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Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

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Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#161

Post by flamtap »

Cyph0n wrote: post #131
esond wrote: post #113

There's something to be said for the cord-cutting software ecosystem supporting more-than-casual piracy experiencing huge improvements. If you have the hardware, you can host your own media using Plex as a server, and Sonarr to manage your library and automate acquisition of new TV episodes. Plex is one of the best pieces of software I've ever used. It Just Works™. You need a decent internet pipeline to support remot…

> The primary drawbacks from their perspective are that they need to request shows and movies to be added Have you heard of Ombi? I've never tried it, but sounds like it could help with this issue. https://ombi.io/

I haven't! Thanks for the tip. I must take this for a spin!

Sure looks like it would work better than them just texting me what they'd like added to the server, heh.

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#162

Post by scarface74 »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #153
mcv wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really hope and assume Disney+ doesn't limit you to just the most recent movies. The whole point of these services is that you get access to everything they ever made, and in the case of Disney and all the properties they own, that's quite a lot.

I would hope so, but Disney is already known for repeatedly pulling out old works from the market and re-releasing them later on, since AFAIK the VCR era, so I wouldn't bet on them refraining from shenanigans on their streaming service.

The CEO of Disney has said that the "Disney Vault" concept is dead. That being said, they still have to wait for licensing deals to expire to have everything on Disney+.

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#163

Post by jpetrucc »

Is this the final state of attempting to maximize profits? It feels like it's converging back towards the cable model [0]. Especially now with ad-supported streaming plans on Hulu [1] and increasingly more and more service exclusives [2] (same site as OP).

Streaming services are slowly but surely becoming cable "Channels"/"Packages" now, and of course that's going to increase piracy - we've seen it happen before. If you make something people want, but make it overly expensive or inconvenient to consume, piracy is an attractive (albeit morally grey) alternative for many.

Sure you can buy the disk set for whatever shows you like and skip out on the streaming services, but that in itself comes with a level of inconvenience (and cost) - why use physical disks when you can just download the content, share on a NAS/Plex server, and have it on any device? Once you've made it more inconvenient than people are used to, you've again made piracy an option.

I wonder when we'll start seeing bundles of streaming services for a single price!

[0]: https://www.itproportal.com/features/is-streaming-in-danger-...

[1]: https://help.hulu.com/s/article/how-much-does-hulu-cost?lang...

[2]: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190627/11202942488/strea...

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#164

Post by Mindwipe »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #142
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did we remove the cost of the physical cable network? They still have to support all of that bandwidth, just over a different format. Plus, most people today also demand these services are without ads, so what traditionally paid for more of the content side has to be made up on the subscription side.

Somehow it worked fine with everything under one roof for low price, until Netflix streaming contracts expired. Something tells me that the change has nothing to do with true costs, and everything to do with an attempt to extract more short-term profit from the IP, regardless of the ultimate damage it will cause to streaming space.

> Somehow it worked fine with everything under one roof for low price, until Netflix streaming contracts expired.

a) That literally never, ever happened. b) Netflix has to take out billions in debt bonds every year.

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#165

Post by vinceguidry »

eyegor wrote: post #123
sbarre wrote: post #6

"May" drive them back? This has already happened in my circles.. People who had cut the cord but all but walked away from casual piracy and signed up for Netflix and HBO (and probably Prime Video because they had Amazon Prime already) are openly talking about the fact they're definitely not signing up for more streaming services, and are seeking out torrenting again for the stuff that's being pulled from Netflix (esp…

This is why in my circle we set up the town pump plex server. Originally it was for streaming older movies (pre 1970) which you can't stream from any major service but the new era of fragmentation has drastically expanded it. We bought a retired datacenter rack and everyone contributes a few bucks a month to cover running costs. Then we have scripts scraping the top x movies/shows from torrent sites once a week and a…

This makes me wonder if there's a luxury service somewhere providing the kind of access people want at an expensive, but reasonable price. So I don't have to go about building and maintaining a public resource.

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#166

Post by reroute1 »

cptskippy wrote: post #137
beardedwizard wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tell me more about how R. Kelly and Disney fans are similar. Share your point by point analysis and include examples. Maybe you would like to bring Taylor Swift into the discussion? Your comment is a poorly disguised insult.

It's unclear which you ascribe to but it's curious that you don't take offense to either being compared to Evangelicals. In either case, they're both almost a Cult of personality. The fans are so adorant of their object that they often overlook glaringly evil deeds. At the same time, the level of manipulation exhibited and the devotion demanded by the personality is extreme to the point that outsiders see it as absur…

But to be fair R. Kelly is being accused of pretty awful crimes which I don't see an equivalent from Disney...

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#167

Post by iwalton3 »

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is some users might consider subscribing to a more expensive (like $20-$70/mo) streaming service if it has content-sharing deals and a promise of no ads or availability windows. There is definitely an enthusiast market out there that wants the best quality and experience, and having to use several different streaming services that may not have what you want to watch when you want to watch it is not a great experience when compared to some of the less legitimate options.

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#168

Post by blaser-waffle »

Freak_NL wrote: post #76
TeMPOraL wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technical aspects are trivial - pirate streaming sites have no problem managing a single portal that pulls from a wide array of video sources and players. The problem is with the exclusive deals, with the IP holders ruining the space for everyone in an attempt to maximize short-term revenue (it will kill their long-term revenue), perhaps thinking this is battle royale, and they obviously will be a platform that wins…

> battle royale I don't think it's the Highlander end-game they are envisioning, rather there seems to be a drive towards a new (imagined) equilibrium with specific streaming services servicing specific demographics — like Disney is aiming straight for the 'wholesome and family-friendly'-niche. Of course we all lose as consumers (until you hoist the Jolly Roger in despair).

Disney owns wayyy too many different subsidiary companies and IPs to just focus on wholesome, family programming. Like they own Fox, FX, ESPN, National Geographic, Hulu, Lucasfilm, Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, huge chunks of other networks like A&E and Vice Media.

You know that hip, edgy Vice News, the one with stories about doing drugs in war torn Africa? Yeah Disney owns like ~16-20% of that.

Disney is EVERYWHERE; be afraid of The Mouse.

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#169

Post by scarface74 »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #93
scarface74 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which again doesn’t help when so much video streaming is done on mobile devices....

There's plenty of streaming sites, and since web browsers work so well on mobile devices nowadays...

See my previous comment...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21005204

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#170

Post by chii »

mc32 wrote: post #77
chii wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the real question is if it's possible to make the bundle popular without having to discount!

I think the question boils down to the gym membership oversubscription model. People can’t consume (serially) all they subscribe to, but on average might consume X%, Y% & Z% of different streams but the sum is less than 100% of all the streaming services added together.

i would assume the price of the streaming services already take this into account, but i could be wrong of course.
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