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Netflix hints at password sharing crackdown as subscribers fall

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Netflix hints at password sharing crackdown as subscribers fall

#71

Post by scarface74 »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #43
uxcolumbo wrote: post #6

For me, Netflix needs higher quality content. More creative risky shows like the OA, Altered Carbon, Love, Death & Robots, Black Mirror and more old HBO style content… quality vs factory cookie cutter produced stuff trying to satisfy the lowest common denominator, because then you will satisfy no one. Maybe they have good shows I just don't know about. Their recommendation system seems to be crap. I browse for 20 min…

It used to be that if you wanted to watch a movie, you opened up Netflix. Nowadays you can't find what you want to watch on there, so people go to the places that do; Amazon Prime allows you to watch pretty much any movie (although often at a rental fee, which is a different discussion altogether), and the Disney empire has bought up tons of movie publishers and is putting all of them onto their streaming platforms.…

There has never been a time that Netflix streaming had more than a sliver of popular movies. Especially since the original deal with STARZ was over.

Re: Netflix hints at password sharing crackdown as subscribers fall

#72

Post by fishbacon »

Recent subscription price increase with no noticeable increase in content quality or availability, I am in Denmark, makes me reconsider my netflix subscription. Although I do need to watch Better Call Saul so they have me for that long.

Probably not related to password sharing at all and I do not think it is likely to increase subscriptions.

I will probably never pirate again, but I am considering getting out of streaming services and just put the money towards patreons of internet creators I like instead.

Re: Netflix hints at password sharing crackdown as subscribers fall

#73

Post by temp8964 »

parkingrift wrote: post #23

Streaming companies just can’t help themselves. There’s Disney+, Netflix, HBO Max, Paramount+, Hulu, ESPN+, Apple TV+, Prime Video, and I think Peacock (for now?). The industry self-own is hilarious. It’s easier to just pirate or rent than deal with this many random services. And Netflix just keeps dumping out algorithmically generated focus grouped content. There is plenty of good content on Netflix but not enough t…

I am thinking that when there are so many streaming services, maybe subscription is the wrong model? Maybe an on-demand plan like $0.50/hour (can also vary by content) would be better for customers?

Re: Netflix hints at password sharing crackdown as subscribers fall

#74

Post by eadmund »

They probably have better data on why they are losing subscribers than I do, and presumably they can see things like an IP address used by one subscription, then that subscription being cancelled, then the same IP address being used by a different subscription. But …

I have subscribed to Netflix for nearly twenty years, since it was a DVD delivery service, and I am very close to cancelling my subscription because they simply don't deliver good content. The presence of the red N in the corner of a video is a signal that the show or movie is probably garbage, and almost everything has that red N; the stuff that doesn't is typically middle- or lowbrow filler content.

Now, part of that is not Netflix's fault: there is a paucity of stuff worth watching in 2022 compared to decades past. There is no Parks & Rec, no Office, no Castle, no Monk, no Psych, no Bones, no light-hearted, innocent fun. At least, none that I have seen. For Pete's sake, we live in an era which managed to ruin Star Wars!

Still, their Netflix original content could be much better than it is; it is still for the most part bargain-basement stuff. Why subscribe to Netflix when I can read a book instead?

Re: Netflix hints at password sharing crackdown as subscribers fall

#75

Post by RHSeeger »

lemoncookiechip wrote: post #24

They're losing subscribers, because of multiple reasons, most of which are their own fault: - Subscription prices keep rising, and they were already very high. - Libraries decreasing as they lose the licensing to other streaming services. - Originals are hit and miss, mostly miss, and get cancelled constantly after 1 season. - Crackdown on VPN and password sharing. - COVID lockdowns are mostly over in Europe, US and…

> We pay for 2 or 4 simultaneous streams on Netflix

I was under the impression that you're paying for "household access", up to a limited number of simultaneous streams; where household means the people that live with you. Does the agreement wording you accept when you sign up say otherwise?

