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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

#391

Post by snuxoll »

austhrow743 wrote: post #264
ohithereyou wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 Pirac…

Physical discs.

DRM, high cost, and ironically, poor availability (I bought all the seasons of ER in 1080p off iTunes, there exists no Blu-Ray sets for the show and the DVDs are often more expensive than what I paid Apple for digital copies that I promptly stripped the DRM from)

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

#392

Post by jasonlotito »

gambiting wrote: post #371
01100011 wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, only $140/month? What a deal... Bring it down to $60-$80 and I'd consider it.

All of these values are insane to me. People really spend that much to effectively watch TV?

No.

With "effectively TV" you had to sit down at a certain time and watch it at that time. You had a selection of shows you could watch on a number of channels.

What the person here is talking about is $140 for something that is not "effectively TV." They can watch it pretty much where ever they want. They can watch it without commercials. They aren't limited to the shows or channels available on their provider. They get instant access to movies they want to watch, when they want to watch it, without need of special, single use hardware.

> All of these values are insane to me.

It's a special kind of hubris to to assume that everyone else is insane and you are not when you admittedly don't understand the topic at hand.

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

#393

Post by b_tterc_p »

Alupis wrote: post #229
b_tterc_p wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

I get that people do this and the mental path that leads there. I don’t get people who are self aware of doing it and still complain. If you’d be comfortable randomly watching garbage so long as you don’t expend effort to choose it, then pick randomly. Alternatively if there’s nothing on it you want to watch, don’t watch it.

I think this comes across as condescending but I really don’t get it.

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

#394

Post by yissp »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #386
jrnichols wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what's frustrated me about Netflix originals is the same thing that drove me away from a lot of traditional TV - some awesome shows being cancelled after 2-3 seasons. I had hoped that Netflix would at least give their own shows a good story arc, but nope. they're doing the same thing Fox/CBS/NBC do. i still much prefer shows without commercials, though.

Somebody wrote about this during the last week (can't remember where): Netflix purposely only produces two seasons of shows, because that's the right amount to convert new subscribers without alienating old ones enough to quit.

https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/the-slow-death-of-hollywo...

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

#395

Post by magwa101 »

Netflix is so hard to use. They constantly recommend their latest releases when I have no interest at all. My behavior shows what I want to watch. I have a "My List" filled out. I've been on it for 20 years. Their motivations are obviously not aligned. Youtube recommendations are an example of a working system. Netflix is toast.

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

#396

Post by TheCoelacanth »

pok1poekpo12 wrote: post #94
colemickens wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious to understand what you're describing. Can you give an example of a Netflix show, the season and political trope, and how it detracted from the show's quality? And I'm definitely curious what you're imagining as you write out "repulsive".

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.

> Accept gay people

That completely misses the point. The episode is about men not being able to connect with each other except through gaming.

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

#397

Post by closeparen »

SkyPuncher wrote: post #145
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…

Having listened to podcasts with several important Netflix people as guests, I have picked up that they are unintentionally user hostile. They're so focused on data that it seems they completely forget about the intangible side of enjoying the user experience. Seems like they can't see the forest for the trees.

Stated and revealed preferences are very different. In some ways this is the fundamental problem of media. It killed newspapers, too: once they could analyze readership at a per-article level, it became clear that people who say they value true, in-depth reporting are liars. No one reads that stuff. Content increasingly became shaped by what the data say people actually want, despite it being fashionable to talk about one's disgust for it.

I imagine Netflix is thinking along these lines. Ratings are performative; engagement metrics tell the truth.

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

#398

Post by qbaqbaqba »

throwaway_009 wrote: post #176
bluntfang wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>They started going downhill with every original show losing logical consistency after the 1st or 2nd season Is this any different than network shows?

True, I have spoken to a lot of people and there seems to have been a lot of political propaganda in every Netflix / Hollywood movie / show / even music videos. I am so tired of the ideology shoved down the throat that I stopped watching anything these days. I just want a good story. I fear it will get worse because of the vertical integration and monopoly of the entertainment business, they can keep making bad movie…

Luckily older books and movies are still there.

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

#399

Post by isbjorn16 »

ryacko wrote: post #224
isbjorn16 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

That blows my mind; I never would have considered people would focus on the actors or the director. Until you said it I don't once thing I ever even considered the possibility! I'm kinda floored right now.

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

#400

Post by wool_gather »

wang_li wrote: post #325
atombender wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People aren't asking for a single distribution channel in the sense of a single monolithic company owning all the IP. They do want (1) convenient apps that aggregate, such as Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video, and (2) a way to get all the content without having to pay lots of individual companies (I'm subscribing to around 5 streaming services myself). Why can't video be like music? Spotify and Apple Music aggregate pr…

> a way to get all the content without having to pay lots of individual companies Ironic, as a decade ago the complaint was that we need a la cart pricing. Now that it's happening everyone is complaining about it being too expensive. What it seems people really want is the cable all you can eat buffet model, but at a 90% discount.

À la carte means you pay for the ITEMS you consume. This is absolutely not à la carte. This is multi-prix fixe pricing.
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