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Netflix CEO may have missed the real reason why US subscriber numbers plunged

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Re: Netflix CEO may have missed the real reason why US subscriber numbers plunged

#221

Post by nabilhat »

tedsanders wrote: post #122

There's something I don't understand, but I'd like to. Most of the criticisms of Netflix I see fall into two buckets: One common criticism is that Netflix is worse than regular TV, because having to actively choose a Netflix show is more stressful than regular TV, where you can just turn it on, sit back, and relax. The second common criticism I read is that Netflix is annoying, because as soon as you turn it on, it s…

To the first criticism - Internet TV is somewhat like using a tivo or similar. It removes the time constraints attached to broadcast and cable TV. Internet TV has the additional advantage of being pre-loaded with content, no planning ahead is necessary.

To the second criticism - Broadcast and cable TV used to be accompanied by programming schedules published in local newspapers. Additionally, TV Guide was a real magazine with programming schedules that people paid real money for. People made effort and spent money to be able to quietly peruse and discover what to watch.

These two responses are entirely correlated. The ability to quietly browse and discover content is the best thing internet TV has going for it. Netflix's abandonment of this concept has driven me back to the TV Guide model. I make my viewing choices off of Netflix, and never open Netflix until I know exactly where I'm going, and only when I know that there are no other less intrusive options.

Look at it this way - Think about movie theater previews, and how much people complain about them. Effectiveness of those previews aside, imagine what that would look like if the preview was for the movie they actually went to see.

Re: Netflix CEO may have missed the real reason why US subscriber numbers plunged

#222

Post by rurp »

teilo wrote: post #115

Netflix is becoming more and more of a frustrating experience. First they removed all user reviews. Then they removed ratings. (or vice versa. Whatever.) They constantly shift things around in their UI. Even things like "My List" and "Continue Watching" will spontaneously move. They hide categories, and sub-categories, making browsing and discovery a pain. They constantly throw crap at me that I don't care about and…

Heh, you pretty much nailed all of my Netflix complaints perfectly. All of those factors combined have left a such a sour taste in my mouth, I rarely ever even try to find new shows to watch on Netflix these days, after being a huge fan of the service some years go. The auto-play trailers that can't be disabled and the now-awful recommendations have especially turned me off.

Re: Netflix CEO may have missed the real reason why US subscriber numbers plunged

#223

Post by res0nat0r »

bamboozled wrote: post #207
res0nat0r wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Free is always going to be more attractive and excuses made by folks who don't want to pay for services. Netflix/Prime/HBO/etc all work perfectly fine, just sign up once, login, and that's it. Folks are just using this yet again as an excuse to not want to pay more than $10/month for every tv show and movie ever made, but that's not sustainable. It was obvious from the start that folks who wanted to cut the cord and…

Folks are just using this yet again as an excuse to not want to pay more than $10/month for every tv show and movie ever made This is absolutely not accurate. These streaming services lock you into a specific catalogue of their curated material. There is absolutely no way the statement you made about having access to everything is true. It's also especially less true if you're not living in the US. For example if you…

> With p2p sharing, none of this is a blocker.

Of course it isn't, because it is illegal and free.

> "Remastered" or "Deluxe" editions available for streaming. I don't remember that being part of the deal when signing up. Now I'm forced to listen to sub-par versions of albums.

This has nothing to do with Spotify, it is for example when the entire Led Zeppelin original master tapes get remastered in the studio by the label, and they re-release old mono albums or older albums in a better fidelity format then when they were recorded years ago thanks to technological progress.

Re: Netflix CEO may have missed the real reason why US subscriber numbers plunged

#224

Post by ryacko »

isbjorn16 wrote: post #92
randrews wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have this problem with ML and recommendation systems in general. I hope this fad goes away soon and people go back to making simple, understandable, show-me-the-newest-stuff feeds.

Right - I just feel like it takes things entirely too far. Not every signal deserves a boost that takes a certain genre of suggestions up to 11. These recommendation systems need to be a bit less zealous; I like black pepper, too, but that doesn't mean I want a huge bowl of black peppercorns in cream sauce for dinner.

People tend to look up movies not by theme, but by actor or director. Could Netflix be okay with categories that don’t fill up entire screens?

