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Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

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Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#251

Post by nkozyra »

dazc wrote: post #220
bawolff wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree - their issue was scaling it. When they started out creating original content, they were hitting it out of the park. Orange is the new black, daredevil, house of cards were all big hits. They scaled, quality was sacraficed for quantity, and their brand became very dilluted.

> Orange is the new black, daredevil, house of cards were all big hits. The original version of House of Cards was a four episode mini-series. There was a lesson there that Netflix chose to ignore.

> There was a lesson there that Netflix chose to ignore.

What is it? Network television spent decades milking shows way past their expiration dates and still made bank.

The Office was originally a 14-episode arc built to an actual conclusion and NBC made who knows how much with middling season after season of the US version.

People watched because we're creatures of habit and you only have to get us hooked once.

That didn't change. What changed is the # of options. Instead of 1/25 shows catching on its 100/2,500 and it doesn't scale the same way.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#252

Post by ramraj07 »

chii wrote: post #169
ramraj07 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While it is a valid point, Id argue that Netflix could have survived this - they had billions of dollars to create original content, and then they did create it, but some how screwed it all up. There’s at best 1 or 2 good show and no good movie Netflix has made in years. And anything half decent they cancel mercilessly without giving it a chance. This is not just in the US. The comparison of original content quality…

> they had billions of dollars to create original content they had the wrong idea that original content is their strong point. It's not. It's disney's strong point. Netflix should've used their dominant position to lobby for new rules to the game - prevent exclusivity of content! They should've lobbied gov't to mandate that studio productions of content be permanently untied to a streaming service, and be available t…

Netflix was a dvd mailing company with a website and they pivoted to streaming. Amazon did too. Streaming tech is pretty much tablestakes for any company with a billion to spare. You can’t keep insisting that’s all Netflix should focus on.

I’d also argue Amazon prime has fared far better with OG content than Netflix in a fraction of its budget. The blame should entirely fall on its current ceo who imo should be ousted and Hastings needs to come back to salvage his baby.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#253

Post by timthorn »

dazc wrote: post #220
bawolff wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree - their issue was scaling it. When they started out creating original content, they were hitting it out of the park. Orange is the new black, daredevil, house of cards were all big hits. They scaled, quality was sacraficed for quantity, and their brand became very dilluted.

> Orange is the new black, daredevil, house of cards were all big hits. The original version of House of Cards was a four episode mini-series. There was a lesson there that Netflix chose to ignore.

Not disagreeing with the fundamental point, but the original HoC was the first in a trilogy. The BBC made 12 episodes across the three adaptations.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#254

Post by noisy_boy »

If I had only two features that I would have Netflix implement, they would be:

- to add a setting to not show me stuff I've already watched (so that others who don't mind that, can continue to see their seen stuff).

- add a "don't show me again" toggle (I know I can dislike but maybe I'm just tired of seeing that one particular video and am fine with other such content)

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#255

Post by heisenbit »

Yesterday while on Netflix with my fire stick getting bored I wanted to leave. Suddenly I have to search the app exit button and it turns out it moved from the main menu on the left to the bottom right of the screen. A dark and desperate move.

First time I thought seriously about leaving for good.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#256

Post by stdgy »

bumper_crop wrote: post #35
harha wrote: post #28

Netflix really had a value proposition a few years ago before all the other players came in. A good selection of rotating movies and shows, sharing accounts with a good model (# of simultaneously running screens). This was way better than cable TV and more convenient than torrent. Now it’s mostly quite mediocre content across services that easily cost $100+ a month, so we’re back to the old cable days in terms of cos…

>The consumers just aren’t complete idiots. The consumers kinda are the idiots here. They know what they like, but they have no idea why the content is getting worse. Why shows are being pulled. Companies that had their content on Netflix realized they were facing an existential crisis. Ever played Settlers of Catan and find out another player had 9/10 victory points? Everyone does everything in their power to not tr…

Great analogy, and it's what I think about every time I hop on Netflix.

