Media Moves: Netflix Backing Out Should Accelerate The Inevitable

There’s no denying that the insane pedophile rampaging through the last decade of our lives has changed things. It’s unfortunate that we let that occur. While many of us may have seen the potential for all the damage he’s caused, you can say not enough did, but I’ll say instead that not enough cared.

But here we are. Where is that exactly? We’re witnessing almost daily damage to most things around us that I think too many still think will get magically reversed when he leaves office or leaves this planet, whichever comes first. It will take a few generations to get back to whatever we believed normal was, although I’m not sure there ever was a normal because things always evolved, though by and large at a more sanely digestible pace.

Take for example what’s happening in the media landscape. News that Netflix was going to withdraw from a bidding war for Warner Brothers, effectively clearing the field for Paramount to win the deal is being discussed from a number of perspectives by all the usual and unusual suspects.

Those that wanted Netflix to rise to the challenge and succeed, keeping Warner Brothers away from the MAGAt supporting Ellison family, were depressed and angry. Those who see Netflix as just another evil media empire were oblivously happy. Most just want to know when the next and eventual price increases are coming.

Quite a few are quite concerned about what this will do to CNN and the news landscape. They needn’t be. That Punch and Judy network long since turned over the puppet strings to the wrong masters.

You can argue that this might have happened with or without Trump, but there’s no point in that. What you can’t argue is that this kind of wheeling and dealing will never be the same again now that the Oval Office has become the one stop shop for getting ahead.

I happen to think that in the long run, Netflix pulling out of the bidding is a good thing. The trend lines point away from what we have thought of as traditional media and entertainment. Now that news is entertainment and sports is politics, it’s a circle of cannibals feeding on each other.

As for those concerned about CNN and news coverage in the larger scheme, let’s get real. There are only so many corporate knees one can bend. Yes, CBS and CNN will essentially become the same, but that consolidation is going to be an accelerant tossed on two already burning corpses.

For those concerned about the picture beyond the news game, I think we’ll see the same sort of downward acceleration once things settle in, which won’t be for a while yet. Movies and other entertainment will still get made. We’re in an age of content abundance, yet keep in mind the real winner at the moment is probably YouTube, which continues to steal eyeballs from all the other sources. Note also that audio audiences are listening more to podcasts than talk radio according to some statistics.

My hunch is this latest episode will just quicken the decline for the capitulators and accelerate the trend of consumers making other choices. I can’t wait to watch the extended series about it all on Netflix.

That’s my $.02. It might not be worth half that.

You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.