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Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

bbc.com

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Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#191

Post by keenmaster »

CountSessine wrote: post #181
madrox wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hello! Former engineering director for DisneyLife here. Most of the team wasn't allowed to move to Disney+ and have since moved on. The DisneyLife journey would make a great book, but doesn't really fit into a HN comment. FWIW, DisneyLife was built by a team smaller than most YC startups. The core technology for DRM/streaming was licensed by another company. When BAM was purchased, the entire product got outsourced.…

Have you ever considered writing a blog about your experiences there? What little you did write here in the response about DisneyLife is actually how I think Disney+ is going to turn out (small team, underfunded, demoralized, forced to license 3rd rate tech based on external mandates, etc).

There is way too much riding on Disney+ for it to ever have a small team working on it or reduced funding. It may be the future of Disney.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#192

Post by Porthos9K »

empath75 wrote: post #114
JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netflix has ~160 million subscribers. So, they're saying they need to be a third of the size of Netflix to break even. Since "break even" isn't all that interesting to investors, for it to be profitably worthwhile, I'd imagine they need to essentially become as big as Netflix. It seems unclear how feasible that may be. The only thing keeping me wanting to use Netflix is quality content, which has been in decline rece…

people who have kids are going to get disney, no matter what.

Parents who actually love their children will avoid Disney like the plague.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#193

Post by endorphone »

zzzcpan wrote: post #107
cookiecaper wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. Last night I was telling my wife that it'll be real interesting to see how well the launch goes and that I'd expect them to have continuous issues for the first 3-6 months (which may be Netflix's only prayer). Video is hard to get right, with quirks across many combinations of platform/device/OS/browser version/video card/playback resolution/format features, and it consumes around 90% of total internet traffi…

> which may be Netflix's only prayer Isn't Disney projecting to get like 10-20% of subscribers compared to that of Netflix in five years? Why are people talking like Disney streaming is such a big thing?

There's a weird and recurring anti-Netflix sentiment on here that is rather hard to fathom. Netflix demise has been predicted among the tech community for years now. Keeps growing. As publishers pull content from Netflix, that's more money that Netflix has to entice other publishers and to make their own. I suspect they'll do fine.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#194

Post by paxys »

mizzao wrote: post #70
JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netflix has ~160 million subscribers. So, they're saying they need to be a third of the size of Netflix to break even. Since "break even" isn't all that interesting to investors, for it to be profitably worthwhile, I'd imagine they need to essentially become as big as Netflix. It seems unclear how feasible that may be. The only thing keeping me wanting to use Netflix is quality content, which has been in decline rece…

The main cost for Netflix is content, not engineering. They spend billions developing new shows. Disney has tons of existing material they can just monetize, so huge advantage there.

Disney isn't going to be able to sustain the subscriber numbers they want just by offering their back catalog, regardless of how good it is. They need to constantly release new content to keep people hooked, and shows like The Mandalorian and all the MCU ones are going to be as expensive to produce as what Netflix spends.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#195

Post by endorphone »

dewey wrote: post #141
zzzcpan wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> which may be Netflix's only prayer Isn't Disney projecting to get like 10-20% of subscribers compared to that of Netflix in five years? Why are people talking like Disney streaming is such a big thing?

Because Disney has a huge back catalog that they can use in the coming years ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_Vault ) would be one reason for that (and a lot of nostalgia).

A bunch of old movies that everyone has seen a hundred times, probably have on DVD, Blu-ray, and in all likelyhood mp4 form. Eh. The Disney "Vault" thing seems like it's a gimmick that is pretty threadbare now.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#196

Post by endorphone »

mizzao wrote: post #70
JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netflix has ~160 million subscribers. So, they're saying they need to be a third of the size of Netflix to break even. Since "break even" isn't all that interesting to investors, for it to be profitably worthwhile, I'd imagine they need to essentially become as big as Netflix. It seems unclear how feasible that may be. The only thing keeping me wanting to use Netflix is quality content, which has been in decline rece…

The main cost for Netflix is content, not engineering. They spend billions developing new shows. Disney has tons of existing material they can just monetize, so huge advantage there.

"Disney has tons of existing material they can just monetize"

To be clear, Disney is pulling the content from existing monetizations -- including Netflix -- to try to monetize it on their own platforms. This isn't free real estate. There is a very real cost.

And Netflix is going to put the money they aren't paying Disney to produce their own content and buy up other content.

Disney is playing a very risky gambit here.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#197

Post by madrox »

keenmaster wrote: post #191
CountSessine wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever considered writing a blog about your experiences there? What little you did write here in the response about DisneyLife is actually how I think Disney+ is going to turn out (small team, underfunded, demoralized, forced to license 3rd rate tech based on external mandates, etc).

There is way too much riding on Disney+ for it to ever have a small team working on it or reduced funding. It may be the future of Disney.

I think you may be surprised.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#198

Post by dwoozle »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #108
dwoozle wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s not the kind of thinking that really works for a brand with such massive consumer trust as Disney. You’re talking about a brand worth $100-200 billion, you don’t just “Take an L.”

Why not? How many customers do you think Disney lost for its morning disruptions? I'd guess basically zero.

That kind of thinking isn’t how top brands are built. Lexus doesn’t lose any customers if the scan button on the LS400 radio is a little fiddly, but that kind of thinking will poison a brand.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#199

Post by standardUser »

empath75 wrote: post #114
JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netflix has ~160 million subscribers. So, they're saying they need to be a third of the size of Netflix to break even. Since "break even" isn't all that interesting to investors, for it to be profitably worthwhile, I'd imagine they need to essentially become as big as Netflix. It seems unclear how feasible that may be. The only thing keeping me wanting to use Netflix is quality content, which has been in decline rece…

people who have kids are going to get disney, no matter what.

Most kids I know watch YouTube primarily, followed by Netflix. Kids freaking love YouTube.

Re: Disney+ hit by technical glitches on launch day

#200

Post by dewey »

endorphone wrote: post #195
dewey wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because Disney has a huge back catalog that they can use in the coming years ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_Vault ) would be one reason for that (and a lot of nostalgia).

A bunch of old movies that everyone has seen a hundred times, probably have on DVD, Blu-ray, and in all likelyhood mp4 form. Eh. The Disney "Vault" thing seems like it's a gimmick that is pretty threadbare now.

It’s not just about the existing movies. It’s about owning the franchises and licenses to them.
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