alt Hacker NewsI am under the impression traditional Hollywood also got much of its money from subscriptions, it just happened to pass through a middleman known as the cable or satellite TV company. Hence the constant threats of not being able to watch so and so channel due to contract dispute of "carriage fees" or whatever they called the amount per subscriber that a cable/satellite TV company paid Warner Bros/Disney/etc.
Movie studios want billion-dollar box office franchises. Netflix wants to make a show with 7 seasons they can slowly trickle out to keep you paying 20 dollars a month. Netflix prestige acquisitions are a mix of "building the catalog" and ego.