Re: Netflix hints at password sharing crackdown as subscribers fall

#76

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #43
uxcolumbo wrote: post #6

For me, Netflix needs higher quality content. More creative risky shows like the OA, Altered Carbon, Love, Death & Robots, Black Mirror and more old HBO style content… quality vs factory cookie cutter produced stuff trying to satisfy the lowest common denominator, because then you will satisfy no one. Maybe they have good shows I just don't know about. Their recommendation system seems to be crap. I browse for 20 min…

It used to be that if you wanted to watch a movie, you opened up Netflix. Nowadays you can't find what you want to watch on there, so people go to the places that do; Amazon Prime allows you to watch pretty much any movie (although often at a rental fee, which is a different discussion altogether), and the Disney empire has bought up tons of movie publishers and is putting all of them onto their streaming platforms.…

That's a phenomenon I've noticed, too — people seem to be doing less doomscrolling on Netflix compared to when it was less ubiquitous.

Now they can just listen to the conversation at lunch at work, or the radio, and "know what to watch".

Re: Netflix hints at password sharing crackdown as subscribers fall

#78

Post by croutonwagon »

lemoncookiechip wrote: post #24

They're losing subscribers, because of multiple reasons, most of which are their own fault: - Subscription prices keep rising, and they were already very high. - Libraries decreasing as they lose the licensing to other streaming services. - Originals are hit and miss, mostly miss, and get cancelled constantly after 1 season. - Crackdown on VPN and password sharing. - COVID lockdowns are mostly over in Europe, US and…

Would agree. Heck Netflix is one of the few services I still have, and that is mostly because I let others use it. They even removed Star Trek:TNG (while i was mid binge) last month. That was the first time actually using the service in a while.

Re: Netflix hints at password sharing crackdown as subscribers fall

#79

Post by verve_rat »

lemoncookiechip wrote: post #24

They're losing subscribers, because of multiple reasons, most of which are their own fault: - Subscription prices keep rising, and they were already very high. - Libraries decreasing as they lose the licensing to other streaming services. - Originals are hit and miss, mostly miss, and get cancelled constantly after 1 season. - Crackdown on VPN and password sharing. - COVID lockdowns are mostly over in Europe, US and…

>- Originals are hit and miss, mostly miss, and get cancelled constantly after 1 season.

This is the big one for me. TV people used to hit it big when their show got enough episodes (usually 100 i think) to go into syndication. Obviously with a global streaming service buying your show, that isn't possible. So to compensate and compete for shows Netflix gives show runners a guaranteed two seasons up front, with escalating payments for each season after that. Basically Netflix bakes rising cost for its shows in to the contracts.

Couple that with a practice of making decisions about shows based on early numbers (how many people watch the show in the first week, maybe two, of release) and we end up in the situation where, I'm pretty sure Netflix is cancelling shows a couple of weeks after release because the early numbers don't predict enough viewers to justify the expensive later seasons.

When streaming first started becoming a thing, I thought Netflix had the content business locked down. A streaming service can service the long tail. It doesn't need to worry about sweaps. It has repeat syndication built in. A show that has a slow burn would fit nicely because it will always be picking up new viewers as new people discover it, which is great for subscriber retention because people like finding new (to them) shows to watch.

But it seems like I thought the opposite of the people running Netflix. It weirds me out that Disney is the service with the best long tail catalogue. Disney have been doing this sort of thing for a long time and the difference is pretty clear.

Re: Netflix hints at password sharing crackdown as subscribers fall

#80

Post by thfuran »

uxcolumbo wrote: post #6

For me, Netflix needs higher quality content. More creative risky shows like the OA, Altered Carbon, Love, Death & Robots, Black Mirror and more old HBO style content… quality vs factory cookie cutter produced stuff trying to satisfy the lowest common denominator, because then you will satisfy no one. Maybe they have good shows I just don't know about. Their recommendation system seems to be crap. I browse for 20 min…

>Basic only gives you SD quality, which I'm OK with but only allowing one device at a time is taking the p!ss.

Really? There's only one of me but I've had 1080p+ TVs for something like 20 years now. SD is complete BS for any modern content.

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