Netflix's Hastings: Online steering TV's future

The future of television will be driven by Internet networks, and traditional cable TV companies will inevitably morph into Web-based content providers, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings predicted.

The flexibility of Internet programming is already attracting content creators, and even online video providers are getting into the production game themselves, Hastings said during a meeting at POLITICO as part of a D.C. swing to promote his company’s Washington-based TV series, “House of Cards.” “What we’ll see in the Internet is most cable networks will become Internet networks — we’ll still call ESPN a cable network, but it’ll be mostly delivered over the Internet in 10 or 20 years. The fundamental advantage of the Internet is individualization, control, being able to watch on any screen. It’s just a much better technology substrate for video.” Personalized advertising streams will help drive the move to the Web, Hastings said, as will the roll-out of very high-speed broadband networks. But just as cable networks grew from running others' content to also commissioning their own, the TV and movie distributor is following the same path.