A selection of Netflix Inc. original content sits displayed in the Netflix app on an Apple Inc. iPad tablet device in this arranged photograph in London, U.K., on Monday, Aug. 20, 2018. The NYSE FANG+ Index is an equal-dollar weighted index designed to represent a segment of the technology and consumer discretionary sectors consisting of highly-traded growth stocks of technology and tech-enabled companies. Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg
LOS ANGELES: When newly appointed WarnerMedia Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt took a swipe at his biggest competitor in the streaming space last week, telling NBC News that Netflix lacked a brand and was akin to Encyclopaedia Brittanica, he might have done well to recall what happened to one of his corporate predecessors back in 2010.
That was when former Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes was quoted likening the possibility of Netflix dominating the entertainment industry to “the Albanian army taking over the world”. Bewkes ended up mistaking a behemoth in the making for an also-ran. Will Greenblatt will come to regret his own words, too?