March 19, 2024

Netflix’s Cash-Fueled Road to Streaming Dominance

Those figures look out of whack when the sizes of the companies are compared. Netflix had $14.9 billion in revenue and $1.3 billion in profit for the last 12 months. Disney generated $58 billion in revenue and $10.1 billion in profit for the 12 months that ended June 30. (Disney won’t report results for its most recent quarter until Nov. 8.)

In other words, Disney made eight times the money that Netflix did, but it’s worth only about 12 percent more. Another way to consider it: Netflix investors are paying about $120 for every $1 of profit it generates. For Disney, investors are paying about $17.

Netflix is the streaming pioneer, but it’s about to get some serious competition.

Disney, led by Robert A. Iger, has already introduced a streaming sports service, ESPN Plus, and will introduce an entertainment offering next year. The company also spent $71.3 billion for most of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, including the 20th Century Fox movie and television studios, a set of cable networks and — critically — a controlling stake in the streaming service Hulu. Disney will soon be able to sell access to films like “Black Panther,” “Avatar” and the original Star Wars trilogy directly to home viewers without having to go through Netflix.

Netflix is also part of the reason ATT spent $85.4 billion for Time Warner — renamed WarnerMedia — which will unveil a streaming service built around HBO by the end of next year.

Those astronomical deals put Netflix’s $18.6 billion content spend in a slightly different light.

“There are so many competitors,” Reed Hastings, Netflix’s chief executive, said on an earnings call Tuesday. “Disney’s going to enter. ATT is going to expand HBO. YouTube is on fire. And there’s video gaming like Fortnight. There are so many ways to have great entertainment on the screen.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/business/media/netflix-streaming-competition.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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