Right, but whether that function is valuable depends entirely on Netflix's negotiating leverage. The more content companies wise up to the internet, the less leverage Netflix has. The content companies have every incentive to either cut out the middle-man and offer their content directly over the internet, or play the middle-men against each other, cutting their profit margins to the bone. The distributors have no leverage--what are they going to do, threaten not carry Viacom's content?

It's very different from EBay's situation, where sellers have no practical way of identifying and reaching customers themselves, and risk getting lower sales' prices if they go with a competing auction site because of the network effects EBay brings to the table.