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Netflix Flexes

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Re: Netflix Flexes

#71

Post by cpsempek »

airstrike wrote: post #22
40acres wrote: post #18

A lot of observers, especially on HN, worry about the balkanization of video streaming content and see it as hindering Netflix's growth. In my opinion, I don't really see it. When the dust settles I think we'll see Netflix and Amazon as the duopoly of this era of video streaming. I don't think Disney's streaming service is out to compete with Netflix directly, to me it's more of a play to leverage the Disney brand an…

FWIW, Netflix will no longer be able to license Daredevil shows from Marvel / Disney. I think a lot of folks signed up for Netflix to watch that catalog of films and shows specifically, including the latest Avengers and whatnot. I think the more likely scenario is Hulu goes away and we're left with Amazon, Disney/ESPN and Netflix. And HBO, of course.

Disney has a large stake in Hulu, due in part to the Fox acquisition. Moreover, Disney+ will focus on kids and family content, they will need Hulu to provide the network TV along with more adult focused content. Per Disney's own admission, Hulu will partner with their streaming service and will likely not go away anytime soon.

Re: Netflix Flexes

#72

Post by DanBC »

ericmcer wrote: post #70
2bitencryption wrote: post #25

My takeaway from Bird Box is that if Netflix wants to make any of their original content one of the most-watched media events of the year, they can do it, regardless of the quality of the content itself. All it takes is for them to slip it in to people's "custom, curated" lists at a higher frequency, and maybe do a little subtle social-media engineering on Reddit/Facebook, and bam: instant box office smash of a deriv…

It was almost amazing how popular and terrible that movie was. What’s gonna be next, a monster where if you smell it you die? It was just another blatant example of how you can get people to mainline the kool-aid with social media, marketing, and Fear of missing the current big thing.

It wasn't a terrible movie. It was reasonably well constructed and hit most of the right beats. But for middle-brow entertainment it's a perfectly good example of a monster movie.

You may be getting bored of this trope (DON'T USE THIS SENSE OR YOU DIE) but that doesn't make the individual films terrible.

Re: Netflix Flexes

#73

Post by Fripplebubby »

cpsempek wrote: post #71
airstrike wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, Netflix will no longer be able to license Daredevil shows from Marvel / Disney. I think a lot of folks signed up for Netflix to watch that catalog of films and shows specifically, including the latest Avengers and whatnot. I think the more likely scenario is Hulu goes away and we're left with Amazon, Disney/ESPN and Netflix. And HBO, of course.

Disney has a large stake in Hulu, due in part to the Fox acquisition. Moreover, Disney+ will focus on kids and family content, they will need Hulu to provide the network TV along with more adult focused content. Per Disney's own admission, Hulu will partner with their streaming service and will likely not go away anytime soon.

Yep, they already own a 30% stake which will become a controlling stake (60%) provided the Fox buy closes.

Re: Netflix Flexes

#74

Post by orev »

deathanatos wrote: post #64
orev wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The market is on its way to fragmentation as more content producers move to have their own apps instead of going through an intermediary. And they all want $10-$15 a month. It won’t be long before people refuse to pay for more apps, as the total cost of both the Internet connection and all app subscriptions surpasses the price they used to pay for cable. That is what limits the price any one app can charge.

Perhaps. But we just recently tried CBS's streaming service, and it was terrible . AFAICT, only 720p, and the encoder they used appears to have had the quality set to "potato" (blurry, tons of what look like interlacing jaggies during rapid motion). It made me really appreciate how good of a job Netflix is doing on the technical side of things.

I have not seen it myself, but CBS is the clear loser of all the apps. They seem to be trying to build a pay service on the back of Star Trek (maybe they think the Internet is just for nerds?) and everything else they have is free content OTA anyway.

Re: Netflix Flexes

#75

Post by lawlorino »

autokad wrote: post #69
2bitencryption wrote: post #25

My takeaway from Bird Box is that if Netflix wants to make any of their original content one of the most-watched media events of the year, they can do it, regardless of the quality of the content itself. All it takes is for them to slip it in to people's "custom, curated" lists at a higher frequency, and maybe do a little subtle social-media engineering on Reddit/Facebook, and bam: instant box office smash of a deriv…

(SPOILERS AHEAD) > "...if Netflix wants to make any of their original content one of the most-watched media events of the year, they can do it, regardless of the quality of the content itself." birdbox isn't the first promoted original content. it certainly drives success, but ultimately to get 45 million views, probably more than 2x all of who have ever seen game of thrones (16 million is their highest rating ever),…

I agree with your comment in general but just wanted to be nitpicky over this part (this is HN after all)

> probably more than 2x all of who have ever seen game of thrones (16 million is their highest rating ever)

I don't think that's an accurate measure for GoT as it's probably the most pirated TV show ever, that 16 million figure you quoted is people watching on HBO only. Those of us outside of the US either watch it on a different network (e.g. Sky in the UK) or just pirate it.

