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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

#311
post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

The ideas aren't anything new but the execution is pretty good. Overall, a solid 8/10 I think.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#312

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. Their play here might just be waiting for Paramount+ and Peacock to throw in the towel and license their catalogs.

As a consumer that's exactly what I'm waiting for, I don't need yet another streaming service. Would rather save my money and let those niche streams starve

Exactly; what we all want is a Spotify/Apple Music situation for video streaming, but it sadly never happened. This is where I'd like government to step in and require content licensing. If you offer it on your platform or for physical sale, you have to offer it to other streaming providers at a reasonable (this is complicated) price.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#313

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…

After having sampled Disney+, HBOMax, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime a fair bit in the past year, my take is that Netflix has the UX nailed. I can, for instance, "thumbs down" a recommendation. Some offerings I never want to see. Their catalog tends to the darker themes, and I'm not fond of that. Hulu and Amazon Prime are mostly irrelevant to me. I'll probably axe the Hulu sub. HBO has a few things I like. Disney+ t…

I feel like there are two minutes of ads for every ten minutes of content on Hulu. It's ridiculous that you have to pay even more for an experience that is similar to the flat rate on Netflix and Disney+.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#314

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…

I disagree. The future of Netflix is in harnessing shows made all over the world. They’ve had some success with Korean and Indian shows so far but it is a vast untapped market especially when their audience is global too. They’ve also set bars for production value which results in world class content. My only qualm with them is they seem to enforce a feminist agenda where every show has to have a “strong, independent” woman character that turns out to be extremely limiting.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#315

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…

> Why aren't Apple's shows (and movies?) appealing to you?

What actual content do they have?

I've seen a Beastie boys doc, Ted Lasso and The morning show * edited from Newsroom when my error was pointed out.

That's a month's worth of content. What else do they have to justify continuing a subscription?

Disney has more content with just the Simpson's episodes alone. Add on top of that the entire Marvel catalog, the entire Starwars Catalog and the entire Pixar catalog.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#316

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…

After having sampled Disney+, HBOMax, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime a fair bit in the past year, my take is that Netflix has the UX nailed. I can, for instance, "thumbs down" a recommendation. Some offerings I never want to see. Their catalog tends to the darker themes, and I'm not fond of that. Hulu and Amazon Prime are mostly irrelevant to me. I'll probably axe the Hulu sub. HBO has a few things I like. Disney+ t…

A problem is that voting and getting recommendations is a tiny market compared to Disney basically pumping out what people are wanting to watch.

Yes, you can say they just focus on family content. But that is kind of the point. They identified their market and cater to them really well. Who is the market for Netflix?

Their curse is that they can find untapped markets, but then the content owners can invest surprisingly well into clawing back that market.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that's a major challenge here and it will ultimately drive up the costs for everyone. Subscribe for 6 months = 50% annual discount Subscribe for 4 months = 67% annual discount Subscribe for 2 months = 83% annual discount etc. And that looks great! But producing the content costs the same regardless. So as more people do this, a vicious cycle will set in. Prices must increase to cover production costs with sho…

Or maybe the market will naturally transition to an a la carte model, and we will maybe pay more for that one show we have to watch, but pay less overall, and have fewer recurring bills to clean up?

That would be great actually to move to a purely commoditized model where producers are paid directly. I think there's actually something extremely messed up about pricing. For example you can purchase the entire season of a show for less than a subscription and have permanent access to it.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#319

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…

Respectfully, this is a lazy take. If you even slightly dig into the numbers the price increase makes complete sense. Netflix spent 17 billion dollars on content last year. They are outspending competitors 2 to 1 if not more. Their catalog is thriving - you have big names like DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, The Rock etc signing on for movies. You have shows like Squid Game attracting ridiculous numbers. Netflix is, if anything, signaling how confident they are of their position by asserting their dominance over the market by raising rates. They know their offering is too good for subscribers to cancel. And most will gladly pay and keep paying if the Netflix content engine keeps churning.

Re: Netflix’s Prices Are Rising Faster Than Cable

#320
While I think streaming platforms are still a better experience than cable ever was, one thing that is really irritating is that I have to have half a dozen services if I want to watch a variety of content.

IMHO, the cable model of having all (most) content in one place was nice at least.

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