Re: Netflix CEO may have missed the real reason why US subscriber numbers plunged

#225

Post by ohithereyou »

inetknght wrote: post #211
noelsusman wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course people would rather pay $10 a month to access everything, but that's just not sustainable. Look at Netflix's own financials. They got into content creation and they're now deep in debt despite their massive subscriber base. I also don't get why everyone is clamoring for one company to control all video entertainment distribution. Isn't that what we hated about cable? Didn't we beg for the ability to pick an…

> I also don't get why everyone is clamoring for one company to control all video entertainment distribution. Isn't that what we hated about cable? Didn't we beg for the ability to pick and choose what we actually want to pay for? Now we finally have that and people instantly want to go back? Why? 1) I don't want to pay for content I won't watch. 2) I don't want to be required to pay for content I won't watch in orde…

The only system that can cover all five of your points right now is piracy.

1) No charge, so you're not paying for content you won't watch

2) Same as 1

3) A torrent client speaking RSS + a private torrent site that serves RSS covers this

4) You pay with nothing - no money, no data, and no viewing history

5) Files without DRM can be played on any device and cannot be retroactively deleted by the service provider

Piracy really is most often a services problem.

Re: Netflix CEO may have missed the real reason why US subscriber numbers plunged

#227

Post by miguelmota »

It seems like Netflix is focusing on quantity rather than quality. They crank out a ton of Netflix Originals but they're all pretty uninteresting and almost seems tailored to high schoolers. I get that they're trying to capture young audiences but the content has sucked for a while and their lack of inventory of non-Netflix Original movies is what caused me to cancel my subscription last year.

Would think that most people don't sign up for Netflix for their Netflix Original content and those that do end up disappointed after realizing that Netflix doesn't offer recent or classic movies.

I remember when I could stream on multiple devices and watch classic TV shows which was awesome but now it's more expensive with all the different subscription tiers and they've removed some of my favorite shows.

Spotify subscribers get offered a Hulu subscription for free (comes with ads though). Hulu has the good classic shows that Netflix no longer has.

Re: Netflix CEO may have missed the real reason why US subscriber numbers plunged

#228

Post by canada_dry »

zadkey wrote: post #38

I think Netflix needs to invest in quality over quantity. I agree, its hard to find something I want to watch. There is definitely choice fatigue. If they had 1/3 as many shows but those shows were 3 times better. I am sure I would have no problem.

My take on the issue is that the whole tv/movie/entertainment industry far too insular!

It's a relatively small clique of writers, producers, directors and actors that they keep throwing money at despite failure after failure.

What they need to do is stop with the incestuous industry patronage and get fresh blood!

Perhaps we need an "America's Got Talent" equivalent for writers/producers to pitch their show ideas and let people have a crack at it.

Re: Netflix CEO may have missed the real reason why US subscriber numbers plunged

#229

Post by Alupis »

b_tterc_p wrote: post #209
Alupis wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They got into content creation and they're now deep in debt despite their massive subscriber base. I've found that while Netflix has some decent original content - the overwhelming majority of it is garbage and totally uninteresting. Sometimes I feel some of the Netflix Originals where mothballed from normal venues, so Netflix picked it up, failing to realize why nobody else wanted to produce it in the first place.…

> the overwhelming majority of it is garbage and totally uninteresting. This is true of pretty much all tv. Because most people want that.

If I'm going to search through a bunch of listings, and select a show that's part of a series, all just to have something on while eating a 20 minute meal, I feel like I need to have something good on that I'm committing too.

On the other hand, if I turn on my cable box and Dog the Bounty Hunter happens to be on and halfway through an episode, I'll watch it until I'm done eating and be done with it. I don't actually care what going on in the episode, and I'm only half paying attention. It's mostly just noise and moving pictures in the background.

That's "disposable" television, and it's only something that you can get from an always on network.

Netflix requires more effort, and with that effort I feel I should get something good out of that time. Instead I spend 30 minutes looking for something to watch only to give up, switch back to network television, and eat my now cold meal.

Re: Netflix CEO may have missed the real reason why US subscriber numbers plunged

#230

Post by ohithereyou »

foldr wrote: post #192
pok1poekpo12 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good Example: Black Mirror episode where man has sex with his friend in Mortal Kombat. Is this really an interesting addition to the Black Mirror world? Accept gay people, alright, whatever; I still don't want to watch 2 people having VR chat sex.

If you're only objecting to gratuitous gay sex, that's just homophobia. And come on, gratuitous straight sexual content has been on TV for a long time.

Forgive me if I'm missing something, but how did you get

>you're only objecting to gratuitous gay sex

from

>I still don't want to watch 2 people having VR chat sex

?

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