For example, in some european countries, Game of Thrones is available through Netflix – obviously, in the US, this would destroy the market of HBO Go.
Essentially, the reason is that publishers want to push their own platforms.
Essentially, the reason is that publishers want to push their own platforms.
I'm not questioning your conclusion but your premise is false. Game of thrones is not available on Netflix in any country (https://flixsearch.io/search/game%20of%20thrones)
Meaning that they now need to have the distributors on their good side.
Kinda reminds me of a claimed exchange between Disney and Microsoft, when MS was trying to peddle their then new movie file format.
They held a meeting, and the MS rep opened by asking the Disney rep how much they were willing to pay to use the MS format. No no no, countered the Disney rep, how much are you willing to pay for our content.
I thought this bundling was more to protect their profit margins. In Canada, for example, Telus has cable, internet, cellphone, house phone products available. For every product line you purchase, there's a discount. When they charge data overage fees on cell phones and internet plans, they make huge money, and subsidize the cost of running other product lines which help their lock-in effect. (Sorry for the poor wording)