Content remains king, and kings get paid pretty well. With increasing demand from Internet companies like Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX), content companies should be able to demand a premium for their content, Terry Semel, the former chairman of Warner Brothers and CEO of Yahoo, said during a Monday panel discussion on Hollywood's future.
That increase in content value could also spawn additional HBO-style content providers.
"Silly little Internet things are cute for a minute, but it's not what big advertisers were looking for," Semel said. "They're looking for more stable content that could be on television, could be on cable."
Semel speculated that as aggregators like Hulu continued to gain views, posing more competition for Netflix, the beneficiaries would be content providers who then would be able to charge more for their programming.
And, he said, despite Netflix's current woes, the company will bounce back.
"I think they'll get over it," Semel said. "I think they overreached. They should have been more sensitive to pricing. It will slow them down until they find some way to come back to their customers."
For more:
- see this Reuters article
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