strategies from Bloomberg, The New York Times, Vox and others
Digiday’s third annual Subscription Index examines and measures publishers’ subscription strategies to identify common approaches and key tactics among Bloomberg, The New York Times, Vox and others.
From lawsuits to lobbying: How publishers are fighting AI
We may be closing out 2025, but publishers aren’t retreating from the battle of AI search — some are escalating it, and they expect the fight to stretch deep into 2026.
Media Briefing: Publishers turn to vertical video to compete with creators and grow ad revenue in 2026
Publishers add vertical video feeds to their sites to boost engagement, attract video ad spend and compete with news creators.