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The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

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Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#621

Post by Bellamy »

martibravo wrote: post #495
danans wrote: post #322

I doubt most of the subscription loss is attributable to reasons that most HN types go on about (the rants about wokeness, not enough scifi, carousel UI, pirating etc...). What's probably going on is after after a few years of pandemic isolation and Netflix binging, the arrival of pandemic triggered inflation, and overall higher employment rates, people just have less interest, time, and money to binge watch longer f…

I have been a Netflix customer for 5+ years, and I've switched services to Disney+ for two reasons: - Netflix with 4K and 4 streaming devices costs 17.99€ here ($19.50), while Disney+ only costs €8.99 with the same features. - Netflix made and continues to make good content, but since major producers have been removing their content from Netflix and into their own services, Netflix here almost survives on old local s…

I've had Netflix for years. I will cancel immediately if I see something close to an ad.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#622

Post by xboxnolifes »

rhino369 wrote: post #323
hardwaregeek wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know how to phrase this nicely, but this is precisely the type of Hacker News nerd-blindness that I find amazing. It's "easier"? Is it? For young children who want to watch their kids shows and don't know what 4k means? For grandparents who want to see some k-dramas and have no clue about DRM or geo-locked? Sure, Netflix has issues and it's made some bad decisions, but let's not delude ourselves here. The gro…

It's not easier. I've got a BS in EE and am old enough to have downloaded episodes of the TV show 24 over 56k using early BitTorrent. I've successfully set up plex (which requires an in house server/spare pc), sonarr, radarr, usenet, etc. I'm probably the 99% percentile in ability to pirate. And its not easier than netflix. 90% of people I know probably couldn't set this up. And the other 10% would spend more time di…

> GabeN is not correct. Piracy is a money problem. Free is very enticing.

A service problem and a money problem are almost the same thing. Time is money, and I value my free-time very high. People will pay to not have to spend time to find the free.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#623

Post by karmakaze »

NearAP wrote: post #484
danans wrote: post #322

I doubt most of the subscription loss is attributable to reasons that most HN types go on about (the rants about wokeness, not enough scifi, carousel UI, pirating etc...). What's probably going on is after after a few years of pandemic isolation and Netflix binging, the arrival of pandemic triggered inflation, and overall higher employment rates, people just have less interest, time, and money to binge watch longer f…

I agree. - I recently realized I had only turned on my TV just about 4 - 5 times in about 6 months and yet I was paying close to $140 per month, so I downgraded my cable subscription to the minimal (combined cable & internet is cheaper than only internet). - Also realized I rarely watched Netflix (hadn't watched in months) cos I no longer found shows that I liked and I was paying $15.49 per month. And then I saw HBO…

I agree that it would be best for consumers if we could pay for as much as we consume at an all-inclusive buffet of content. This isn't what providers want, they don't want their utility to be commoditized. But it could work for a first mover providing such a platform.

What if Amazon instead of Prime Video had an open content marketplace? Sure there would be a lot of rubbish, but with a good recommendation system could outdo Netflix in matching content with consumers, which was Netflix's core competency until they decided otherwise.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#624

Post by wintermutestwin »

ozzythecat wrote: post #474
danans wrote: post #322

I doubt most of the subscription loss is attributable to reasons that most HN types go on about (the rants about wokeness, not enough scifi, carousel UI, pirating etc...). What's probably going on is after after a few years of pandemic isolation and Netflix binging, the arrival of pandemic triggered inflation, and overall higher employment rates, people just have less interest, time, and money to binge watch longer f…

I cancelled because it’s not worth the time investment. Good shows are not only difficult to find, but Netflix will release a season or two and unreasonably no longer continue on, without closing out the story. They try to cater to a mass audience and use a large net, but then due to capital costs or whatever reasons, they force their customer to feel stupid for getting invested into a show in the first place. I miss…

>I miss the days where I could binge watch a series on release date. Now all the streaming services also seem to rate limit each episode to once a week.

Haha this just means that I have to wait longer to resubscribe.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#625

Post by hamstergene »

CabSauce wrote: post #160
cercatrova wrote: post #101

It's easier just to pirate than keep up with all these streaming services. - You get the benefit of high quality (true 4k, not stream compressed "4k") and no buffering. - Plex, Radarr, Sonarr automatically downloads and categorizes your content for you, you can just sit back and enjoy your content. - Edit: Plex et al are not the *only* ways to download content, not sure why some replies are thinking so. I too can typ…

Sure. It's also stealing. And doesn't provide any money for future shows that you might enjoy. Don't get me wrong, I've done it for some things that I wanted to watch, but wasn't willing to pay for. But let's not pretend that everyone torrenting is a reasonable solution.

Piracy is a protest. 95% of those shows are worthless fillers that would have never been watched by the viewers if the full selection was available. Most of those future "originals" shouldn't be happening in the first place.

The reason music streaming defeated piracy is because a single subscription gives access to most of the music in the world, including from other countries and languages as long as you can type the search query (Indian, Japanese, Turkish, Russian etc.)

