You forgot Comcast (owner of NBC) and Time Warner that own quite a bit of content and can kill netFlix by imposing caps. On one had, I can’t really blame them. Imagine them having to spend, say, $10 Billion to upgrade the wires so NetFlix can save on postal stamps and improve their service.
I had a meeting with a Comcast guy yesterday - I think the corporate vision is to phase traditional cable out in favor of the Hulu model, on demand with advertising targeting based on your profile. It’s probably a 10-year plan, but it’s obvious to me that traditional “tune in a 7” television is a dead model and everyone in the industry knows it.
One part of the model is already being tested - Comcast is already selling “zoned” tv advertising in the Chicago market. It’s possible to run 34 different ads in one section of the nightly NBC news within comcast. This broadens the sales reach considerably - more businesses can work into the model when the cost to entry is lowered and can be tailored on a finer geographic basis.
My bet is that Netflix will eventually merge with the new broadcast model and become the “premium channel.”