Chart Of The Day: Netflix v. Blockbuster Edition

This chart is part of a larger graphic at The New York Times detailing just how Blockbuster was overtaken by Netflix:

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Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. James Joyner says:

    I understand why Netflix’ business model better fit the modern world’s than Blockbuster’s. But the latter actually had massively more revenue a year before it went bankrupt and then went into a tailspin.

    It’s also worth noting that Netflix seems to have leveled off at a third of the revenue Blockbuster brought in at its heyday.

  2. DC Loser says:

    Now with Amazon snapping at its heels, Netflix better watch out.

  3. John Burgess says:

    James: Might that be because Netflix charged significantly lower fees for the same volume of product? I can easily get three times (or more) the volume for the same price that Blockbuster would charge.

    My local Blockbuster closed two months ago, btw.

  4. The graph is of revenue, not profit. I would wager that Netflix has a lot lower overhead: less buildings, less employees, etc.