"Because Netflix relies on subscriber

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"Because Netflix relies on subscriber ratings and recommendations, and can offer an almost limitless array of product, it creates a level playing field, allowing a tiny indie film to compete with a multiplex monster. It's a great example of what Wired magazine's Chris Anderson calls the Long Tail. Put simply, our culture is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of blockbusters at the head of demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail." (Cool concept, nicely expressed.) "If you go to a movie theater or a Blockbuster, the vast majority of business comes from a few dozen films. But at Netflix you can see the Long Tail in action -- its subscribers rent more than 95% of its 55,000 titles every quarter." -- from Patrick Goldstein's 3.21 "Big Picture" column about Netflix in the L.A. Times.