The reason video piracy is resurging is that every streaming service provides 2-3 good shows and hundreds of fillers, and to have a real selection of what is currently good one would have to pay $200-300 per month for dozens of apps. On top of that, pulling the show from one app and reappearing it on another loses watch history, which is no way in the interest of the customer. Sell what the users really want to buy, and they will pay.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#626

Post by vishnugupta »

danans wrote: post #322

I doubt most of the subscription loss is attributable to reasons that most HN types go on about (the rants about wokeness, not enough scifi, carousel UI, pirating etc...). What's probably going on is after after a few years of pandemic isolation and Netflix binging, the arrival of pandemic triggered inflation, and overall higher employment rates, people just have less interest, time, and money to binge watch longer f…

Since Netflix launched in India couple of years ago I've been a subscriber. The content is strictly average. Amazon Prime and Disney + Hotstar have significantly larger, relevant, and better content. Amazon Prime gets you free shipping as well so that's there.

However, I don't know to what extent Netflix are relying on India for growth. At INR 650/month it's definitely not cheap. Disney + Hotstar, at INR 1499/year is, five times less expensive.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#627

Post by johnnyanmac »

kyriakos wrote: post #565
rhino369 wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not easier. I've got a BS in EE and am old enough to have downloaded episodes of the TV show 24 over 56k using early BitTorrent. I've successfully set up plex (which requires an in house server/spare pc), sonarr, radarr, usenet, etc. I'm probably the 99% percentile in ability to pirate. And its not easier than netflix. 90% of people I know probably couldn't set this up. And the other 10% would spend more time di…

I would gladly pay for a service I am currently getting through piracy if there was a legal way to have it though. Availability of all content, no geoblocking (I live in a country where Disney+ and HBO Max is not available but I do pay for Prime and Netflix). For me if there was a way to have what I'm getting in a legal way I'd go for it but it is not an option. What I'm getting at is that its not a matter of money/p…

>Availability of all content, no geoblocking

that's where the "service problem" sentiment falls apart. All companies want to be this monopoly for you with no red tape over multiple governments. But of course, companies get the best cuts (100%) from hosting it themselves and countries (and media licensed) will never agree on what's okay.

In this case, piracy is a way around a world that hasn't quite caught up with how the internet works yet. I wonder in a few decades if governments worldwide create enough enforcement on this for it to be just as inconvinent as trying to steal a CD.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#628

Post by Krasnol »

rhino369 wrote: post #323
hardwaregeek wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know how to phrase this nicely, but this is precisely the type of Hacker News nerd-blindness that I find amazing. It's "easier"? Is it? For young children who want to watch their kids shows and don't know what 4k means? For grandparents who want to see some k-dramas and have no clue about DRM or geo-locked? Sure, Netflix has issues and it's made some bad decisions, but let's not delude ourselves here. The gro…

It's not easier. I've got a BS in EE and am old enough to have downloaded episodes of the TV show 24 over 56k using early BitTorrent. I've successfully set up plex (which requires an in house server/spare pc), sonarr, radarr, usenet, etc. I'm probably the 99% percentile in ability to pirate. And its not easier than netflix. 90% of people I know probably couldn't set this up. And the other 10% would spend more time di…

I didn't set up anything fancy like that.

I have a shared folder on my home network where I download stuff from 1-click hosters with jdownloader. I get the links all on one platform.

I got that money. I paid for Netflix once but now I can't remember the last show I watched made by them. Instead I'd have to pay for at least 3 other platforms to watch those few shows I watch throughout the year. Sometimes I'd even have to use a VPN to get it in the original language.

It only is a service problem for me.

(there is a bit revenge for their inability to provide a single platform in there too)

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#630

Post by johnnyanmac »

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #608
hardwaregeek wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know how to phrase this nicely, but this is precisely the type of Hacker News nerd-blindness that I find amazing. It's "easier"? Is it? For young children who want to watch their kids shows and don't know what 4k means? For grandparents who want to see some k-dramas and have no clue about DRM or geo-locked? Sure, Netflix has issues and it's made some bad decisions, but let's not delude ourselves here. The gro…

> The group of people who are comfortable pirating media and find it "easier" than Netflix is at least an order of magnitude smaller than Netflix's user base. This view is very US-centric. In most of the "rest of the world", netflix either doesn't exist or has a very very limited show list (even here, in a relatively developed EU country), and piracy literally is the only way to get a lot of the very popular shows. A…

Netflix is US-centric, so that's no surprise: https://www.comparitech.com/tv-streaming/netflix-subscribers...

I don't mean to be rude, but in the grand scheme of things the other countries don't quite matter as much, financially speaking. And those smaller parts of the world pirating isn't a big loss. Similar to the video game industry in Japan; some games may get an overseas following, but if the domestic market is slacking, that studio may not get the chance to make a sequel for those overseas fans.

So back to the US-centric sentiment: American audiences don't have the excuse 99% of the time of "this content is region blocked in my country", so the sentiment here shifts to "I don't want to manage 4 streaming services".

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