Content Discovery

For anyone who has foregone Cable TV for an extended period of time or have friends that have done this, you generally find they become quickly out of touch regarding "what" is on TV. Hulu & TV.com haven't solved this issue as to consume VOD you need to understand what is scheduled. While many doubt the future of linear, the fact is many consumers would not understand how to discover content sans network/ cable promos.

Enter Netflix. Reed Hasting's Netflix CEO stated that:

Hastings said the future of video watching is not linear channels, it’s “closer to Facebook and YouTube” than it is to a standard grid view (presumably he means the way you scroll through TV channels now), and it will cater to the Internet generation.

My thoughts started flying when I read this as at the highest level Netflix has already solved the "way to watch" problem present within the Movie Rental business with a strong recommendation algorhythym. It is entirely possible that in the future, we would see their ability to recommend content to users applied to more than just DVDs. Why couldn't Netflix work in a STB, Mobile Phone, etc?

Consider that a Netflix enabled STB could organize itself with recommendations in a very similar nature to way Netflix.com works today. This is a model that has been widely adopted by the younger generation Hasting's speaks of in his quote above, however even they have been trained to consume/ view 'linear television.' It will take years to change embedded consumer behaviors, but just as Netflix changed the DVD rental business a well placed disruptor could accelerate this time line.