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Don’t ruin streaming by turning it into cable

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Re: Don’t ruin streaming by turning it into cable

#71

Post by baron816 »

There's a very simple solution for anyone worried about fragmentation: don't buy it.

We got into a bad situation with cable because we didn't have a choice. It was either pay $80 per month for everything, or not watch TV at all.

We have choices now, and Disney isn't going to be able to force their service on anyone. If people really like their new products and think it's worth the money, then fine. If people hate having to pay them separately and no one signs up, then they'll shut it down and go back to how it is now. Consumers have a lot of power now, and whatever happens will likely be in their interests.

I personally would be willing to pay a good bit of money to have access to the full back catalog of films from all the major studios. The streaming services' catalogs are very limited, and I'm often in the mood to watch one particular movie that isn't available. Spotify has nearly every song I ever want to listen to. Nothing exists like that for movies.

Re: Don’t ruin streaming by turning it into cable

#72

Post by jamie_ca »

0x4f3759df wrote: post #6
usaphp wrote: post #4

I have a question to US people, when you say "cord cutter" - what exactly do you mean? Because you still need to pay for internet to the same cable company, and the price is only 5-10% cheaper compared to the same plan with cable box? Am I not understanding it correctly?

The cable company here in Minneapolis is Comcast (the number 1 hated company in America year after year), which I can avoid by going through CenturyLink (the phone company). Thus I deprive Comcast of their revenues and don't pay ESPN a nickel. All I watch is Amazon Prime. My Internet is $30 / mo. Comcast Internet & TV is $49 per month for 12 mo (a teaser rate), their real rates seem to be $120 or $150, plus they stea…

If you're just doing it for web/streaming video, it'll be fine. If you do any gaming or videoconferencing, the latency on satellite puts a real damper on the "feel" of the connection.

Re: Don’t ruin streaming by turning it into cable

#74

Post by foobarian »

ubernostrum wrote: post #59
ihsw2 wrote: post #57

The solution is, of course, for Netflix to open up to pricing differentiation. There is no reason for HBO Now to be offered outside of Netflix other than haggling over pricing. What's wrong with Netflix rising above the rabble and focusing instead on providing excellent user experiences and rock-solid world-class reliability? Just put in a checkbox somewhere that, when checked, added HBO for $X/month. Boom, it's opt-…

Amazon is already doing this; if you have Prime, you can add on subscriptions to HBO, Starz, Cinemax, and a bunch of other channels for a monthly fee.

So is Hulu. Showtime + HBO for now.

Re: Don’t ruin streaming by turning it into cable

#75

Post by ImaCake »

emsy wrote: post #63
SubiculumCode wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The min price is about $10 because there isnt that much competition yet. I suspect if the author's fragmentation comes true, it will go down for single studi/channel offerings.

There won't be competition for exclusive content like Disney, AMC, HBO etc. except piracy which is still a lot easier for a lot of people, and if fragmentation continues, it will be Even more so.

I think piracy is the real competitor here. Unless they stop torrents they wont succeed here.

Re: Don’t ruin streaming by turning it into cable

#76

Post by CaptSpify »

rdtsc wrote: post #67
LeoPanthera wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you download the video files for the shows you buy, DRM-free? If not, you don't "own" them at all. The encryption on DVD and blu-ray discs is easily broken, so that's still a reasonable way to "own" your favorite shows. As far as I know, 4K blu-ray hasn't been cracked yet, so avoid those.

I've heard it here on HN that some buy the show then just pirate it when they watch it. Just because pirated content has a uniform interface, and a better overall user experience.

I hear that too, and I mostly agree with doing it, but I kind of feel it's a problem: It tells amazon "Oh, sure, your system is fine, I don't mind paying for DRM!" when in reality we shouldn't encourage DRM.

I wish I could go to the studio/artist/creator directly and say "Hey, I would like to pirate your content, here's some money", but outside of Patreon or the like, there's usually not an option to do that.

Re: Don’t ruin streaming by turning it into cable

#77

Post by rorykoehler »

baron816 wrote: post #71

There's a very simple solution for anyone worried about fragmentation: don't buy it. We got into a bad situation with cable because we didn't have a choice. It was either pay $80 per month for everything, or not watch TV at all. We have choices now, and Disney isn't going to be able to force their service on anyone. If people really like their new products and think it's worth the money, then fine. If people hate hav…

I already buy netflix and Spotify. There is zero chance I'll buy another service. If it's not in either of these and i absolutely must consume it (unlikely) then I'll get it somewhere for free. No way I'll buy another service. With av content netflix already offers more than i have time to watch. Music is different in that i still pass mixtapes (digital versions) around but there is little chance you'd find any of that content anywhere (except maybe soundcloud before it died)

Re: Don’t ruin streaming by turning it into cable

#78

Post by snaoe89rrht »

bad_hairpiece wrote: post #66

If this segmentation continues, it'll be interesting to see how streaming devices adapt. Requiring a separate app for each content provider is a pain and makes browsing for content much less pleasant, especially when interfaces differ amongst apps. I think it'd be ideal to have a single app to access content. Users would purchase their desired networks from within this app and would have a unified viewing experience.

This exists. On the Apple TV it's called the "TV" app. I'm sure other devices have something similar. On my Apple TV I see all the shows and movies I'm watching on HBO Now, Showtime, iTunes, and most other services in one spot. Netflix is the only holdout I've run into, and it pisses me off, but that's their prerogative I guess.

Re: Don’t ruin streaming by turning it into cable

#79

Post by seanp2k2 »

baron816 wrote: post #71

There's a very simple solution for anyone worried about fragmentation: don't buy it. We got into a bad situation with cable because we didn't have a choice. It was either pay $80 per month for everything, or not watch TV at all. We have choices now, and Disney isn't going to be able to force their service on anyone. If people really like their new products and think it's worth the money, then fine. If people hate hav…

I agree on all accounts, however, movies aren't really comparable to music. An episode of a show costs a ton more than a song to make (typically vs typically, there are cheap shows and expensive songs, sure). A movie costs a lot more than an album to produce. http://mentalfloss.com/article/57656/15-albums-cost-fortune-... has an album costing $15m to produce which was a huge outlier. Most expensive albums are in the $1-$2mm range. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_films has the most expensive films above $300mm a pop. That's two orders of magnitude, and granted there are way fewer movies than albums (I think), a Spotify for movies with tons of back catalogue coverage would probably need to cost $100-$1000/month to make it worth it to the studios.

Actually, $150 a month to legally watch almost anything ever made would be a fairly appealing option. Good luck getting even a few studios on board, though. Pricing in future expected rev into it, it'd probably need to be closer to the $1k/month mark to make it worth it. It'll never happen.

Re: Don’t ruin streaming by turning it into cable

#80

Post by Aron »

jamie_ca wrote: post #73
Aron wrote: post #53

Netflix at 10$ is severely underpriced relative to any competition. I've been curious just what their next move is.

Slowly bump prices. It's going up by $1 ($2 for the high tier) in Canada this month, I hear.

So simple it might just work. I keep expecting something more dramatic, but they seem to be the opposing dipole of Amazon.
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