Rumor: Roku could be bought out by Netflix

[Gilgamesh_48 944]

Rumor: Roku could be bought out by Netflix, and that could be great for Google TV

While this does not directly impact Emby it does have a potential large impact as Netflix has never exhibited any real friendliness to any streaming service. They have gone so far as to prevent any app except for their own to play their content regardless of safeguards or protections built in.

In other words Netflix is the bully of the streaming world and Roku is the number one streaming device. The combo of the two could well put Netflix in position to forbid other streaming apps from the Roku.

It is kind of strange that the current incarnation of Roku started life as "The Netflix Player" with the N1000 and now Roku could end up as "The Netflix Player" once again.

This possibility worries me more than a little mainly due to the way both Netflix and Roku have behaved in recent times.

[ebr 14939]

21 hours ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

The combo of the two could well put Netflix in position to forbid other streaming apps from the Roku.

Interesting but I doubt that would happen. Fire devices still support all streaming services. 

[Gilgamesh_48 944]

55 minutes ago, ebr said:

Interesting but I doubt that would happen. Fire devices still support all streaming services. 

True. But Roku and the Fire devices have very very different origins and very different evolution.  I doubt Roku/Netflix would do that but Netflix has a history of banning apps from linking to their content and Roku has developed into a platform as good at data collection as the Fire is.

Is it likely? No. Is it in the realm of "Bad actors" in the digital world? No. 
However I do not really think it will happen but there are simply too many times that two or more greedy corporations have merged and the result is that the customers of both got screwed.

These are just two companies that do not really care about their customers and with two of those becoming one we might have the "Mega Godzilla" of the streaming industry.

This merger is kind of like two hungry pit bulls in a pen that suddenly has several miniature poodles thrown in with them. Where Roku and Netflix are the pit bulls and the users are the poodles. It "might" get bloody.

It may all work out for the best in the long run but I just think this merger is a bad idea looking for a way to become a disaster for customers.

Edited June 9, 2022 by Gilgamesh_48

[adamstewiegreen 147]

They may buy Roku, but I don't see them limiting their service to Roku - even AppleTV is available on Android.  They might however prevent playing local content (so dlna, plex, emby etc would be cut out - although plex would probably make a new Roku version with no plex sever integration) over their (new?) devices (so streaming or nothing device).

[ebr 14939]

10 hours ago, adamstewiegreen said:

They might however prevent playing local content

Not really sure how they would accomplish that - in a way that would affect us anyway.

[Gilgamesh_48 944]

Actually I do NOT really think that either Roku or Netflix will, if the merger actually happens, shoot themselves in the foot by severely limiting Roku's functionality. It really makes little sense for them to do so.

However, what actually could happen is that the static "ad" on the right 1/3 of Roku's home screen could be expanded and become dynamic and more invasive. Right now it is much easier to ignore the ad(s) on Roku than it is on Fire devices and Netflix/Roku could make it much less pleasant to use the Roku interface.

It is also possible that Roku/Netflix could outright ban any app they feel is facilitating piracy. And Emby/Plex/Jellyfin are perceived, by many, as doing just that. While I do not think their arguments are really valid and none of the services I mentioned are actually the ones that facilitate piracy it is perceived, by many in the content producing field (rights holders), that they do. So they could well act on that "feeling" and, since they own the platform involved, there is nothing to (legally) prevent the platform owners from allowing/not allowing any app they choose.

Netflix is currently acting on pretty strong feelings of paranoia (losing subscribers is VERY stressful for companies like Netflix) and their fear could well drive them to actions that seem to be, or actually are, self destructive. It is almost like Netflix is a paranoid schizophrenic that needs a medication change. A company in that state of near paranoid delusion, may exhibit self destructive behavior and exactly how they will behave when subjected to stress or even good news is not really predictable. Remember that when a dog or most other mammals fear something they either run from it or bite/attack it or collapse into a ball of fear and pee themselves (In fact all those behaviors can happen at the same time in corporate America). In many ways corporations are like mammals in their behavior.

What actually will happen eventually is impossible to know as corporations (much like humans) do not always act in enlightened self interest. But it will be "interesting" in every sense of the word.