Netflix Is Now Available Around the World • Hacker News Board

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#381

Post by cookiecaper » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 3:08 AM UTC

jedberg wrote: post #245

petke wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon has a long way to go. As far as I can tell prime or Amazon Fire TV is only available in a few countries. I think they needs to go global quick, or they will not survive against netflix. As it is now, the internet is a rather segregated place. Many media sites are only available in the US. "This is not available in your country". I wonder if a big reason why netflix decided to make original content in the first…

The purpose of Amazon Prime Video is to get you to sign up for Prime and then order stuff on Amazon. It only makes sense for them to be where Amazon actually delivers stuff quickly via Prime. The purpose of Netflix is to provide entertainment. It makes sense for them to be everywhere. I doubt we'll see Amazon PV around the world anytime soon -- it doesn't make sense for them to spend on the global licensing costs sin…

I don't know about that. Retail margins are pretty thin. Video seems like it would be much more profitable, and they'd prefer to have people sign up for Prime just to watch videos and never buy anything that requires shipping.

Of course, Amazon's cash cow right now is AWS. It's mind-blowing how much money companies will spend on that just because they resent maintaining their own hardware.

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#382

Post by ipsin » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 3:09 AM UTC

munificent wrote: post #206

jsmeaton wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it'll force Hollywood to pay actors far far less. Harrison Ford was paid somewhere between 10 and 25 million (probably towards the lower end of that scale). Flipping the question a little bit, how do you justify paying actors 40 million for a movie if they're being streamed online for $5 a pop? I'm of the belief that the better actors are paid far too much and that releasing cinema to streaming services will co…

> Flipping the question a little bit, how do you justify paying actors 40 million for a movie if they're being streamed online for $5 a pop? This is basic supply and demand. Harrison Ford has a monopoly on Harrison Ford, so if you want Harrison Ford, you have to pay what Harrison Ford wants for it.

What you're saying is true, but it's also interesting to me that studios could potentially get by with less.

Young Harrison Ford in the late 1970s might have been willing to trade away the use of his likeness in future Star Wars films for a relatively small consideration.

In the future, if a studio can find a relatively unknown actor who wants the work, it's possible they could do with a digitally-produced likeness, in case the original actor doesn't want the job. (Sort of an augmented version of the SNL contract)

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#383

Post by aianus » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 3:11 AM UTC

nitin88g wrote: post #367

Atleast in India, it will not take off. Present internet facilities in India will not be able to serve this. At an avg HD streaming of a movie in netflix for 2hrs takes around 3GB bandwidth. In India, except Hyderabad, any major city the internrt charges are so high that no one adopts it. For ex: in Bangalore, for 2000rs, you get 20mbps connection capped at 50Gb and after that its 8mbps only. If I take BSNL, for 2000…

8 Mbps is plenty for watching Netflix

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#384

Post by massysett » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 3:33 AM UTC

macspoofing wrote: post #147

fudged71 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe a stupid questions but what if they disrupted not just TV but also cinema? I assume that the distribution of films around the world is more limited than we think. At some point when Netflix has a much larger subscriber base, it may make more sense for films to be released directly to Netflix for global consumption. They could even be clever about it and have it only open for "live showings" at specific hours or…

>Maybe a stupid questions but what if they disrupted not just TV but also cinema? They are trying. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2 is being released simultaneously in theaters and on Netflix. Some chains complained and are refusing to show it. But honestly, I don't see it. Cinema is $10-15/person/visit, and Netflix is $10/mo for an entire library of content. Profit margins for Hollywood aren't that great - so how do…

This is exactly why Netflix gave up on movies and now emphasizes its TV reruns and originals. The streaming movie catalog has always been sparse.

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#385

Post by massysett » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 3:36 AM UTC

jsmeaton wrote: post #334

LordKano wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm of the belief that the better actors are paid far too much The market decides these things. It's difficult to argue that there isn't enough profit on a movie that has grossed over 1.5 billion dollars in three weeks to pay A-list actors A-list salaries. A-list actors don't make that kind of money because movie studios are generous. They make it because their presence puts butts in seats. Sure, the "Star Wars" name…

> The market decides these things Right, and I think the market is unfairly inflated at the moment, and has been for a long time. Movie ticket prices have more than doubled in the last ~ 10 years. The presence of streaming new blockbuster movies is likely to disrupt the traditional cinema if it is allowed to get off the ground . And that's basically the point I'm trying to make. If movies were to transition into the…

What you're describing already exists: television.

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#386

Post by massysett » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 3:42 AM UTC

geodel wrote: post #196

pcurve wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shhh..... remember my cable bill used to be 40 bucks 22 years ago. That includes hbo.

I think it would be interesting to see rise of actors' fees over that period of time. Sure cable companies make money but most money seems to be going to TV networks and in turn TV actors.

I bet pro athletes, sports leagues, and college conferences take home more of the money than actors.

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#387

Post by timothya » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 3:49 AM UTC

ilostmykeys wrote: post #100

And Google could one day build a video store where anyone can monetize their video content, which would probably include both big and small content owners, like TV studios and individuals like me and you. Not sure how copyright would be managed. Youtube basically does this but the only way to monetize on youtube right now is via ads. I don't see why Google wouldn't want to add the ability for youtube content creators…

> the only way to monetize on youtube right now is via ads

That's not true, you can also set up a channel where users have to pay to purchase or rent your videos (or pay a subscription to see all of your videos). More information is here: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/3249127?hl=en

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#388

Post by tim333 » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 3:49 AM UTC

nitin88g wrote: post #367

Atleast in India, it will not take off. Present internet facilities in India will not be able to serve this. At an avg HD streaming of a movie in netflix for 2hrs takes around 3GB bandwidth. In India, except Hyderabad, any major city the internrt charges are so high that no one adopts it. For ex: in Bangalore, for 2000rs, you get 20mbps connection capped at 50Gb and after that its 8mbps only. If I take BSNL, for 2000…

I think you might be overestimating the mpbs needed. Netflix site says minimum 0.5 mbs.

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#389

Post by tim333 » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 3:56 AM UTC

I'm surprised it took so long for some video content company to go global. The USA is only 16% of global GDP. By just monetizing that and leaving the rest of the world to torrent shows if they want to keep up there's a lot of money being left on the table.

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#390

Post by hosh » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 4:00 AM UTC

I can't tell if we just saw a tipping point here. Maybe I'm just elevating this. It has the feel of when Apple inverted the negotiating positions between device makers and wireless providers.

Now I see why Netflix produced their own content. Negotiating for world-wide streaming rights can be tricky. Having a small set of content that they control, which gets turned into a guaranteed set of content that can be delivered for a global network gives them a lot of leverage for negotiating other content. Well played.

On the other hand, I remember Crunchyroll being available in many countries (not sure if that is world-wide), though they don't have the clout that Netflix has, and their content is very specific.