It's already tough to ignore Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) as a threat to cable TV; it's going to be nearly impossible once, as reported, the over-the-top entertainment purveyor gets a presence on remote controls supplied with Internet connected TVs.
"This news must be terrifying for the cable companies," wrote John Moe of Marketplace.
As if that isn't enough, the rumor drumbeat is getting louder that Netflix will spend as much as $3 billion to acquire Starz Entertainment from Liberty Media, although those negotiations are anything but complete. "We can live without it if we have to," Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said last month. "It is not essential to our success."
It could be essential to Netflix's increasingly crusty relationship with cable, however, since Starz is dependent on cable operators for carriage and subscriber fees.
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