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Former Netflix employee here--left in August (not super-relevant; but, disclosure, etc.)

Thanks for posting the details here. It's pretty clear that the OP doesn't really have a strong understanding of the mechanics of the TV business. There's simply no value to owning AMC. They could spend billions for AMC or millions for future shows themselves; Netflix is smart enough to see the real value is in the latter.

Moreover, Netflix has absolutely no interest in getting into the "linear TV" business. It doesn't fit well at all with where they are going.

EDIT: The partnership, as it exists today, is hugely beneficial for both companies. AMC gets promotion for new seasons and Netflix gets a huge rush of people watching previous seasons as they become available. There's zero value to either of them in one owning the other.




It's pretty clear that the OP doesn't really have a strong understanding of the mechanics of the TV business.

For anyone who is interested in learning more about the mechanics of the TV business, I strongly recommend the book "Difficult Men" by Brett Martin. It's nominally about shows like the Sopranos and their creators, but there is a lot about the industry that is "quality television".


+1 for Difficult Men. Very in-depth and well written.

A head's up though: even though it was published recently, it was written just before the ascendancy of good internet TV (House Of Cards and Seinfeld's web series were nominated for Emmy's only just this year) so it mainly chronicles the rise of HBO and then Showtime, AMC, etc from a decade ago. However the parallels between premium cable and the internet are pretty clear.


Yes. House of Cards is as important as anything that has happened in mainstream television in the last few years. Maybe the author will include an afterward in future editions?


Looks interesting. Thanks for the suggestion.


Are you able to talk a bit about what it was like to work at netflix or why you left? I've always wondered what it's like over there.


There[1] is a presentation about the work culture at Netflix, however it's now four years old. It's an interesting read nonetheless.

[1] http://www.slideshare.net/reed2001/culture-1798664?from_sear...


The discussion you're probably looking for is at http://www.quora.com/Netflix/Whats-it-like-to-work-at-Netfli...




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