Nothing better for user retention than stripping away a perk from the userbase that gave them their money early on.
I guess they made the calculation that this will save them more money than the loss of subscriptions this may incur.
Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers
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Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers
#112Baffles me why all these streaming companies are shooting themselves in the foot. For about 18 months there was a golden age where it was easier to pay for things than to pirate. Now we’re in a situation where it’s even /harder/ than it’s ever been. People will pay for media if it’s easy and a good experience. The barrier to piracy is non-existent these days and you actually get a far better experience.
It's not that baffling. For a time, they were trying to grow their subscriber base and luring them in with low prices. Now that they have their subscriber base, they want to get back to the revenue they were getting before. Realistically, entertainment companies weren't going to accept lower revenue than they previously had for their product. As the industry transitions from physical media and cable TV to streaming,…
I took the "harder to pay" comment as "harder to justify" for families balancing rising costs on all fronts. For the one or two shows mom or dad have time to watch after the kids go to bed, piracy is still a convenient option to consider. Perhaps pay for Disney+ for the kids, and consolidate every other streaming service into automated piracy on a low-cost media server
Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers
#113Nothing better for user retention than stripping away a perk from the userbase that gave them their money early on. I guess they made the calculation that this will save them more money than the loss of subscriptions this may incur.
welcome to the warner family, bro
Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not that baffling. For a time, they were trying to grow their subscriber base and luring them in with low prices. Now that they have their subscriber base, they want to get back to the revenue they were getting before. Realistically, entertainment companies weren't going to accept lower revenue than they previously had for their product. As the industry transitions from physical media and cable TV to streaming,…
I took the "harder to pay" comment as "harder to justify" for families balancing rising costs on all fronts. For the one or two shows mom or dad have time to watch after the kids go to bed, piracy is still a convenient option to consider. Perhaps pay for Disney+ for the kids, and consolidate every other streaming service into automated piracy on a low-cost media server
its ironic that the best anti-piracy feature the "content industry" has going for them wasn't even developed by them, just the simple PITA of self hosting. From setting up a VPN, to finding torrents, to using a NAS, to setting up plex/jellyfin, to having codec issues on players, to annoying subtitles/dubs, to shitty interfaces on some protocols (dlna comes to mind), to difficulty in ripping blu-ray/DVD, I can see how an average (non-techie) family doesn't want to mess around with this shit and just pay for the content.
Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
MAX, YouTube Premium, Spotify, Netflix, Disney+ can all be had for about $100/mo. Even assuming someone only makes $20/hour, that's about 15 minutes of work per day for a month to access effectively unlimited content. If you can't find what you want to watch there, swap providers or just buy the content on Apple TV/Google Play/etc. Again, I struggle to see how these platforms don't provide massive value. Like that's…
100/month can be A LOT depending on where you live.
Only referring to the US here as I’m not sure of pricing in the hundreds of other countries out there.
Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think that the point of the rebrand was to eliminate the expectation that HBO shows would be available on HBO Max. For example, Westworld is no longer available on Max.
They should have called it HBO Min. Closer to reality.
"HBO Max" was the original "rename" for the streaming service. It is now, they insist, just "Max".
Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
100/month can be A LOT depending on where you live.
Only referring to the US here as I’m not sure of pricing in the hundreds of other countries out there.
You said that you struggle to see how these platforms don't provide massive value which is fair from your point of view but I personally struggle to see how any of the platforms provide 5€/month worth of value, let alone 10 or 20.
I guess it's a matter of perspective and what do we find valuable in life.
As for tipping, that's a can of worms I'm not going to open because as a european I find the whole concept insane.
Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not that baffling. For a time, they were trying to grow their subscriber base and luring them in with low prices. Now that they have their subscriber base, they want to get back to the revenue they were getting before. Realistically, entertainment companies weren't going to accept lower revenue than they previously had for their product. As the industry transitions from physical media and cable TV to streaming,…
Today it absolutely is harder to pay than to pirate. It was easy when everything noteworthy was on Netflix. You payed for Netflix and got easy access directly on your TV to most trending content. This was more convenient than piracy. Now the landscape is balkanaized and no one subscribes to all streaming platforms. You can never predict if something of interest will be present on the platform you subscribe to. Do you…
I mean I pay the $20 or whatever for a whole season of a given show on Prime Video, you don't need to subscribe to a streaming service.
Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers
#119Everyone is trying as hard as they can to squeeze the consumer with higher and higher subscription revenues. This won't end well.
Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "One thing that we have learned is that piracy is not a pricing issue. It’s a service issue" Gabe Newell of Valve, Oct 2011 [1] https://www.gamesradar.com/gabe-newell-piracy-issue-service-...
I struggle to understand how services like Netflix or Max have an issue with providing service. How could they possibly make it easier to access their content with various apps?
People want the same for TV shows and movies that they already have with music. They want a spotify like experience but with movies. One subscription where they can access everything they want. This is how you could make it easier.
I am not saying it is realistic as the hosting and production costs are just not the same. And exclusives are a standard way to attract subscribers.
If I remember correctly as well while music has consolidated, the revenue artists get from it is much lower than what they used to get with the old model. I can see why that does not really motivate the industry to provide a more convenient solution. Spotify showed them that it might hurt their bottom line so why would they go that route.