Evans: Netflix Replicated Sky's Playbook of Outspending on Content to Drive Subscriptions
Benedict Evans · Breaking and remaking media · Feb 16, 2024 · at 8:40
Benedict Evans analyzes media business models, comparing Netflix's original programming spend to Sky's historic acquisition of UK televised football rights.
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“Sky realized that they could pay massively more than anyone had ever thought reasonable to pay for football, and put that on a, this new channel, which is a subscription satellite channel, also subscription cable, but pay free, premium subscription TV service, and you could use that to pay for these rights. And then you have this kind of virtual circle of paying more for the football to get more people to sign up to your premium service. Which is very like Netflix said, Hey, we could actually pay massively more, make massively more television and massively higher quality. And that will get people to part, to some, to sign up to this new TV service.”
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