Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Netflix plans to spend $8B to make its library 50 percent original by 2018

theverge.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 82 posts

Re: Netflix plans to spend $8B to make its library 50 percent original by 2018

#21

Post by indigodaddy »

alextheparrot wrote: post #5
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #2

This is something I expect them to reach fairly quickly, not necessarily through new content: Netflix has steadily carried less and less content from other companies as long as I've been a subscriber. They carry least-common-denominator content in the back catalog plus a few limited time recent movies to keep people hooked. What I've realized is most well-regarded, award-winning film cannot be found on Netflix. They…

I noticed almost all of my recommendations were originals, so I started using a third party recommender [0], which has put me back to watching more old/well-regarded films. Haven’t found a source as good for old series, though. [0] https://www.cinesift.com

I've found flixable.co to be pretty good for finding targeted NF content.

Re: Netflix plans to spend $8B to make its library 50 percent original by 2018

#22

Post by wmf »

dcole2929 wrote: post #15

I think it's important to note that this is not by choice, but rather the only path left to Netflix now that studios have realized the value of their catalogs to streaming. Netflix originally made a bunch of content deals that made them the sole streamer of entire backlogs of syndicated material. It worked out great for them and pretty decently for the studios too, but after Netflix's success the studios now realize…

At least you can aggregate most of the streaming "channels" though Amazon so you don't have to use a bunch of different apps.

Re: Netflix plans to spend $8B to make its library 50 percent original by 2018

#23

Post by taoistextremist »

dcole2929 wrote: post #15

I think it's important to note that this is not by choice, but rather the only path left to Netflix now that studios have realized the value of their catalogs to streaming. Netflix originally made a bunch of content deals that made them the sole streamer of entire backlogs of syndicated material. It worked out great for them and pretty decently for the studios too, but after Netflix's success the studios now realize…

I have this suspicion, though, that not all these streaming services will fare well. Sadly, yeah, there's going to be a handful and it'll feel similar to cable, but I think some will forego an independent streaming platform (or abandon ones later on) and license it out to the bigger players, especially because people aren't going to shell out money for each individual service. Though besides Hulu and Netflix, I don't know who else is a big streamer of third-party content. HBO does it with movies but nothing else AFAIK.

Maybe some other studios will copy the Hulu approach and create a group of networks all housed on one platform, but I do think it's going to be hard for anybody to push their way into the streaming market without a large backlog of media like Disney.

Re: Netflix plans to spend $8B to make its library 50 percent original by 2018

#24

Post by Paul-ish »

hyperhopper wrote: post #12
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #2

This is something I expect them to reach fairly quickly, not necessarily through new content: Netflix has steadily carried less and less content from other companies as long as I've been a subscriber. They carry least-common-denominator content in the back catalog plus a few limited time recent movies to keep people hooked. What I've realized is most well-regarded, award-winning film cannot be found on Netflix. They…

The problem is though, is that by doing this it is no longer the service that originally attracted many users: a one stop service to watch the things I want to watch. It is just becoming the internet equivalent of an unlimited on-demand cable channel.

> It is just becoming the internet equivalent of an unlimited on-demand cable channel.

With no commercials. All in all, That's still an improvement over traditional cable.

Re: Netflix plans to spend $8B to make its library 50 percent original by 2018

#25

Post by natoliniak »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #7

I get why they feel they need to do this, but I hate the trend of everyone taking their ball and going home. I loved how with Netflix, I had most of the content I would want right there on a single service. Note to content providers: I'm not going to have Disney, Netflix, HBO, CBS, Hulu, etc subscriptions. It's just not going to happen. I'll do without first.

I sense a resurrection of torrenting and ironically enough, DVD rentals. BTW, Netflix still has a very rich library of streaming content, but in other world regions. A good global VPN service and some DNS tweaks will unlock a ton of streaming content.

Re: Netflix plans to spend $8B to make its library 50 percent original by 2018

#26

Post by jjrh »

From what I understand Netflix is pretty smart about where/what they film to take advantage of tax credits and other incentives countries provide. So that $8B really stretches.

Seems like they are at the point where they need to keep their head above water long enough to let other content providers try/decide if it's worth trying to compete in the streaming business.

Re: Netflix plans to spend $8B to make its library 50 percent original by 2018

#28

Post by kodablah »

nathan_long wrote: post #18

Online movie services are a disappointment because the selection is terrible. Go to IMDB.com. Pick a random movie. Click on the director to see more movies by him or her. Choose one. Click the lead actor to see more movies with him or her. Choose one. Click the studio to see more movies by them. Choose one. Why can't I do this with any streaming service? There's no decent search and filter ability because there's not…

I regularly use https://www.justwatch.com for looking up movies. But its scraping abilities leave a lot to be desired; they are often wrong. And the data is not very transparent (e.g. historical data).

I have considered creating an alternative. And have the client choose the streaming services they have like JustWatch. However, for unavailable movies, have a "I'd watch this if it were streaming for me" button. Then I'd record the cross-section of that user's streaming services and their request and keep public counters. I'd remove all users votes if that movie became available for any of their streaming options. I'd show votes for movie per streaming subscription service. Also, in the interest of transparency, I'd keep a running history of when movies came and went from providers. I'd also scrape TV guide to see when they are on TNT or whatever. This is the type of data people deserve.

Aside: JustWatch people, I know you browse HN...you can steal this idea and monetize it by, instead of being nice like me and making the votes transparent, just keep the counters internal and sell them as data points. You can couple it into a "I'd watch this! Notify me when this movie is available" feature.

Re: Netflix plans to spend $8B to make its library 50 percent original by 2018

#29

Post by Afforess »

dcole2929 wrote: post #15

I think it's important to note that this is not by choice, but rather the only path left to Netflix now that studios have realized the value of their catalogs to streaming. Netflix originally made a bunch of content deals that made them the sole streamer of entire backlogs of syndicated material. It worked out great for them and pretty decently for the studios too, but after Netflix's success the studios now realize…

You're right, but I am not sure this is the end. We are entering a "streaming content desert" where every content-maker tries to make their own Netflix. Consumers will buy subscriptions to the top 3, at best. Most probably won't go beyond Amazon Prime and Netflix. In five or ten years, when the data finally rolls in that these disparate services are not making anything, have shoddy reviews from hastily-coded backends, etc, content makers will come crawling back. Or go out of business and get scooped up by the larger media houses.

By 2030 I expect Netflix, Amazon, Disney, and Hulu will have bought up the struggling or failing independent content makers. The markets for content will shrink and consolidate around the big name streaming kings. Then we will wonder why we gave up a cable-free-for-all for an oligopoly. ;)

Re: Netflix plans to spend $8B to make its library 50 percent original by 2018

#30

Post by onion2k »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #2

This is something I expect them to reach fairly quickly, not necessarily through new content: Netflix has steadily carried less and less content from other companies as long as I've been a subscriber. They carry least-common-denominator content in the back catalog plus a few limited time recent movies to keep people hooked. What I've realized is most well-regarded, award-winning film cannot be found on Netflix. They…

Thankfully, their original content alone is pretty much worth the price.

I've enjoyed a lot of what I've watched but I've never actively looked for anything on there. It's all been random chance because it looked interesting while I was browsing. It wouldn't take many poor choices before I cancelled if there was any other content...

Post reply on HN