Netflix, Movie Downloads And The Next South Park

 The following article was originally published in December, 2006.  At the time, I predicted many of these changes withing about 5 years. Although out of date, I like to keep it online purely to look back every now and then and know that, at least on one thing, I was for the most part right:)

Meet Reed Hastings, founder and CEO of Netflix. Hastings was profiled on this past Sunday's 60 Minutes on CBS (read the transcript or watch the Reed Hastings interview here). His company is transforming the way movies are rented with mail order delivery, no late fees and a flat monthly subscription. Just as importantly, Netflix provides an interactive experience that recommends movies based on what they think you would like to see, and they have in stock nearly every film ever made.

But just as Netflix is threatening traditional movie rental companies, such as Blockbuster, a further read of the article tells us that they are facing their own very real threat: movie downloading. If you can simply download a movie from the Internet, you have no need for DVD's at all. Even small companies with little infrastructure can get into the movie downloading business, and it's only a matter of time before we can easily connect our television sets to the Internet.

All this begs the obvious question, "What's next?" The answer is easy, and if cable, satellite and Internet have already shaken the foundations of the traditional media companies, this is an answer that could crumble them. It is the idea of live, streaming television straight from the Internet.

Just think about it...the networks are already making their television shows available online, and all that is holding you to your computer is a lack of equipment and high quality stream. But as broadband speeds get faster and faster, and more households connect their television sets to the Internet, doesn't it only stand to reason that streaming video with the same high quality that you watch on television right now will become available? 

When I think of truly organic television shows that managed to develop successful cult followings, I always think of South Park. It wasn't created by the networks, it was created by two friends (Trey Parker and Matt Stone) while they were in college. Five years after their first crude animation, their show appeared on Comedy Central, and word of mouth made it an instant hit.

But what if Comedy Central had balked at the program, and Parker and Stone were unable to find any takers? In yesterday's media, that would have been the end of the line. In tomorrow's media, it will be just a bump in the road. The next South Park can come from anyone, or anywhere, with or without the established media outlets.

All of this is just a stone's throw away, and the media world will be forever different. We're talking about pure, consumer driven media, and it can't come soon enough.