Sometimes, great management makes all the difference.
For the past year or so, all of the Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) bears have come out of the woodwork. "They'll never be able to pay for all their content," some argued. Others thought that Hulu -- part-owned by Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) and other media giants -- would quickly become the viewing option of choice.
So far, none of that has panned out. And the whole time, you needed only to turn on CNBC to see how cool, calm, and collected Netflix CEO Reed Hastings was about all the attention. And while it's still early, today's big announcement could mean a lot for Netflix and its investors.
Hastings on board
According to a press release today from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Hastings will be joining the board of directors at Facebook. "Reed is an entrepreneur and technologist who has led Netflix to transform the way people watch movies and TV," Zuckerberg said.
It is thought that Hastings, who showed his deft hand at taking a company public and allowing it to prosper, will be instrumental in guiding Facebook toward an IPO.
Future collaboration
Without a doubt, this type of arrangement lends itself to future collaboration. Netflix was functional on the Xbox 360 before Nintendo's Wii or Sony's (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation. That may have no small part to do with the fact that Hastings sits on Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) board as well (the Xbox is a Microsoft product).
With the most recent pressure coming from Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and its streaming plan available through Prime membership, this move certainly gives Netflix an extra edge. Amazon already owns European streaming service Lovefilm, but if Netflix were to open up shop in Europe with a service through Facebook, it might represent a more enticing option for customers.
Only time will tell how this all plays out. If you want to keep tabs on all that's happening, add these companies to your watchlist.
