• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, December 7, 2011

Netflix is friends with Time Warner and CBS Corp.  We know because both Jeff Bewkes, chairman/CEO of Time Warner, and Les Moonves, president/CEO of CBS, said so at the UBS Media conference.

Now Verizon also wants to be someone's friend.  Verizon wants to start a Netflix-type subscription video-on-demand business.

Despite what consumers felt recently about Netflix, it's still a good business and a good deal compared to some established multichannel TV subscription services.

For this reason, Verizon may want to move ahead, something which would nicely complement its still-budding FiOS subscription TV business, the seemingly old-style one that delivers networks digitally to your TV set.

Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, has had problems with consumers. But apparently he isn't worried about them going to new competitors like Verizon, or perhaps Amazon, Google, Wal-Mart or Apple. He is worried about HBO -- especially HBO Go, the digital video effort that delivers films, TV, whatever, on demand -- kind of like what Netflix does with its streaming video business.

Time Warner's HBO has a long and sustained history in this field -- and a customer base that instantly recognizes the HBO brand. Hastings has a right to be concerned.

That said, Time Warner, like CBS, wants to extend the distribution points for its content -- as long as it delivers the right value, which is something Netflix and even Hulu Plus can do. Time Warner and CBS have made significant deals with Netflix.

The problem is that Netflix's brand appeal has been hurt. The little-digital-entertainment-brand-that-could overstepped its bounds, upsetting stuff that mattered most to its customers -- price and a simple-to-access service.

Netflix could have been a big anti-cable player -- kind of like what DirecTV and Dish were early in their business lives. Now Netflix finds itself on a more even playing field, especially considering the rave reviews for the likes of HBO Go.

Netflix is already a friend to major media companies. Verizon wants to friend you as well. The bigger question is who -- and how many -- entertainment consumers will want to come out and play.