*By Amanda Weston* A lead TV analyst suspects Netflix may be battling a case of nerves as the streaming giant turns to the debt markets for the third time in a year. "I think it's a reaction to the fact that Warner is coming into the picture, \[and\] Disney ($DIS)," Alan Wolk, a co-founder and lead analyst at TV\[R\]EV, told Cheddar Monday. "Suddenly, that market ー especially in the U.S. ー is getting crowded." "They're not killing it overseas," he added. "They're doing well. They've certainly added a lot of subscribers, but suddenly knowing that these other companies could come in makes them a little bit nervous." Wolk considers Amazon ($AMZN) a "huge threat," since the e-commerce giant makes most of its money in other ways. Netflix ($NFLX) [reportedly](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-netflix-debt/netflix-plans-to-raise-2-billion-to-fund-new-content-idUSKCN1MW1SU) aims to raise about $2 billion to invest in original shows and acquire new content. The company could spend as much as $13 billion on original content this year. As of Sept. 30, Netflix's total debt was $11.83 billion. But Wolk said the ongoing race to be the top streaming company has flooded the market with content. "The law of physics comes into play here," he said. "There's only so many people, so many hours, that a lot of this stuff is going to go unwatched, no matter how good it is." Wolk compared the streaming climate to the tulip market, which in the 1600s saw prices and demand surge only to eventually collapse. "Plus, you have to factor in the talent formula," Wolk said. "With all those shows there just aren't that many people who can make good TV shows. So a lot of them are going to be kind of bad." Ultimately, Wolk said, "the goal of streaming companies is to have people either subscribe or not unsubscribe." "What's going to happen is people have a mental binge list. 'Here's the four or five shows I want to watch,'" he said. "If you're not on their binge list, you're just going to start unsubscribing to their network maybe for three months." Wolk cited HBO as an example, since hits like "Westworld" and "Game of Thrones" are not currently airing new episodes ー "Game of Thrones" doesn't premiere its latest installment until April, while "Westworld" just ended its second season. During that downtime he said users may start to wonder why they're still paying for accounts. "I think that as all this comes out we're going to start seeing a lot more churn, and obviously the networks that have sort of the least amount of stuff that people want to watch are in the most danger, and also the least amount of capitalization," Wolk said. "So that could put Netflix in danger ー just because they don't have sort of the deep pockets. They're very capitalized but they don't actually have the cash." Another trend among streamers is to stay the course with content they already trust, instead of taking on new series, which Wolk called "the comfort food factor." But Netflix is steadily losing "comfort" content to Disney, he added. For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/analyst-talks-tulip-market-amid-streaming-wars).

Share:
More In Business
Michigan Judge Sentences Walmart Shoplifters to Wash Parking Lot Cars
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
State Department Halts Plan to buy $400M of Armored Tesla Vehicles
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
Goodyear Blimp at 100: ‘Floating Piece of Americana’ Still Thriving
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
Is U.S. Restaurants’ Breakfast Boom Contributing to High Egg Prices?
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
Load More