Dallas Mavericks owner and HDNet founder and CEO Mark Cuban said cord cutting ultimately will disappear and predicted the demise of Netflix, as pay-TV operators lock up deeper content rights and expand their own Web offerings to compete for the over-the-top market.
Speaking at the 38th annual UBS Global Media and Communications Conference in New York on Monday, Cuban acknowledged that Netflix had done a "phenomenal job" helping content companies monetize library videos, but said its success would be short lived.
Slingbox founder Blake Krikorian, meanwhile, said he expected programmers to help by clamping down on web content, putting everything behind an authentication wall that would guarantee only pay-TV providers had access. And, he said, the only reason services like Netflix were able to thrive was because consumers' needs haven't been met by content distributors.
During another session, industry leaders asserted that the threat from cord cutting was exaggerated. Among their statements:
- Time Warner Cable's CEP Glenn Britt said TWC "can't find any meaningful evidence of cord cutting...other than in very, very small numbers;"
- David Poltrack, head of CBS research, called cord cutting talk "overblown;" and,
- Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said when asked about a recent report that Netflix offering $70,000 to $100,000 to programmers for current TV episodes was "a measly little offer."
For more:
- see this Hollywood Reporter article
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