I just saw that Netflix has started making their own content in the same fashion that HBO and the other premium paid channels are.
What's interesting to me is that the big networks who used to own the audiences have fewer and fewer good shows and decreasing audiences while the paid channels have more and more good shows and increasing audiences.
I don't think the reason behind this shift is a matter of money but rather clarity of who they are building programs for.
Traditionally the big networks have let the tail wag the dog - producing shows the advertisers would support and pay for in hopes of getting a big audience. I think they must still be in that trap.
The Premium paid channels have only one master - their paying customers. Big difference.
How does this relate to our industry? Simple. A significant number of manufacturers in consumer electronics and high-end audio build to meet price points and product needs their distribution networks want. Others, like us, build to what our customers want and hope the dealer base follows.
It might seem like a small difference in philosophy but, as evidenced by the TV networks and the music industry, creating products your target audience wants vs. what the sponsors, publishers and distribution channels are looking for can make all the difference in the world to what the product does and how it performs.
If you build what the end user wants, everything else just falls into place.
