Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable • Hacker News Board

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#271

Post by monocasa » Mon, Jan 17, 2022, 5:31 PM UTC

FinalBriefing wrote: post #251

Gustomaximus wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't write them off yet. Disney, Apple and Amazon seem the only real competitors as this is a game of scale. Disney is even more content limited and better for kids. Apple never got it right, cant see them fixing it now. And Amazon stuffed it between their mixed model where half the stuff you want to watch has extra fees + generally limited inclusive content, though the prime membership might buy that back. Bot…

What do you mean by "Apple never got it right"?

Yeah, Apple's content has been some of the best, particularly for such a new player. I was shocked at how they became an HBO equivalent in about two years.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#272

Post by TheCoelacanth » Mon, Jan 17, 2022, 5:31 PM UTC

dartharva wrote: post #30

Huh, interesting. Netflix recently slashed its prices in India, that too by a considerable margin.

Isn't it still pretty expensive compared to what an average Indian can afford, though? They're presumably hoping to be able to get much wider adoption by lowering prices. In the US on the other hand, there wouldn't be much room for growth among people who can't afford their current prices.

Netflix's lowest plan in India is about $2 USD/month while the per capita GDP is about $1,900. A year of Netflix costs about 1.2% of per capita GDP. If they charged a proportional amount for the US's per capita GDP of $63,500, their lowest plan would be about $67/month.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#273

Post by azalemeth » Mon, Jan 17, 2022, 5:32 PM UTC

Are there any streaming services of video, beyond youtube, the BBC and national broadcasters, that don't use DRM? I've been interested in looking around this space, but I won't buy a product with DRM. The closest thing I've found is the excellent www.arte.tv, but that's mostly a documentary, dance, classical music and generic "cultural only" platform (funded by the EU).

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#274

Post by Nextgrid » Mon, Jan 17, 2022, 5:32 PM UTC

inanutshellus wrote: post #192

redm wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised YouTube isn't on your list. We having streaming services, but my kids mostly watch YouTube.

Youtube is pretty magical. It has everything, even in the "kid zone". Which also means I can't leave them unsupervised for 30 minutes and come back. If I do, my kids will've gone from educational video about the rain forest to sponsored video to toy videos to slime to fart jokes to music videos of bikini-clad bimbos to steamy romance videos to ... Anyway it's just too much work to curate youtube for a child, IMO. For…

I see so many of these complaints about YT having lots of good family-friendly content but at the same time being terrible at curation even in the kids mode.

Seems like the problem can be solved with a crowdsourced list of family-friendly videos (on GitHub?) managed by trusted collaborators and then a simple page that embeds only these videos?

Over time I assume it should work given enough people contributing. It's not like the content needs to be kept continuously up to date either (unless old videos disappear faster than new ones are added).

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#275

Post by mvanbaak » Mon, Jan 17, 2022, 5:33 PM UTC

Jaruzel wrote: post #101

henriquez wrote: post #63

Yarr harr fiddle dee dee… I canceled Netflix years ago on the heels of a previous absurd price hike. Somehow I still am able to watch all the shows I want. Weird!

OK I'll say it.... What are you going to watch when no-one bothers to make good TV anymore, because people like you don't pay for it, but watch it anyway? I'm sure you are employed also, so how about I say 'hey I'll take and use your output, but I won't pay you for it' ? You'll be fine with that, right? Pirating TV/Films that you can legally watch in your country is immoral, and left unchecked will lead to the overal…

Pirating is driven by more then just price.

When the streaming service blocks certain subtitle/audio languages (that they do have available if you have an account with them but in a different region) and they DONT allow you to watch their content in a 3rd party player (so I can actually get those subs/audio channels), they ASK for people to pirate the content.

I would subscribe back to them instantly the moment they simply provide their content over an API so I can use things like plex or kodi to watch their content.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#276

Post by pnathan » Mon, Jan 17, 2022, 5:33 PM UTC

redm wrote: post #160

samwillis wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 surprised YouTube isn't on your list. We having streaming services, but my kids mostly watch YouTube.

YouTube is a terrifying cascade of "wtf" for children.

IMO it's completely unsuitable for unsupervised children under, say, 13.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#277

Post by bogomipz » Mon, Jan 17, 2022, 5:34 PM UTC

neximo64 wrote: post #40

discardable_dan wrote: post #2

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…

Completely disagree. This is about power, they are raising the price simply because they can and people will stay on. They've got a long way to go to increase it before the elasticity changes. The business model was never about being really underpriced, that was just a way to acquire customers.

How do you imagine they are "raising the price simply because they can" when their growth has slowed[1] and they have decided to no longer use debt in order to finance content?[2] I think those two facts taken together are a much more plausible explanation of why they are raising prices i.e because they have to. Further given the competitive head-winds they're now facing streaming space they are definitely not in position of price leadership.

[1] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/as-netflix-growth-slows-st...

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/business/netflix-earnings...

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#278

Post by pil4rin » Mon, Jan 17, 2022, 5:35 PM UTC

nirvdrum wrote: post #245

KingMachiavelli wrote: post #175

I really hope Netflix proves everyone wrong. HBO and Disney+ may have a huge advantage but neither seems interested in the tech side. Disney+ may be OK now (it's been a while since I checked) but HBO Max seems to be extremely inconsistent when it comes to streaming quality. Even new, popular shows like Euphoria on HBO Max are only 1080p with a bitrate so low that the frequent, dimly lit scenes are a blocky mess. At t…

I dropped Netflix about a year ago in no small part because any show with dark scenes (e.g., "Stranger Things") look like a blocky mess in HD. For a while, I thought somehow my network was at fault, but I don't have the issue with other services. When I looked into it, it seems Netflix's HD compression is bad on OLED displays and the "solution" is to pay them a premium to get 4K streams. Meanwhile, the other provider…

How would the compression change for OLED vs standard LCD etc? I guess it could be generally bad but only noticeable on a OLED?

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#279

Post by berberous » Mon, Jan 17, 2022, 5:36 PM UTC

cm2012 wrote: post #173

tptacek wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Discussing only on the merits of their content, and stipulating that this is neither here nor there with respect to Netflix's long-term prospects vs. HBO: Breaking Bad isn't an HBO show. So I assume we're just asking, "has Netflix produced any world-class content". The answer to that is yes. The jewel in their crown, their "Game of Thrones", is clearly Stranger Things. It's undeniably successful, each new season a cu…

Plus Arcane which is in the top 20 tv shows of all time on IMBD.

First I’ve heard of Arcane. Is it actually good and worth watching if I have zero interest and know nothing about Lol, or is it really just rated highly because of anime/gaming fans?

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#280

Post by salamandersauce » Mon, Jan 17, 2022, 5:36 PM UTC

ericmay wrote: post #205

discardable_dan wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Why aren't Apple's shows (and movies?) appealing to you? If you dropped them on HBO I wouldn't know the difference. There are lots of different genres, great actors, and compelling stories. We have Netflix (via T-Mobile), Hulu, Prime, HBO, Disney+ and Apple TV. Some of these (Disney/Hulu) are from family or friends. WE only pay for Prime (probably the lowest quality of all of these) and Apple TV (because of Apple One…

Not OP but the only show I've enjoyed on ATV+ was Ted Lasso. They have no back catalog either. Not enough content to even get me to browse around. Only had it because they bundled it with student subs of Apple Music, otherwise never would have subbed.