How do you measure the value or cost of how much someone uses for s product like Netflix? Compared to equivalent iTunes purchases, a Netflix subscription is inexpensive. If you are referring to the bandwidth, the cost is close to zero anywhere.
No, I'm not talking about bandwidth. iTunes isn't generally selling one-time access, but perpetual ownership (kinda) of a single episode. This accounts for the outlandish $2 per episode sort of thing.
A non-subscription model for a Netflix service would be closer to fractions of a penny per view.
Fractions of a penny per viewing can only refer to bandwidth costs; it's 1-2 orders of magnitude too small to cover the costs of producing or licensing a show, let alone Netflix' other fixed operating costs.
Everything Netflix talks about is getting users to spend more time watching shows, not less. They certainly want subscriptions because they make more money, but they do it by aggregating a ton of content into one subscription and providing it at effectively no variable delivery cost. The result is that users pay less per hour watched than can be provided by anyone a la carte.
I don't follow your reasoning. Whatever the delivery costs may be, they don't determine the service cost. That's determined by value to the customer (though delivery costs sets the minimal viable service cost).
Their adherence to a subscription modivates the view of getting users on the platform for as long as possible, regardless of what they're watching. A pay per view model would twist motivations another way.
Yes, that is my original point I wanted to make in disagreement with you. Netflix does not make more money off a subscription because of underuse, they make money because of, if anything, overuse which is possible because the value to the watcher (some number below the a la carte rental price of $2-5 set by competitors) greatly exceeds the variable cost of providing the view of the show (nearly $0.)
