A leading cable executive has issued a warning about how television might suffer if Netflix gains too much power. Variety reports that FX Networks chief John Landgraf expressed concern that the streaming service has the potential to exert “monopoly” power over the creative community.
Landgraf discussed the situation during an appearance today at the Television Critics Association press tour.
“Landgraf likened Netflix’s meteoric rise as a purveyor of programming to the trend in Silicon Valley in single companies dominating sectors, citing the overwhelming market share for Google in search, Facebook in social media or PayPal in financial transactions,” Variety reports.
Landgraf is quoted saying: “I think it would be bad for storytellers in general if one company was able to seize a 40-50-60% share in storytelling. I don’t think monopoly market shares are good for society, and I think they’d be particularly bad for society and storytellers if they were achieved in the storytelling genre.”
Gee, you don’t think Landgraf might be feeling the squeeze that OTT and dissatisfied customers are putting on HIS company and industry? Netflix is not a monopoly any more than Comcast is. They just were the first to get into the streaming game; there’s also Amazon and Hulu and now CBS and ABC and Fox all have subscription streaming services. I’m sure there are many others that I’ve missed, so no, Netflix is not a monopoly.
As soon as he opens up the areas his cable company has monopoly over, then maybe I’ll listen to such complaints.
Other commenters have said this too. This coming from a network exec that is owned by Fox, one of the largest corporations in the world. Give me a break!