There are several issues writers and Hollywood studios are battling over in their contract talks including streaming, AI, and writers’ rooms. Recently, media mogul Barry Diller warned of consequences for studios if they continue partnering with streaming companies like Netflix (NFLX). MNTN CEO Mark Douglas joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the comments.
“If you look at the economics on it, I’m not sure how that quite works,” Douglas says. Douglas notes that Disney (DIS) “did about $10 billion in studio revenue last year,” whereas Netflix (NFLX) did “three times that, just by themselves. So they’re the size of like a couple of major studios combined, so I don’t know how you take an industry that seems to be largely striking over streaming and try to separate it out.”
“Whenever these studios are in trouble, it’s like the finance team takes over and it just doesn’t make sense,” Douglas says. “These studios have to meet consumers where they are. The consumer sees no difference,” Douglas discusses.
Douglas also notes that this is “not new. All this talk was on DVDs,” 20, 30 years ago as well. “Every time there’s a new technology, it’s like everyone’s up in arms over it. And so, bottom line, focus on the consumer, bring the content, consumers will bring the dollars, and... we can go forward with everyone entertained and the industry in a healthy state,” Douglas adds.
