Netflix CEO: ‘Over the Coming Decades … Internet TV Will Replace Linear TV’

By Merrill Knox 

As TVSpy has been reporting, streaming television technology — used by Aereo and the Dish Hopper — has the potential to cause a dramatic shift in the television business going forward. With broadcast networks like Fox and Univision already contemplating converting to cable networks, another executive is weighing in about the future of the industry: Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.

In a letter to shareholders this week, Hastings lays out the 10 reasons why Internet TV will gain popularity, concluding that “over the coming decades and across the world, Internet TV will replace linear TV. Apps will replace channels, remote controls will disappear, and screens will proliferate”:

People love TV content, and we watch over a billion hours a day of linear TV. But people don’t love the linear TV experience where channels present programs at particular times on non-portable screens with complicated remote controls. Consumers click through a grid to choose something to watch. DVRs and VOD add an on-demand layer, at the cost of storage and increased complexity. Finding good things to watch isn’t easy or enjoyable. While hugely popular, the linear TV channel model is ripe for replacement.

Advertisement

Advertisement