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Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

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Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#41
post #8

I said this again recently, but it's worth repeating: Netflix is on the very fast downward slope. Their catalog is wilting, the space is heating up with well-established competitors moving in and serving the precise content that Netflix originally built their brand on, and their efforts to fund a new catalog with new IP (and taking ownership of old IP) is destroying the business model that made them so appealing in t…

Most of the competitors can lean on a decades long backlog of hits that attract people. Netflix needs to build everything from scratch, and the cost of creating TV series is ridiculously high nowadays

How many are subscribing to competitors to watch backlog? If they are, it's going to be short lived where folks subscribe for a month or two, hit the target backlogs in binge mode, and move along.

I have a few streaming services and rarely ever am I watching old content (the key stuff I've already consumed). I subscribe to services for their new content, not their old catalog. Maybe I'm the exception and not the norm of the typical subscriber.

I blame the lack of investment in target shows and focus on broad short lived and quickly canceled shows to the decline. I understand their business model catering to short attention spans but it puts me off a large swath of their content. Unless it's a movie or mini series with full conclusion, I tend to skip right over the content anymore no matter how interesting the story may seem to be. The last thing I want is to get drawn in and invested in a story only to have wasted my time and have the remainder canceled. Entertainment is part of it but many people want a beginning to end story of some sort. If you want to cater to short attention spans, good luck competing with YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok content.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#42

Something I’ve found interesting with cable vs. streaming services is that when cable was the only option, people didn’t like that you had to get the sports package to somehow get the history channel. In addition to this, it’s extremely difficult to turn on and off access to certain cable packages because you’d need to call them. Now though, we have the content split up very piecemeal and I now hear complaints that “…

But you still don't get content a la carte; Paramount's service comes with Nickelodeon and CBS football whether you want them or not, and they continue to push their favorite broadcast stuff no matter why you originally subscribed.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#43

I said this again recently, but it's worth repeating: Netflix is on the very fast downward slope. Their catalog is wilting, the space is heating up with well-established competitors moving in and serving the precise content that Netflix originally built their brand on, and their efforts to fund a new catalog with new IP (and taking ownership of old IP) is destroying the business model that made them so appealing in t…

While I don't entirely agree with you I do think the price of Netflix is getting a little higher than the value we personally get out of it. Our personal breakdown this year (in the UK): Adults in the house, we are quite picky but if we love it then we will keep watching: Netflix @£9.99: 2 tv shows, 4-5 films Apple TV+ @£4.99: 3 tv shows, 2 films Disney Plus @£7.99: 1 tv show, Loads of movies Amazon Prime @£7.99: 3 t…

I'm about in your boat, except with HBO Max instead of Apple TV+ (their shows aren't as appealing to me). And as those numbers climb and I look at one to cut, Netflix is the easiest. That's the whole point, though: Netflix is going to be the service on the chopping block before these others.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#44
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the competitors can lean on a decades long backlog of hits that attract people. Netflix needs to build everything from scratch, and the cost of creating TV series is ridiculously high nowadays

I wonder what the percentage of old shows is in total watched minutes. I almost never watch shows or movies older than ~2 years or so. I'm sure that's different for kid's movies, but I think I'm not too much of an exception.

In recent years I'm too busy to focus on watching something new, so usually I'll put on something I've already seen a hundred times for background "watching". Currently rewatching Silicon Valley, before that was Saved By The Bell (ahh, nostalgia).

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> besides maintaining their CDN and tweaking recommendation engines But engineers are not product managers tho. I think this is exactly what they were doing.

Product managers don't build things.

Engineers have very little say in what to build.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#46
post #3

I said this again recently, but it's worth repeating: Netflix is on the very fast downward slope. Their catalog is wilting, the space is heating up with well-established competitors moving in and serving the precise content that Netflix originally built their brand on, and their efforts to fund a new catalog with new IP (and taking ownership of old IP) is destroying the business model that made them so appealing in t…

Their mobile app was offering games the other day. I think they have some ideas how to diversify. Also, they are global. Are HBO, Disney+, Paramount, Peacock the same? (I leave Hulu off as it seems to limp along? Not sure).

An unrelated, highly competitive area with many entrenched players already. Not a great pick to bolster growth imo.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#47
post #7

It's all starting to get expensive. The content on Netflix keeps disappearing without warnings. Half the time you have subtitles in a limited number of languages. Also they now started adding games, why do I need to pay extra for games I never subscribed for or even want? Make it a add-on or something. For example, Netflix DE has subtitles but the Netflix UK won't have the same German subtitles available. Disney+ is…

I've heard you can sometimes work around this by changing your profile language. Have you tried setting it to German?

Seems daunting to need to switch profile language's for this?

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#49

I said this again recently, but it's worth repeating: Netflix is on the very fast downward slope. Their catalog is wilting, the space is heating up with well-established competitors moving in and serving the precise content that Netflix originally built their brand on, and their efforts to fund a new catalog with new IP (and taking ownership of old IP) is destroying the business model that made them so appealing in t…

Would suggest long term puts? Not sure if the gaming pivot can be successful

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#50
> But Netflix’s quarterly subscriber growth is now slowing in spite of spending more money than ever on content

To me the problem is the content. They now seem to produce shows for particular niches that are never my niche. Some of these extremely expensive shows are laughably low quality on all fronts: story, acting, stylistic choices, cinematography/direction... everything.

Take the new Cowboy Bebop: it's obviously not made for fans of the original. Is it made for new fans? For adults? For children? I couldn't tell.

Half the tentpole movies of the 80s, 90s and early 2000s were my niche, so it's not as though I'm a difficult audience.

If Netflix produce shows with particular political or cultural slants, they need to make sure there's an audience of people who watches shows for their politics & cultural slants, rather than for being, er, good.

I watch shows with compelling stories and solid characters. I'm not interested in race, gender, sexual orientation, identity, etc, except inasmuch as it makes for interesting stories and adds to a character's personality or motivations.

There's an audience of people on Twitter who defend/malign Netflix shows, and people on Youtube who make/consume video essays about them, but is anybody in that group actively watching that original content with joy and getting more value from their Netflix subscription than they got the previous year?

I wish I were, but I'm not.

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