Re: Netflix Flexes

#76

Post by Spooky23 »

dasil003 wrote: post #52

Having dedicated nearly a decade of my life to a startup competing in this space, the OA is right about Netflix's superior strategy when it comes to user experience and content production. Netflix surged ahead of the pack because they focused relentlessly on the quality of the streaming experience while all the legacy players were focused on deal-making. In other words, while Netflix was building a solid video delive…

I wouldn’t be so sure about that.

Redbox seems to be very successful with games (the redbox in my neighborhood is typically sold out of games by 7pm, daily), and there’s a deep inventory of quality games that are cheap in comparison to video and can consume many hours of engagement.

Apple’s short-sighted, dependence on skinner-box free to play games demonstrates a hunger for zero marginal cost entertainment. The production cost for casual games is near zero; If Netflix could offer quality product to fill that hunger without the casino aspects of the AppStore, that’s a huge business.

Re: Netflix Flexes

#77

Post by giancarlostoro »

gh02t wrote: post #50
40acres wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you look closely enough you can see a clear trend regarding Netflix's content strategy. They will continue to make movies like Bird Box, B-style movies and "cult classics" that they can draw big numbers to via their reach and marketing. Oscar contenders like Roma and Beast of No Nation (a bit early for it's time if you ask me). Partnerships with foreign content makers to act as an international distributor (BBC pr…

Netflix has also been pushing anime/anime-style originals. I think this is a pretty interesting strategy, anime is relatively cheap to produce and is niche but has a huge fanbase worldwide.

And some of them are pretty damn good depending on your interest. Theres a few decent mecha ones at least. I am sure they will eventually land the rights to a solid winner. I do like the end result too lots of subs in different languages and I feel like they dub it in different languages too. The best of both worlds for any type of anime fan.

Re: Netflix Flexes

#78

Post by duxup »

2bitencryption wrote: post #25

My takeaway from Bird Box is that if Netflix wants to make any of their original content one of the most-watched media events of the year, they can do it, regardless of the quality of the content itself. All it takes is for them to slip it in to people's "custom, curated" lists at a higher frequency, and maybe do a little subtle social-media engineering on Reddit/Facebook, and bam: instant box office smash of a deriv…

>All it takes is for them to slip it in to people's "custom, curated" lists at a higher frequency

Slip it in? I feel like Netflix beats me over the head with their own content even when I'm looking for something else.....

Re: Netflix Flexes

#79

Post by wutbrodo »

maksimum wrote: post #68
mattnewport wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was an early Netflix adopter and evangelist to family and friends. I canceled my account months ago last time they had a price increase and haven't missed it. I got sick of spending more time scrolling through uninspiring content looking for something to watch than actually watching enjoyable content. I see a flaw in a lot of subscription models in that they lead to companies optimizing for "engagement" rather than…

> I see a flaw in a lot of subscription models in that they lead to companies optimizing for "engagement" rather than maximizing the value of my time as a consumer This is really interesting. I suppose the question is how do you measure value delivered? Typically people show that they value something by paying for it. Normally you pay for goods with money, but many subscription services and F2P games are happy for yo…

User ratings? It's not a great dataset though.

Re: Netflix Flexes

#80

Post by mlthoughts2018 »

dasil003 wrote: post #52

Having dedicated nearly a decade of my life to a startup competing in this space, the OA is right about Netflix's superior strategy when it comes to user experience and content production. Netflix surged ahead of the pack because they focused relentlessly on the quality of the streaming experience while all the legacy players were focused on deal-making. In other words, while Netflix was building a solid video delive…

I agree Netflix is trending towards failure, but I couldn’t disagree more about why and the path leading them there. Netflix is and has been the least attractive of these services for a long time, specifically because other platforms have far expanded inventory and integrate the ability to instantly rent or buy additional content not directly included.

Ultimately what everyone wants is a super easy interface to pay for precise a la carte content, never bundled, never subscription-based. If a given person wants to buy everything from HBO, they still could, and maybe could get a discount for subscribing, but nobody wants to be forced to subscribe to watch just a handful of content items.

It doesn’t matter if it’s Disney streaming, Netflix, Premier League soccer, or anything else. It’s clear rent-seeking to create walled gardens of content only unlockable by bundled subscriptions, and the clear consumer drive existentially threatening the TV industry is that all anybody wants is a dumb pipe with an easy interface to individually purchase each content item on its own merit, flat out.

Many streaming services, particularly Amazon’s, offer this to a way higher degree than Netflix, especially in terms of sports access and new release films.

Netflix is betting that it can create locked-in content that will compel people to stay subscribing, but I think this is a long-term failing idea. Bird Box is a great example: really poor production, sloppy writing with contrived villains, lowest common denominator stuff. Stranger Things? I couldn’t see one reason to care about it. Not exceptionally bad, just overproduced blandness. The gimmick of making things into viral phenomena is not a stable business plan in this area.

As prices rise, Netflix just becomes another HBO. A walled garden of content, except HBO actually makes good television and knows how to do it. Netflix is trashing its own brand with mindless crap. It’s network quality for premium add-on prices. Especially if economic hard times hit, this is exactly something people are going to realize they can live without.

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