Netflix and the Future of Television
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Netflix and the Future of Television
1–10 of 58 posts
Re: Netflix and the Future of Television
#2No mention of torrents or popcorntime?
Re: Netflix and the Future of Television
#3Sports - that's the ticket. Comcast remains relevant for two reasons in my mind - they provide high-speed Internet in a quasi-monopolistic fashion, and local sports broadcasting. (I live in Philly, the stranglehold on sports here is palpable.)
That said, even sports apps are starting to show up on Apple TV and the like - it's just that right now, sports are attached to cable deals, much like HBO Go is attached to cable networks.
I feel like the "a la carte" unbundling discussion is almost moot. It was an important idea before, paying for just the channels you want. But now each channel can have it's own streaming app, and I can pay for and stream them whenever.
So now I guess it's just a matter of time before someone offers bundled groups of on-demand app access. Netflix + NFL Network + ABC/CBS + HBO Go... And toss in Comedy Central for good measure. Add in a $99 Apple TV, and who needs Comcast and Time Warner?
Oh right. They own the Internet access. I'd really like some net neutrality soon, please.
Re: Netflix and the Future of Television
#4No mention of torrents or popcorntime?
Likely due to the fact that as of yet, no one has found a particularly good way of monetizing torrents without alienating downloaders. Monetization is a necessity for industry adoption, so it's hard to tie the future of television to something like torrenting, unless there's a way for content creators & licensors to get paid.
Re: Netflix and the Future of Television
#5The future should be DRM-free. Netflix are not going in the right direction. GOG try to break that wall on the other hand.
See https://www.gog.com/forum/general/introducing_gogcom_drmfree...
Re: Netflix and the Future of Television
#6I work for one of the big cable companies, and the internal culture seems to be "innovate, but slowly and carefully". Everybody is fully aware of the threat Netflix et al pose to the incumbents, but progress is slow. So many of our resources are spent just trying to minimise costs and maximise revenues, without really changing the game.
Comcast, for all their flaws, do seem to really care about innovation. I watched a video about the development of Xfinity X2, and their R&D department looks like it has insane resources.
It's a very interesting space to be in, on all sides.
Re: Netflix and the Future of Television
#7The future should be DRM-free. Netflix are not going in the right direction. GOG try to break that wall on the other hand. See https://www.gog.com/forum/general/introducing_gogcom_drmfree...
I doubt that Netflix really wants to be doing DRM. But the simple fact is that the rights-holders demand it. If Netflix didn't do DRM, then it wouldn't have any good content on it.
As soon as rights-holders can be convinced that DRM is unnecessary, then we'll see the internet streamers like Netflix drop it. I'd bet that by the time we see A-List movies on GOG, we'll be seeing them on Netflix too.
Re: Netflix and the Future of Television
#8Sports - that's the ticket. Comcast remains relevant for two reasons in my mind - they provide high-speed Internet in a quasi-monopolistic fashion, and local sports broadcasting. (I live in Philly, the stranglehold on sports here is palpable.) That said, even sports apps are starting to show up on Apple TV and the like - it's just that right now, sports are attached to cable deals, much like HBO Go is attached to cab…
We're already seeing the beginnings of one possible solution to the "sports on TV" problem: e-sports and video game streaming. Right now there are several hundred thousand viewers on Twitch.tv, unless their viewer numbers are extremely inflated. Video game streams overwhelmingly tend to be free (with subscriptions to remove ads, unlock the highest video quality, or access previous video on demand). Many tournaments have top notch video productions, and are probably produced on a shoestring budget compared to national sports television productions.
There's no technical reason why non-electronic sports couldn't also be streamed like this.
Re: Netflix and the Future of Television
#9No mention of torrents or popcorntime?
Likely due to the fact that as of yet, no one has found a particularly good way of monetizing torrents without alienating downloaders. Monetization is a necessity for industry adoption, so it's hard to tie the future of television to something like torrenting, unless there's a way for content creators & licensors to get paid.
Broadcast television has been given away for free since it's inception, and monetized with advertisements. I don't see why officially-sanctioned torrents couldn't do the same. Make them high quality, and backed by fast seedboxes, and you'll outcompete the crappy scene releases that trickle down to public trackers.
Re: Netflix and the Future of Television
#10I work for one of the big cable companies, and the internal culture seems to be "innovate, but slowly and carefully". Everybody is fully aware of the threat Netflix et al pose to the incumbents, but progress is slow. So many of our resources are spent just trying to minimise costs and maximise revenues, without really changing the game. Comcast, for all their flaws, do seem to really care about innovation. I watched…
To what end though? Their new X2 cable boxes are slower than ten year old ones, and are just catching up with the interfaces of Tivo and Roku from five years ago.
Who really wants "innovation" from their cable provider? Certainly not the unsatisfied customers that are leaving in droves.