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What Netflix Could Have Said This Week

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Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week

#71

Post by lubujackson »

The problem is everything wrong with the Netflix changes makes sense... if you're Netflix and hellbent on selling off your DVD business. Of course they didn't consider the users in all of this - the whole point is to shed Quikster as quickly as possible, probably by selling it to Redbox or Amazon or something.

That's why we can't have a shared queue or keep the same name or keep the pricing unified on the bill. All of this is simple to do if Quikster is a subsidiary but I wouldn't be surprised if Netflix already has a buyer for Quikster lined up. These changes have the stink of "buyer requests".

Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week

#72

Post by jerrya »

Netflix has handled this so badly for customers and investors, and so obviously badly at that, that I can either believe they are incompetent, or that there are hidden factors (lawyers) at play.

The conspiracy theorist in me leads me to suspect it's somehow related to cost of licensing content for streaming, and negotiation positioning with Hollywood. That by burning the DVD bridge, Netflix can somehow lower costs dramatically or make their position in negotiations better. (But don't ask me how.)

Otherwise I have to believe Reed Hastings picked the wrong week to start sniffing glue.

Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week

#73

Post by gentle »

maratd wrote: post #66
BlazingFrog wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious, do you have numbers backing the higher profitability of their streaming business over DVD-by-mail? I do agree that, if they wanted to get rid of their original line of business without looking like that's what they were doing, this would be the best way.

> I'm curious, do you have numbers backing the higher profitability of their streaming business over DVD-by-mail? Simple reasoning will get you to that conclusion. There are no physical plants to maintain. No physical inventory to maintain. No postage costs. You do have the costs of bandwidth, computing power, and licensing fees. I would imagine those are less than the above. On top of that, they wouldn't be throwing…

Yeah, you mention it, but I think you're vastly underestimating licensing costs. Hollywood / content producers have them over a barrel, especially now that they're spinning off the DVD business.

On top of that, those servers don't run themselves and those infrastructure costs you so quickly dismiss are significant.

Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week

#74

Post by lubujackson »

An interesting point about the name Quikster - they took the ONE weakness of the DVD by mail service (you have to wait a few days) and made it the centerpoint of their name. Completely tone-deaf branding. Not to mention archaic domain naming (-ster? Friendster was a long time ago and doesn't have a nice shine anymore). I don't work in marketing, but I couldn't imagine much worse unless they tried on purpose. Maybe "Shitster."

Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week

#76

Post by brackin »

The core issue here is the pricing change wasn't just about making more money, the main reason was Netflix had to pay a lot of money for users with Streaming included but had never used it.

As they had to say in the licensing "x amount of users have streaming" when only a percentage had ever used it".

The idea was they could now say "These users are specifically paying for streaming". They'd already split up the two plans into two different business departments.

In my opinion they should have offered a streaming plan, DVD plan but let DVD users pay a small premium to access streaming instead of doubling their core users bills, if they wanted to sort this licensing issue.

Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week

#79

Post by sabat »

maratd wrote: post #44
lukifer wrote: post #24

It's downright embarrassing how badly Netflix has botched this transition. Not only was Netflix sitting on 25 million happy subscribers, but subscribers who were notoriously brand-loyal, and whose word-of-mouth promotion effectively acted as an unpaid sales and marketing force. Now they seem to be doing everything they can to alienate their most dedicated users, essentially saying "We don't want your business anymore…

It wasn't botched. Everything is by design. Qwikster or whatever they are calling, is a direct competitor to Netflix, in the same way that Blockbuster was a direct competitor to Netflix. It's the last generation tech. They want to kill it. They want to kill it fast because streaming customers are more profitable. They want you to switch from physical media to streaming NOW. Yes, yes, I know you can't get that esoteri…

It wasn't botched. Everything is by design.

I hope so, but it doesn't appear that way. Netflix has alienated a large number of its customers.

I know you can't get that esoteric or new release by streaming. There's a ton of stuff that never made it to DVD that is still on VHS or Beta. I don't see you crying over that.

Those are different issues. No one probably cares much about those esoteric shows you're talking about, but they certainly do care about whether they can get mainstream movies if they're paying a monthly fee for streaming. And right now, it's a wasteland: B-movies, old movies, and some UFO documentaries. Starz sometimes added something of worth, but Netflix blew that deal -- Starz is gone.

If all this activity by Netflix is part of some intelligent design, I'd really like to understand it, because right now, it looks more like a suicide attempt.

Re: What Netflix Could Have Said This Week

#80

Post by Klinky »

jonnathanson wrote: post #57
rhizome wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure they aren't going to throw that away, are you nuts? They had a big ol' contest a few years back to come up with a new recommendation algo. Further to what I assume is your point, we have a few years of practice in linking accounts, so a particular user's historical data can easily be integrated with this new corporate architecture. EDIT: I'm using the royal "we" to refer to technological techniques fo…

I have to believe this is true. Netflix has made no small bones about the fact that its recommendation / collaborative filtering algorithm is its strongest competitive advantage. To your point, they even sponsored that contest awhile back. No way in hell they'd weaken, much less throw away, their golden goose.

The problem is that their recommendation system really isn't that big of an advantage. Content is king & people got Netflix because it provided better service at a better price compared to what they were getting elsewhere. I don't think I've heard of anyone signing up for Netflix specifically so they could use their recommendation engine to find new movies.

Netflix has to go back to providing a better service at an affordable price, something that isn't as easy as it once was when you're going against other streamlined big name contenders like Apple, Amazon or Hulu vs the old "incompetent" competition that was basically Blockbuster & Hollywood Video.

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