Netflix Flexes • Hacker News Board

Re: Netflix Flexes

#101

Post by SturgeonsLaw » Mon, Jan 28, 2019, 1:25 AM UTC

happybuy wrote: post #98

All the signs indicate that Netflix has become a user hostile company that is prioritising ongoing user engagement and stickiness over their users needs. It's starting to remind me of another company which at one point in their evolution prioritised user engagement over everything else – Facebook. Once this occurs, it is a long slippery slope which leads to a series of user hostile internal decisions which ultimately…

> Removing the ability to easily see the complete catalogue via comprehensive categories, which enhances the reliance users have on algorithmic suggestions

To me, this one seems counterproductive to both Netflix's and the consumer's shared goal of engaging in interesting, new content. I've had occasions where I've signed in to my "guest" profile and seen media that never appeared at all under my main profile, and have enjoyed watching it, where at the same time my main profile has felt a bit stale.

Netflix might have confidence in their all seeing all knowing algorithm, but with myself as a single data point, it has sometimes failed to suggest things that I've found interesting.

Re: Netflix Flexes

#102

Post by philliphaydon » Mon, Jan 28, 2019, 1:40 AM UTC

lawlorino wrote: post #75

autokad wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(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…

GoT would have a huge figure if hbo did international releases via Netflix. DC released Titans on Netflix international. I saw heaps of people streaming it on their phones via Netflix on the train. If GoT was on Netflix I suspect piracy would drop a lot (not completely cos people will always pirate)

Re: Netflix Flexes

#103

Post by super-serial » Mon, Jan 28, 2019, 2:00 AM UTC

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #96

mlthoughts2018 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 f…

Ultimately what everyone wants is a super easy interface to pay for precise a la carte content, never bundled, never subscription-based. I 100% do not want this. I want to pay for one subscription to get all the media I want (music, tv shows, movies, books, etc). And I don’t care at all about ownership. I’d pay $50-100/month for this subscription, and we’re getting close if you don’t mind cobbling together a half doz…

That's expensive if you don't watch much TV. I just watch sci-fi shows and wish I could put my money just towards those types of shows. My perfect subscription would be a mix, where I pay a small fee per month but can try out individual shows. If I like the show I'd pay for the rest of the season.

For example Amazon now has The Expanse, Starz has Counterpart, Netflix has Black Mirror and I also liked the new Lost in Space. Hulu has... Future Man? CBS All Access has... the ability to ruin Star Trek, so I might want to watch that train wreck.

Anyway if there was a cheap subscription like Amazon Prime which allowed me to try out a couple free episodes, then pay $3 per episode that would work. That way I feel like I'm supporting the specific shows I want to see.

Re: Netflix Flexes

#104

Post by lh7777 » Mon, Jan 28, 2019, 2:04 AM UTC

happybuy wrote: post #98

All the signs indicate that Netflix has become a user hostile company that is prioritising ongoing user engagement and stickiness over their users needs. It's starting to remind me of another company which at one point in their evolution prioritised user engagement over everything else – Facebook. Once this occurs, it is a long slippery slope which leads to a series of user hostile internal decisions which ultimately…

I think their worst decision of late is to include auto-playing "trailers" (with sound!) when you pause for more than a second on a title. Between that and the lack of a decent "browse by category" interface you mentioned, I rarely bother using the TV UI to discover content. Googling "what's good on netflix" works much better for me.

At least you can still disable the auto-play next episode "feature".

Re: Netflix Flexes

#105

Post by goostavos » Mon, Jan 28, 2019, 2:05 AM UTC

jammygit wrote: post #83

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…

Its not fair imho to underplay the movie itself. Maybe it wouldn't have done as well if it wasn't marketed as hard, but I didn't tell my friends about it because Netflix made me. Bird Box was one of the best horror movies I've ever seen.

I'm going to be really, _really_ smug here, but you should probably branch out in your movie watching if Bird Box was the best horror movie you've ever seen.

Re: Netflix Flexes

#106

Post by rajacombinator » Mon, Jan 28, 2019, 2:16 AM UTC

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…

Netflix can push trash to all their viewers, but eventually if you push too much trash you lose your viewers. Their current model can’t work long term.

Re: Netflix Flexes

#107

Post by nojvek » Mon, Jan 28, 2019, 2:22 AM UTC

giancarlostoro wrote: post #77

gh02t wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Any good Anime you recommend ?

I loved Violet Evergreen. It was very well done as an animation. The others are “your lie in April”. That legit made me sob. I usually don’t get that emotional. (Although not a Netflix original).

Re: Netflix Flexes

#108

Post by nojvek » Mon, Jan 28, 2019, 2:28 AM UTC

lsc wrote: post #54

FreeKill wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I also find interesting is the fact that Netflix doesn't necessarily even need the "flex" to succeed. Their push on bird box could have failed miserably, and they really wouldn't have suffered greatly, whereas Disney's push of A Wrinkle in Time probably hurt, since the movie ultimately flopped and their only chance to recoup costs was after the huge investment. Netflix's goal is quite distinct from much of its c…

Yeah... I mean, when this switch occurred (away from having a wide selection of classics towards being more of a cable channel with their own custom content) I canceled my subscription. I switched to amazon video... I can't say I'm always thrilled with the video quality, but amazon video usually has what I want to watch, and they make watching it low effort (They usually charge me a few dollars to watch it, but if I'…

Amazon video has some nice content but their streaming quality is dogshit. For first 10 mins I get pixelated video and then it catches up with SD. Proper HD is a hit and a miss. Also their App for vizio TVs is so bloated that it crashes the TV after a couple of episodes.

Netflix on the other hand has their tech together. Beautiful streaming and lightweight responsive app.

Please Amazon, pay your Engineers well and make an app that doesn’t crash at the least.

Re: Netflix Flexes

#109

Post by dylan604 » Mon, Jan 28, 2019, 2:30 AM UTC

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…

I'm much more likely to give an unknown movie a chance sitting on my couch than I am making an effort to go to a theater. I will pretty much give anything a chance for 15-20 mins streaming, and have no qualm turning it off if I just don't like it. I have found some decent things this way, and just stop watching stinkers (more than I've enjoyed).

I believe this is has a huge portion of Netflix's ability to get tons of people to watch their content. Fish in a barrel, trapped audience, whatever cliché you prefer. Of course I agree with the hype machine and self-promo within their apps as you've described as well. Combined together, it's a powerful marketing/promotion result.

Re: Netflix Flexes

#110

Post by AdrianB1 » Mon, Jan 28, 2019, 2:38 AM UTC

misterprime wrote: post #38

jVinc wrote: post #21

My takeaway from Birdbox is the old adage: "Any observed statistical regularity will tend to collapse once pressure is placed upon it for control purposes." Sure it got tons of views because of all the advertisement and the tons of focus on viral media advertisement on every single platform. But the reaction from people watching it before me when asked if it was good was "Well I mean, I did watch it to the end, but i…

For me it was: "Cool, this is some decent new content from something I was already paying for." Perhaps if I wasn't already a subscriber and the social media hype led me to subscribe I would be disappointed, but for an existing subscriber? I'll keep my auto-renew going.

For me, it was the time to ask myself seriously if I should cancel the subscription. The "decent new content" is subjectively mediocre and most of what I see in the catalog is mediocre or worse. I have just 3 TV series I enjoyed in the past year, 2 are British weird stuff and one is Altered Carbon, all were ok, nothing great.