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HBO Max taking on Netflix with human curation instead of relying on algorithms

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Re: HBO Max taking on Netflix with human curation instead of relying on algorithms

#91
There's a joke I saw somewhere. When you can Netflix someone picks up the phone and says "your show is greenlit, who am I talking to?"

Their overall quality feels like it's gone down and their non-netflix content feels incomplete (many movie series are only partially available). In that way Netflix has replaced basic cable for me.

Whereas HBO and Amazon Prime still produce shows that have a certain wow factor in terms of quality.

Re: HBO Max taking on Netflix with human curation instead of relying on algorithms

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If only the prices were lower to reflect that competition. There seems to be a tacit agreement that streamers will pay 6-12 USD a month per service. Netflix began at $8 with almost all popular content available (which could be streamed). Edit: cut extra word

The prices are much lower than a cable package.

Disney+ with Hulu, Netflix, HBO, Apple+, Amazon Prime, Starz, adds up if you want full coverage.

Re: HBO Max taking on Netflix with human curation instead of relying on algorithms

#93
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but how many of them are good? I can probably count the amount of Netflix original movies that I've heard discussed with one hand. And when it comes to stuff like Bird Box, the talk doesn't really even go with the quality.

Netflix is musty , as someone said to me. After overthinking, musty indeed is the best term for most of Netflix. Last movie I saw and liked at Netflix was The two popes . Netflix doesn't carry top series like - Exit https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9612102/ - Le bureau des légendes https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4063800/ - Okkupert EDIT was/is available https://www.netflix.com/title/80092654 In the US & Canada Netflix has…

"Top series" is subjective.

For me they have that: Dark. It is top of the top, just like first seasons of Lost.

They also have Luter, Sherlock. Both of which are pretty good.

Re: HBO Max taking on Netflix with human curation instead of relying on algorithms

#94
post #16

"Curators, ranging from WarnerMedia editors to celebrities, put together a list of movies and TV shows they’re watching" ok so how do I know which human's taste is the same as mine. If only there was a recommendation engine for that.

You beat me to it. I certainly want to be able to watch things recommended by $celebrity2.

If $celebrity = Tarantino then yes, that’s actually interesting.

Re: HBO Max taking on Netflix with human curation instead of relying on algorithms

#95

If they could show the IMDB rating, it would be enough for me.

Why do streaming services tend to show the Rotten Tomatoes score instead of IMDb? I trust the IMDb score a lot more...

Really? I trust Rotten Tomatoes more. But I don't have either in Netflix :(

HBO has IMDB.

Re: HBO Max taking on Netflix with human curation instead of relying on algorithms

#96
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it is as subjective as you might think. If it was you'd expect lists like the imdb top movies of all time to be constantly in flux. Instead, they're remarkably stable. If you would have said one individual's taste is subjective or subject to more variance I might be able to agree, but with more data points it seems humans are able to more or less define good from bad objectively. Anything with 10,000 or…

Duck Dynasty is widely popular with almost 9mm viewership. It has a rating of 6.3. Breaking Bad has 1.5mm viewership and an IMDB score of 9.5. If you're Netflix, do you make invest money into a show like Duck Dynasty or like Breaking bad.

You do both, but only give them 3 seasons.

Netflix has done decent drama along with some terrible reality shows (the one where men compete to impregnate one woman is notable https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/may/21/labor-o... ).

Re: HBO Max taking on Netflix with human curation instead of relying on algorithms

#97
post #16

"Curators, ranging from WarnerMedia editors to celebrities, put together a list of movies and TV shows they’re watching" ok so how do I know which human's taste is the same as mine. If only there was a recommendation engine for that.

You would look at their recommendations? Or you can follow the ones you like already?

This is super simple stuff.

Re: HBO Max taking on Netflix with human curation instead of relying on algorithms

#98
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it is as subjective as you might think. If it was you'd expect lists like the imdb top movies of all time to be constantly in flux. Instead, they're remarkably stable. If you would have said one individual's taste is subjective or subject to more variance I might be able to agree, but with more data points it seems humans are able to more or less define good from bad objectively. Anything with 10,000 or…

Duck Dynasty is widely popular with almost 9mm viewership. It has a rating of 6.3. Breaking Bad has 1.5mm viewership and an IMDB score of 9.5. If you're Netflix, do you make invest money into a show like Duck Dynasty or like Breaking bad.

Ya, I didn't cover them but there's certainly exceptions. Kids shows is a great example of a genre targeting a demographic which is likely under represented by the voting community - adults. Imdb is best viewed through the filter of "what do adults want to watch or think is good".

I remember watching duck dynasty, great kids show and I loved it, but I doubt it holds up for adults. Batman beyond on the other hand won an Emmy and still falls into the "kids show" genre but is very watchable for adults who can appreciate animated content.

So to answer your question, Netflix needs both as they represent very different audiences.

A few other exceptions that I didn't mention are comedies and horror. Ratings for these skew lower than average as they aren't meant to compete with Shawshank for greatest of all time, simply to entertain or scare. As such neither of these genres tend to attract serious directing, writing and acting talent and in turn, audiences tend to view them more as "fun" than serious.

You or I might love to watch pineapple express, hilarious comedy, but still vote it as a 6.9 because it doesn't hold a candle to Shawshank.

Re: HBO Max taking on Netflix with human curation instead of relying on algorithms

#99
post #71
post #53

This is a hard problem. And it makes a great interview question too! Recent PM interview question I've been using: You're the PM at Netflix handling the home screen. How do you determine how shows get promoted editorially vs algorithmically recommended? Walk through metrics/principles/trade-offs and how it impacts various parts of the biz. https://twitter.com/sriramk/status/1222547047846297600

This is a great question and I might steal this for future interviews. It's surprising how many of the people responding, despite being told optimizing for engagement is a cop-out, still jump to some kind of metric-based prescription. Or just jump right into throwing percentages for each content type (I mean, it's twitter, so sure, have a go). My personal stab at this: this is really a strategic question. What are Ne…

You're hired! Great strategic answer that gets to the heart of the question--it's less about the solution and more about how you frame the problem and the underlying goals and assumptions.

Do you work in this space? It seems like you have a lot of context around OTT/streaming.

Your answer also brought to mind this podcast episode I came across this morning: http://investorfieldguide.com/shishir-mehrotra-the-art-and-s...

It introduces a nice concept of "marginal churn contribution" framed with bundling, but I think is also relevant to this discussion. Maybe more on the content sourcing/production side, but bleeds over into long-term goals (reducing churn/maximizing ltv/etc).

Re: HBO Max taking on Netflix with human curation instead of relying on algorithms

#100

There's a joke I saw somewhere. When you can Netflix someone picks up the phone and says "your show is greenlit, who am I talking to?" Their overall quality feels like it's gone down and their non-netflix content feels incomplete (many movie series are only partially available). In that way Netflix has replaced basic cable for me. Whereas HBO and Amazon Prime still produce shows that have a certain wow factor in term…

I believe that was a bit on South Park.
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