Netflix vs Blockbuster - The Digital Divide | 4

Business Wars

Wondery

History, Business, David Brown, Management

4.6 • 13.2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 February 2018

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

You know that expression “content is king”? Well it turns out, sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it’s a hard-working algorithm that burrows into customer habits and viewing patterns. With that, Netflix had a clear upper hand on Blockbuster.

That, and the fact that Netflix targeted this new “streaming” technology that in 2007, no one really believed in. Soon they were on top of the world.

But it’s dangerous being on top. If you trip, you have a long way to fall.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, prime members, you can listen to Business Wars ad-free on Amazon Music.
0:04.8	Download the app today.
0:07.0	It is January of 2007.
0:10.4	Read Hastings sits impatiently in the sleek conference room at Netflix's new headquarters.
0:15.8	He's waiting for the next in a string of tech journalists to come in and see what he's
0:19.5	up to.
0:20.5	You see, these days, Read Hastings is a big deal in Silicon Valley.
0:25.6	If he tells a reporter he's working on something, he knows they'll come by to see
0:29.9	what he's up to.
0:31.3	They always do.
0:33.8	The door opens and a skinny 30-something reporter in black jeans and a turtle neck walks in.
0:38.9	Hey, come on in.
0:40.5	Hi, Read So, what are you up to now?
0:43.7	Take a seat.
0:44.7	I got something I think will knock your socks off.
0:47.1	This is our streaming app.
0:49.4	We call it Watch Instantly.
0:51.4	All you do is load it on your laptop and watch this.
0:56.2	The app loads flawlessly.
0:58.5	Hastings chooses a movie from a list of titles and then clicks on play and voila.
1:04.5	You're watching a movie.
1:06.0	The whole process takes like 20 seconds.
	...

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