Are Netflix Investors Worried About Time Warner Cable’s Interest In Hulu?

It seems so: Netflix shares are down 5.9% in afternoon trading even though the overall market is up slightly. The chill follows the disclosure late last week that Time Warner Cable is interested in becoming a co-owner of Hulu, which is weighing purchase and investment offers from seven companies. In addition to the No. 2 cable company, firms believed to be in the mix include Yahoo, KKR, Silver Lake Management/Hollywood agency WME, Guggenheim Digital, DirecTV, and the Chernin Group (in partnership with investors Qatar Holding and Providence Equity Partners). Netflix investors are particularly concerned about Time Warner Cable because it shows that “cable operators have to get in the Netflix world in order to compete,” says Maxim Group analyst John Tinker. “It highlights that [the streaming business] is going to become more competitive.” Shares in Coinstar — the company behind the Redbox rental kiosks and a new streaming venture with Verizon — are down 1.2%.