Cover for The Shadow Subscription

The Shadow Subscription

How Netflix Turns Non-Subscribers Into a Revenue Stream

A strategic whitepaper proposing how Netflix could monetize non-subscribers by acquiring and upgrading low-tier cable and FAST channels. The paper outlines a system for extracting subscriber-equivalent revenue from shadow viewers turning reruns into revenue and legacy infrastructure into a profitable, modern funnel.

Streaming StrategyMedia InfrastructurePlatform MonetizationAudience Funnels
Published: August 5, 2025
Updated: December 26, 2025
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The Approach

Scott Jellen is an independent researcher working at the intersection of protocol design, rights modeling, and interoperability across digital and public systems. His work includes standards-oriented drafts, reference models, and whitepapers that explore how incentives, governance, and infrastructure can be represented clearly. He is currently establishing the Jellen Protocol Lab as a future home for this work. Flagship research includes the Universal Sports Graph (USG), spanning RFC-style specifications and an early reference registry.

© 2026 Scott Jellen. Licensing varies by publication.