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Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

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Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#831

Post by distantaidenn »

HWR_14 wrote: post #814
namdnay wrote: post #616

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok I think I get it. Maybe more “African American” than “Black”

When an American says "black", they often mean "African American". The reasons why one would use one word over the other is usually more about social conventions between synonyms and less about trying to describe different ideas. It's really self-centered when we use "black" to mean "African American". It's strange when it goes the other way. You'll hear some Americans call Idris Elba an African-American.

When I say "Black", I mean "Black". If I want to single out Americans, I say "Black Americans."

I'm all for dropping the term African American, unless it's referring to a recent immigrant. It's a misnomer from the past, that for some reason people consider PC.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#832

Post by dcow »

filoeleven wrote: post #806
dcow wrote: post #804

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn’t say those examples are exclusive. I simply said there exists non-attenuated content.

I didn’t either. Your phrasing suggest that it’s mostly violent and sexual.

I don’t think I was suggesting that.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#833

Post by dcow »

tptacek wrote: post #810
dcow wrote: post #805

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You just have to be interested in video content that is unapologetically centered in Black culture, and that isn't burning any of its narrative fuel trying to make that cultural background feel familiar or especially palatable to other cultures. Yes, I am. I’m not asking for content that caters to me. You don’t have to white wash your content in order to be inclusive. You don’t have to burn any narrative fuel on fr…

They should ignore you for now. They're not going to build a business on getting fussy message board nerds to watch Black content. No part of their message should have anything to do with making you feel more welcome, or really feel anything at all.

Then we shall see if they find success. We clearly have different hypotheses in how they should approach their messaging. That’s fine.

Take a look at https://allblk.tv/. Inclusively, yet unapologetically, black. It’s not that hard and really we’re not just talking about appeasing message board nerds here. If that was the case they really shouldn't listen to anybody on this forum, now should they?

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#834

Post by robertlagrant »

em-bee wrote: post #476
robertlagrant wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Most of the lyrics in rap songs are generally by black people and intended for black audiences, but it doesn't mean other people don't love it, can't appreciate it, or shouldn't listen. We tried "rap music for white people" and we decided we preferred the rap music for black people :D

do you really mean rap for black people or rap from black people?

It was a joke my friend :)

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#835

Post by dmix »

imbnwa wrote: post #280
Server6 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not OP, but yeah the market has clearly changed. Everything we consume today and media in general has been fractured, organized into subcategories, and is now delivered by algorithms. I my opinion the problem isn't that there is no demand for black-focused media, its that its just become another subcategory of Netflix. And because it may not be as popular on Netflix it doesn't get as much production. Look at what Net…

> Look at what Netflix is producing these days - its mostly lowest common denominator algorithm driven garbage. This, the best content on Netflix in the last two or three years for my taste are largely foreign productions

Much like Reddit which hits lowest common denominator in all the big subs you have to dig for the quality stuff. And hope it gives you similar stuff, but I’ve found that harder on both Netflix and Reddit the bigger they got. But it’s still possible.

Twitter on the other hand seems to do everything possible to push you away from your niches and selected content, even though the whole idea is to follow people.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#836

Post by horrified »

reilly3000 wrote: post #827
gamblor956 wrote: post #566

Maybe I just have enough black friends in Hollywood, but in the past few years, the following shows from black showrunners all made the cultural zeitgist on broadcast tv: Blackish, Empire, How to Get Away with Murder, and Bob and Abishola; and on on cable/streaming: Atlanta, Insecure, Power, Dear White People, Lovecraft Country, and I May Destroy You. (Note, I am friends with some of the writing staff and crew on sev…

FWIW I don't gather that a lot of black people consume or respect BET how people may assume they do. Please read this reddit thread, it highlights so many opportunities: https://www.reddit.com/r/BlackPeopleTwitter/comments/aag6aj/... My summary of weak spots mentioned: - Not black-owned - Very heavy on commercials - Missing lots of quality content - Generally inauthentic - Not creating opportunities for HBCU students…

"Not black-owned"

I have to admit, I would have more sympathy with their cause if they weren't so openly racist.

I am in favour of freedom of opinion, though, so if they want "black owned" producers, they are certainly entitled to it.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#838

Post by dmix »

wolverine876 wrote: post #630
pierre wrote: post #427

Congrats on the launch, but you are attacking a difficult market, with a strong 'political' risk/factor as we can see in this thread. If I remember correctly there was a similar startup in YC S15 ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9903229 ) that shutdown 2 years after ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15292534 , https://techpoint.africa/2017/09/22/afrostream-shut-down/ ). In streaming content is king and ove…

> you are attacking a difficult market ... there was a similar startup in YC S15 ... that shutdown 2 years after ... That applies to almost every startup ever. I expect that every founder can report hearing similar feedback. I did omit one factor that differentiates this startup, but every startup has extra risks particular to it.

Most content startups like Reddit or Youtube are extremely difficult because of the chicken/egg problem (content/website visitors). With user generated content it’s usually free or close to free to acquire - most producers are happy with an audience and will upload themselves.

This sort of startup has three problems: a constant stream of content wrapped and delivered in a pretty multi-platform product, middlemaning the production of content by building networks of producers and talent or buying existing IP and also paying them upfront or hoping they take a gamble on your platform and get a piece visitor counts, and then also finding users for the site.

Each of those require some specialization.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#839

Post by dmix »

gpm wrote: post #752
zentiggr wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're opposed to the basic concept of marketing niches?

Not the person you're replying to, but thinking about this question, I think I am for distribution channels. A society based on this is running in an inefficient way, people duplicating work, not because they are competing to be better, but just because. That's got to be bad. A society segmenting what content is available you based on your demographic (even via self selection) seems bad. We should be encouraging cros…

The internet spent two decades being super niche driven (ie every music genre had its own forums and news sites, each blog had their own site, each porn category had their own sites, etc etc). Then it sort of converged into central platforms like YouTube, Netflix, Reddit, the giant porn streaming sites etc.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#840

Post by dmix »

frereubu wrote: post #123
slim wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By creating thought bubbles exactly like social media

That implies people who subscribed to this service would entirely stop watching other content. But you don't think that, do you?

Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit have all succeeded in creating social/thought bubbles and they aren’t even targeted at one niche. I don’t see how niche distribution sites adds to it either.

I just have some skepticism about juggling so many different pieces in order to get this to work.

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