Richard Greenfield Says TV Stays The Same, Viewer Preference Changes: Netflix Reinvents The Game

Netflix, Inc. NFLX came out with spectacular fourth-quarter results on Tuesday. Richard Greenfield, BTIG analyst, was on CNBC Wednesday to discuss what is making Netflix succeed.

“There’s just a real challenge that media space has. The traditional media companies have been evolving to meet consumers’ need,” Greenfield said.

Related Link: Netflix Shares Rise 12% On Strong Q4 Results

Television Hasn't Changed

“When you sit back and you watch traditional television, you are still watching TV with an old-school remote that hasn’t changed in the past decade, still using a program guy that hasn’t changed much really in the past decade. At the end of the day, consumers want to stream. They want anytime access. They don’t want to deal with commercials.”

Today's Viewer Is Different

He continued, “They don’t understand why you have to wait a week between episodes anymore. Why there’s [a] break for things like baseball and special events. The whole kind of traditional way that you watch television is not being served by the traditional industry.”

“Enter Netflix, and they are giving the consumer just what they want. They are not letting the business model get in the way.”

Aren’t There Pricing Concerns?

“From the standpoint of pricing, the more content they add, I mean if you look at the Netflix release schedule over the course of the next 12 months, I think, most companies would be jealous,” Greenfield said.

“Most content creators would be jealous to have that breadth of content that Netflix has coming on.”

He concluded, “So, I think that from a pricing standpoint they are going to have more pricing power over time, and they are going to do it with a position of strength.”