Netflix Could Start Buying Movie Theaters to Help Films Gain a Boost in Oscar Race, Report Says (indiewire.com)

Netflix has made a strong effort to land Oscar nominations since debuting its first original feature, "Beasts of No Nation," in 2015. The next step in the streaming giant's plan to secure film awards could be to buy and own movie theaters. IndieWire: A new report from the Los Angeles Times says Netflix is considering buying theaters in Los Angeles and New York in order to gain a boost during Oscar season. People familiar with the situation say the theaters would be used to give greater exposer to the feature and documentary titles Netflix is hoping to push into the awards race. According to the Times, Netflix executives originally considered purchasing the Los Angeles-based Landmark Theaters, which is co-owned by Mark Cuban. The theaters are well known for attracting awards voters by running first-run features, documentaries, and foreign films during Oscar season. Sources close to Netflix confirm the company has no current plans to buy Landmark properties. Landmark has three Los Angeles locations and 53 theaters overall in the U.S. Sources close to Netflix.

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Re:Netflix does not need the Oscars

[hey!]

In a way, old times are going back to how they used to be.

Up until 1949, the US movie industry was dominated by the "big five" movie studios, in something called the "studio system". In the studio system, the studios not only made the movies, they owned the movie theaters as well, exercising monopoly control over independent theaters by forcing them to purchase and show less popular movies. In an age before TV where almost everybody went to the movies every week, that was guaranteed profit.

That's kind of what Netflix does with its interface. It started as a content middleman, but it's using its control of the app in your smart TV to steer you toward Netflix original content, most of which, like the vast majority of Golden Age Hollywood movies, are mediocre. Strategic ownership of theaters in places where they can influence taste makers is consistent with that strategy. It makes little sense on its own, and it's not a long-term strategy, it's a short-to-mid term strategy to increase brain share. That's obviously Netflix's long term game.