Source: Simon Owens's Media Newsletter
Netflix and YouTube are no longer pure content platforms—they're building marketplace infrastructure to capture more consumer spending and compete across categories. This shift from subscription scarcity (limited content) to transaction abundance (merchandise, services, live commerce) mirrors how Amazon evolved beyond retail. Streaming's unit economics have matured enough that platforms must diversify revenue or face margin compression. Competition has moved from subscriber acquisition to ownership of the customer relationship across entertainment, shopping, and services.