Brett Sappington, a director of research at Parks Associates, said the best video service imaginable is one that allows consumers to get to the content they want to watch as quickly as possible.
"Ultimately if operators were to integrate Netflix into their interface, one, it makes it easier to find that content. Two, it also allows consumers to access it within the interface, and if the operator can get the consumer to stay within that interface, they can better control and better monetize the video," he noted.
"Initially, you've got to remember pay-TV came from a closed system that was all their own," Sappington continued. "Netflix was the party crasher for the TV industry. All of sudden consumers were getting video from all of these sources, they were the company all the pay-TV providers feared would cause cord cutting."
"Pay-TV providers had a really hard time figuring out how to deal with them," he said.
From the article, "US cable firms like Netflix best in solitary confinement" by Joan E. Solsman.