Turner Broadcasting System chairman and CEO Phil Kent warned studios and
other content creators that their continued practice of making shows
available through Netflix that his cable channels are paying for could
impact his ability and willingness to bid for future content.
Kent,
speaking at the Citigroup Entertainment, Media & Telecommunications
conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., Wednesday, echoed sentiments earlier
voiced by his boss, Time Warner Inc. chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes.
While Bewkes has said publicly that the days when low-priced online
aggregators like Netflix obtain programming for bargain prices are
coming to an end, Kent took that notion a step further.
"We've been
telling our suppliers, the various studios we buy from, that in the
future this is going to have a significant impact on what we'll be
willing to pay for programming or even bid at all," Kent said at the
conference.
Kent then echoed his boss' mantra, adding that services
like Netflix will still be able to get programming, but not the kind of
shows that will attract top dollar. He cited as an example sister studio
Warner Bros.' deal with Netflix for Nip/Tuck.
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