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Casual Viewing – Why Netflix looks like that

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Re: Casual Viewing – Why Netflix looks like that

#191

Post by cs702 »

Nowadays, whenever I browse Netflix, I feel like that Bruce Springsteen song, "57 Channels (And Nothin' On)."[a] Sure, there are lots of choices, but they all kinda suck. I find myself wondering, why? The OP weaves an insightful, opinionated narrative that explains how we got here. Much of it rings true. This passage, in particular struck a chord with me:

> Several screenwriters who’ve worked for the streamer told me a common note from company executives is “have this character announce what they’re doing so that viewers who have this program on in the background can follow along.” [...] One tag among Netflix’s thirty-six thousand microgenres offers a suitable name for this kind of dreck: “casual viewing.” Usually reserved for breezy network sitcoms, reality television, and nature documentaries, the category describes much of Netflix’s film catalog — movies that go down best when you’re not paying attention, or as the Hollywood Reporter recently described Atlas, a 2024 sci-fi film starring Jennifer Lopez, “another Netflix movie made to half-watch while doing laundry.”

In other words, people like me, who want to focus on and experience a great film or series, are no longer the target audience.

Apparently, there's no money in targeting people who want to pay attention.

---

[a] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/57_Channels_(And_Nothin'_On)

Re: Casual Viewing – Why Netflix looks like that

#192

Post by add-sub-mul-div »

technothrasher wrote: post #145
foobarqux wrote: post #56

I don’t remember the program but in the years of broadcast TV there was a writer on a nightly talk show explaining why all TV episodes were so bland. He said that he wrote an intricate plot for TV which was rejected because the show had to be watchable by someone doing this dishes. So this isn’t a phenomenon new to the Netflix era.

Many years ago when I was in college, one of my professors wrote a Star Trek Next Generation script, and she talked about how the producers pretty much destroyed her story by insisting she stick to the formula such as "between X and Y minutes, the Enterprise or one of the main characters must be in danger. That danger must be resolved by minute Z." Sigh.

Since not every episode follows that formula, I wonder if that's a requirement specifically of spec script writers because they'd want to keep the more important/interesting episodes written by staff.

Re: Casual Viewing – Why Netflix looks like that

#193

Post by pbhjpbhj »

thrwthsnw wrote: post #117
zelphirkalt wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would probably make every such movie rated 18+, unless you limit the controls somehow and they find a way to make sure nothing too violent happens on any given setting, or pre-render every single configuration and have reviewers check them all.

We should just get rid of the ratings. They’re a stupid system that hasn’t worked anyways.

Couldn't disagree more.

They're not fine-grained enough IMO - IMDB's "parent's guide" is great for detailed content information.

Similarly, with game ratings (video- and boardgames, as it happens), I appreciate them, but often they're trying to do two things, rate the game content and the gameplay. They fail often, and I buy outside the ratings, but I'm happier having them than not having any information in that space.

I wouldn't want no ratings for film/TV as that would mean I'd have to seek out spoiler-level information before finding if media was right for what I wanted to consume (or take friends/family to consume). I try my best to see little about the plot of films I'm keen to watch.

Re: Casual Viewing – Why Netflix looks like that

#194

Post by SkyPuncher »

HellDunkel wrote: post #48
keiferski wrote: post #15

Netflix thought they could take on Hollywood and beat them at their own film game. But in the process they realized that it’s not actually a game worth winning, and more importantly, that YouTube and TikTok are their real competition, not Hollywood. The future of most media is video-based, and I think Netflix probably understands this and is trying to get away from the historical model as movies you watch online and…

Can you please explain what this optimized video ecosystem of youtube is actually optimized for other than clickbait? Maybe it works for others but i fell into this for a while and now i look at it in disgust.

Youtube still has massive variety and quality of production. I've largely been able to avoid the clickbait-optimized videos by curating my subscriptions. I've found about a dozen creators who's content I regularly watch. Many of them create YouTube videos as secondary to some other hobby or profession. Most are trending towards the clickbait thumbnail, but few are actually changing their content in that direction.

Re: Casual Viewing – Why Netflix looks like that

#195

Post by bitzun »

rich_sasha wrote: post #11

I find it very stressful when watching Netflix because I don't know what is going to happen. Maybe they could include the full story line at the start of the series, so I can read it ahead of time and remove all suspense and surprise.

I sort of unironically agree with this. Time is limited and most tv and films don’t fit my criteria for “worth watching”, so I will read the plot synopsis for media that I think may be terrible, so I don’t have to find out later.

Re: Casual Viewing – Why Netflix looks like that

#196

Post by cloverich »

relaxing wrote: post #164
keiferski wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure what you mean by families, but I would be willing to bet that most families today already let their children watch more YouTube family content than Netflix content. And I do believe Netflix introduced a cheaper ad tier recently?

Every parent I know forbids Youtube, for obvious reasons. Even the content on the Kids service is utter crap (I know several who tried the service and dropped it.)

(Also a parent) there are two ways to use Youtube. One is to let the child choose what to watch and, I agree, this is a disaster. There's no possible guardrails that would work with their current algorithmic models. The other is to find things they (or I) are interested in, particularly tutorials, and then watch them together and then apply that to real life. It is a fantastic tutorial device and my kids have learned how to do things I wouldn't have known how to do or teach myself. I don't think there is a better substitute for this use case.

Re: Casual Viewing – Why Netflix looks like that

#197

Post by polotics »

0points wrote: post #26
mschuster91 wrote: post #4

I'd call that "endumbification". Netflix already lost giant chunks of its catalog as everyone and their dog now wants/has their own streaming shop (a worse situation than with cable TV now...), and it seems like they're going completely off the rails...

enshittification is an established term > Enshittification, also known as crapification and platform decay, is a pattern in which online products and services decline in quality. Initially, vendors create high-quality offerings to attract users, then they degrade those offerings to better serve business customers, and finally degrade their services to users and business customers to maximize profits for shareholders.

and before that the term "quality fade" was well established and could be used in all contexts... damn you Cory Doctorow!!!

Re: Casual Viewing – Why Netflix looks like that

#199

Post by binary132 »

keiferski wrote: post #51
HellDunkel wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you please explain what this optimized video ecosystem of youtube is actually optimized for other than clickbait? Maybe it works for others but i fell into this for a while and now i look at it in disgust.

Clickbait is a part of it, sure. But there are also many other content types that I wouldn’t characterize that way: 3+ hour long video podcasts, ambient music channels, niche indie musicians, short entertaining videos like Mr. Beast, etc. YouTube is increasingly a huge tent that includes tons of different kinds of content. My point was more that YouTube is increasingly designed for a world in which people have their…

Unfortunately all content is being optimized for increasingly brief attention spans and availability / focus.
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