The old Netflix was an absolute gold mine. There was sooooo much good content and almost none of it was their own. The place was overflowing with great movies from every genre. It had all these great movies because they were the only game in town and the studios hadn't yet identified them as a competitor. It was a novelty. "Hey sure, movies on the internet. Why not! Here's our entire back catalog. Go nuts."

Once everyone realized this wasn't a novelty the IP holders began to pull back. First it was increased rates, which meant Netflix could have fewer of the top items available for streaming at any given time. Fine, kind of annoying that I can't find everything I want anymore but there's still a lot of good stuff! Then the megacorps that own all of the studios began to develop their own platforms to cash in on the money train and stopped licensing their content to Netflix altogether. Instead they began to pile the IP up to be released exclusively on their own platforms. Netflix knew this was going to happen so they went absolutely nuts on the spending, trying to produce enough of their own content to fill the gap left by 60 years of the top IP that was (mostly) banished from their platform.

The spending didn't work because it turns out making high quality IP is really, really hard. Think of all the film and television IP created over the last 60 years. Not the hits, I'm talking about everything. Now think of the hits. Those are like, what, 1% of the total? Netflix can't fill their catalog to compete with who they used to be. It's not physically/creatively possible. That means they will never live up to the initial experience of using the site.

As a consumer, I'd prefer they shift to become something closer to HBO/Apple TV+. A company that focuses on high quality, carefully curated productions. At least then I would have a good reason to continue subscribing. As it is, I don't find much value in the endless stream of schlock they've been producing to try to fill in for the lost IP. Quantity doesn't have a quality all its own when it comes to entertainment.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#257

Post by mariusor »

closedloop129 wrote: post #234
snek_case wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like Netflix always kind of had an issue with poor taste. They have crappy reality shows and pseudo-documentaries about how the aliens build pyramids. A metric fuckton of content that caters to people with below average intelligence. In addition to this content being unhealthy because you either don't learn anything, or are actively being fed falsehoods, I think it just gives the platform a poor image. It's ki…

>A metric fuckton of content that caters to people with below average intelligence. The big question is how big is the fraction of people who are below average intelligence. Depending on that ratio, it could make sense to produce content for that part of the population ... Additionally, highly intelligent people earn more money and don't have to buy content wholesale. They can afford to buy movies directly which mean…

> The big question is how big is the fraction of people who are below average intelligence.

Allow me to be cheeky and save you the suspense: it's half.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#258

Post by mejutoco »

IMO once the netflix model was validated it was impossible to license enough good titles (they knew they were valuable).

Netflix pivoted to making their own shows under the premise that they have all the data. This is outside of their tech expertise and creates average content.

I believe netflix should create video editing tools (commoditize your complement) and make it easy for almost professional film makers to upload content. The area between youtube and professional films could discover lots of talent and keep those rights cost cheap.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#259

Post by aqme28 »

Gareth321 wrote: post #225

I quit because I didn't like how all of their shows pushed an ideological message. I'm quite left leaning on most issues, but Netflix writers appear to believe that preaching progressive messages is all that's required to make a compelling narrative. If they had the compelling narrative too it might be more tolerable, but they don't.

Do you have any examples?

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#260

Post by orf »

lelanthran wrote: post #243
fragmede wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Case in point, Dave Chappelle's stand-up. He doesn't say what you're supposed to say about certain subjects, leading to outrage and calls to take down the show, yet it's still up. Were Netflix that left-leaning, that show would already be gone from their catalog.

> Case in point, Dave Chappelle's stand-up. He doesn't say what you're supposed to say about certain subjects, leading to outrage and calls to take down the show, yet it's still up. Were Netflix that left-leaning, that show would already be gone from their catalog. That's not the point. The point is "making money". Netflix is throwing a lot of money at their originals, the clear majority of which are "Woke" with a ca…

This is total nonsense. Sorry. You’ve fabricated some weird scenario in your head where the data screams out “woke content sucks” but god damn the executives just won’t listen! And then you attribute that to the Illuminati or the Woke Agenda or even the ghost of Carl Marx.

Nobody knows “literally” what doesn’t sell when it comes to film and TV. It’s a shot in the dark each time.

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