Media Companies Are Distraught, While Netflix Plays It Cool

Since AT&T (NYSE:T) bought Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) for $85 million, media companies all over the nation have spiraled into a manic frenzy over who will acquire what company next. It seems as though a new company is looking to merge every month, as Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and Disney (NYSE:DIS) are in a head to head battle over 21^st Century Fox’s (NASDAQ:FOXA) top assets, as well as Viacom (NASDAQ:VIA) and CBS (NYSE:CBS) .

The CEOs of these legacy companies won’t say anything about the future of their companies to the public, but secretly, they know that the days of pay TV is slowly dying.

These media giants have one victim to blame, and that is none other than Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) . According to CNBC, executives at these media companies believe that even if they are not directly responsible, Netflix is at least holding the murder weapon. These companies also believe that it is unfair to them that the more Netflix spends on its content, the more shares go up.

It makes sense that media companies seem intimidated or frightened by Netflix, seeing as online streaming and using the internet as a means to watch your shows/movies has become quite popular in the past couple of years. According to research done by Pew Center, 61% of young adults between the ages of 18-29 use online streaming services such as Netflix and HBO Go as their primary source of watching television.

One of the main reasons why Netflix soars above these traditional media companies is mostly due to the fact that the number of their global subscribers continues to increase, whereas most of these media companies don’t have a global viewership. According to Bloomberg, in 2017, Netflix notched 5.2 million subscribers, with 4.14 million of those being global subscribers. Even though it is an American company, Netflix has dominated many international markets. Not only does that benefit the company, but it gives them an edge over others, seeing as they are known worldwide.

In today’s society, companies try to beat out one another whether it’s with their advertising strategies, share prices or culture. Netflix uses all three of those tactics to knock out its competition and continue to take up its space in the market.

While Netflix sits back and watches the show, these other media conglomerates frantically continue to find ways to compete with and outperform Netflix, as well as develop strategies that could possibly revive their viewership and eventually begin streaming online.

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