Netflix already in talks with cable companies about bundling partnerships

Remember when Netflix CEO Reed Hastings speculated out loud that Netflix could one day join your cable package? Apparently he wasn't just speculating.

Reuters reports that Netflix has already started talking to "some of the largest cable companies" in an attempt to make such a deal happen. The move would help satiate cable providers' mounting concerns over the rapidly increasing bandwidth used up by services like Netflix, Reuters says.

There isn't much more detail than that, sadly. But the news does pluck Hastings's comments from the realm of the possible and place them firmly into the probable. And that's a big difference.

Hastings noted at an investor event last week that a joint deal with cable companies was a natural transition for the company. That may seem like a strange thing for a decidedly anti-cable company like Netflix to say, but with HBO and Amazon breathing down his company's neck, Hastings is looking to create a bit of distance.  And that's where the cable providers come in.

"Many (cable service providers) would like to have a competitor to HBO, and they would bid us off of HBO", Hastings noted.

The idea, initially zany, is actually fairly sound. While it would doubtless require some contract rejiggering, Netflix getting closer to cable providers may end up being a pretty good deal for both ends.