Netflix CEO says broadcast TV will be dead in 16 years

[wehateporn]

During a speech Monday in Mexico City regarding Netflix?s burgeoning presence in Latin America, CEO Reed Hastings explained how broadcast television will be another casualty of evolution. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hastings claimed ?broadcast TV will probably last until 2030,? painting broadcast TV as ?kind of like the horse ? you know, the horse was good until we had the car.?

Hastings has been spreading the gospel of broadcast TV?s demise for years. Back in April 2013, in an 11-page document posted on Netflix?s website, the maverick CEO predicted a world with no channel bundles and that ?over the coming decades internet TV will replace linear TV.? In the year and half since the document was posted, HBO, Showtime and CBS have all announced standalone apps, while satellite provider Dish Network is preparing an over-the-top Internet pay-TV service featuring bundles of Disney-owned properties like ESPN as well as A&E and others.

Continued Netflix CEO Predicts Broadcast TV Will Die By 2030 | Digital Trends

[Phillipmcd1]

That's silly. It won't take 16 years.

[Jim_Gunn]

One doesn't have to replace the other. They can both co-exist like they do now. The number of tv channels and internet sites to watch tv style programming will most likely just both both keep increasing.

[Rochard]

I agree with Jim Gunn above - the two will co-exist.

There will always be some demographic who will want to watch their TV through their cable company, which ironically in some cases can be your Internet company also.

We still have regular cable TV. We have DVR recorders on the two main TVs (Family room and playroom) and then three other TVs in the house. We also run Chromecast on two of the TVs, so we can stream anything from the Internet. We have Netflix and Amazon Prime, but their selection is limited. The vast majority of TV shows we watch is on Cable TV and not Netflix.

When Netflix can offer the same programs cable TV can and at a much cheaper price, Netflix will dominate.

[johnnyloadproductions]

I agree with Jim Gunn above - the two will co-exist.

There will always be some demographic who will want to watch their TV through their cable company, which ironically in some cases can be your Internet company also.

The generation that watches TV will have to die, then it won't be used anymore. Eric Schmidt (former CEO of Google) said he went on vacation a bit ago and for the first time he just used his tablet and not a Television at all. It was in the recent book: How Google Works

[2MuchMark]

Nah... I think they will co exist, at least based on my own TV habits. I like watching scheduled shows. I know that my favourite shows will be on a certain times and schedule things around it, except when I can't, which is when I will DVR it.

Sometimes watching Netflix just sucks. Even if there is lots of good content watch, I spend a lot of time looking for other content.

Sometimes I just want my content fed to me.

[Barry-xlovecam]

Every dog has its day.

There will still be video and audio devices but the way we use them will change. Eventually your smartphone will become the receiver part of your audio and video devices and their remote control. There is no reason why programmed content and advertising cannot be delivered this way.

Netflix is wrong -- they are not the alpha and omega -- they are a viral reconstruction (perhaps unwittingly) of this evolution.

[aka123]

Every dog has its day.

There will still be video and audio devices but the way we use them will change. Eventually your smartphone will become the receiver part of your audio and video devices and their remote control.

The smartphone will be your fork too when you eat in front of the "TV" or whatever. At the same time you will speak on the phone and channel surf.

The top of the evolution is that you get a smartphone with what you can control your smartphone. Cool, right?

[Alexlecomte]

Lol, obviously he doesn't live in a poor-quality-internet country

[pinkz]

television the drug of the nation - YouTube

[blackmonsters]

Well, I for one can't wait for the sports bars to thow out their wide screen TV so I can watch the Super Bowl on my phone.

[mitchum]

Netflix seems to be great in the U.S. but here in Germany Netflix and its competitors like Watchever suffer only have a small catalogue of movies and TV shows.

[michael.kickass]

16! It'll happen way before that.

[seeandsee]

It's not going anywhere

[kane]

I think cable/broadcast TV as we have always known it will change. It is already doing so. HBO recently announced that they will offer a streaming service. CBS just started offering a streaming service where you an watch their live broadcast on your computer and they have thousands of past episodes of CBS shows available to watch on-demand. I think we will start to see more stuff like this and I think we will start to see cable companies finally offer the ability to buy just the channels you want.

For the foreseeable future there will always be people who are happy to just pay a flat rate and get 100+ different channels. Even before broadband internet there were still a lot of people who don't even have cable and just watch the stuff you can get free with an antenna. Those people likely aren't going to change anytime soon, but that doesn't mean there won't be some better options for others.

[ITraffic]

you guys are older though. the coming up generation just watches shows on their phones, pad and laptops. so this guy is probably right plus or minus a couple years.

[Famemonster]

I would say it will be gone in 5-10 years. I think 16 years is way too long, I am suprised it has lasted this long already with new technology.

[sarettah]

In 1987 Office magazine proclaimed that the "Paperless office is here", it still hasn't happened.

With every improvement of video technology it has been proclaimed that "Movie Theaters are dead". It still hasn't happened.

When TV was invented the doomsayers claimed Radio was dead and gone. It still hasn't happened.

The older technology may change but it will still be available to those who want it.

Just my

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[ITraffic]

it will be used by senior citizens and since their will be so many of them cable will still exist, but it will be minor in the scheme of things.

[ctggls]

I agree with Jim Gunn above - the two will co-exist.

There will always be some demographic who will want to watch their TV through their cable company, which ironically in some cases can be your Internet company also.

We still have regular cable TV. We have DVR recorders on the two main TVs (Family room and playroom) and then three other TVs in the house. We also run Chromecast on two of the TVs, so we can stream anything from the Internet. We have Netflix and Amazon Prime, but their selection is limited. The vast majority of TV shows we watch is on Cable TV and not Netflix.

When Netflix can offer the same programs cable TV can and at a much cheaper price, Netflix will dominate.

You seem like a TV addict...

[onwebcam]

Thanks for reminding me to cancel my netflix..