
Facebook is introducing instantly streaming movie rentals, much like Amazon recently did. This creates some direct competition to the mighty Netflix.
Facebook has starred in movies, we’ve seen a movie about Facebook and now, for the first time, you’ll be able to watch movies on Facebook. Warner Brothers just announced they’ll be the first movie studio offer movies directly to Facebook. Starting March 8, they’ll “begin testing an offering of selected movies for purchase or rental through Warner Bros.
Should Netflix be worried? Here’s what Goldman Sachs analyst Ingrid Chung said about it:
“Facebook’s foray into pay-per-view does not impact our Netflix estimates,” she said in a report. “However, Facebook represents a new potential entrant that few in the investment community were concerned with prior to this announcement, so we believe it does indeed represent an incremental negative for Netflix shares.”
It will obviously take quite some time for Facebook and Amazon to pose a real challenge to Netflix. Neither service has the direct-to-your-TV capability of Netflix. Gone are the days of massive DVD collections, welcome to the world of streaming entertainment. Unfortunately if the internet goes off, you better hope you have a physical copy of your favorites!
Source: /Film, The Hollywood Reporter