THE bubble could burst for streaming giant Netflix as viewers switch to new on-demand services, a Glasgow expert in television studies has warned.
John Cook, Professor of Media at Glasgow Caledonian University, predicts increased competition from rivals such as Amazon, Apple, YouTube Premium, HBO and Disney could wreck the business model of the online entertainment giant.
The service has around 130 million subscribers worldwide and plans to spend more than £6 billion on content alone this year.
However, subscriber growth has slowed and it has taken on billions of dollars’ worth of long-term debt to fund its rapid expansion.
Professor Cook said: “It is possible Netflix, in the long run, may prove to be the case of a classic bubble.
"The future may belong to other bigger players with deeper pockets and fewer long-term debt problems.”
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