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Netflix launches an ad-supported tier

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Re: Netflix launches an ad-supported tier

#41

Post by pastor_bob »

crazygringo wrote: post #35
MBCook wrote: post #4

Up to 5 minutes per hour of ads, one device, streaming only (no downloading for planes/etc), 720p max, 10% of the catalog unavailable. That’s a hell of a lot of compromises.

Not really -- it's a fantastic price point for an individual subscription to watch on your laptop or iPad. Where most people don't care about 720p vs 1080p anyways. If you're a college student or not making a lot of money, and therefore not traveling a lot -- this is awesome.

How so?

If you watch 10 hours of Netflix a week, you're watching about 3 and 1/2 hours of ads a month. All to save $3. Not to mention having access to less content.

Re: Netflix launches an ad-supported tier

#42

Post by falcolas »

snapcaster wrote: post #32
falcolas wrote: post #27

To me, this action speaks of the continued fall of Netflix. If their content can't support them with subscriptions, it probably won't support them with subscriptions plus intrusive brain worms, err, ads. This is a pattern seen all the time in gaming - a subscription service downgrades to F2P, then a vast majority of them go away. The differences between the successes and failures comes down to content, not business m…

haven't F2P games become so widespread because they're much _more_ profitable? I think you're letting your own opinions on this substitute for some kind of business analysis

Note that specifically, I'm talking about games that have made the transition. Like WildStar, Rift, Warhammer Online, et.al.

Sure, F2P games (which are never just ad supported, mind you) can be wildly popular and profitable. But not all of them. For every exploitative success like Diablo Immortal, there are thousands of games which hit the app stores and quietly vanished.

Re: Netflix launches an ad-supported tier

#43

Post by caseyohara »

atlasunshrugged wrote: post #19
Alupis wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They could probably honestly remove 10% of the catalog and nobody would miss anything. It feels like 80% of the catalog is Netflix homebrewed garbage, another 10% is foreign dubbed garbage, and the remaining 10% you've probably already seen. I honestly have never thought harder about outright cancelling Netflix. I'm very close... Every time I log in to watch something, Netflix recommends TV Shows and Movies they know…

I wonder how many people actually just rewatch their favorite shows over and over. I definitely do that with a few shows when I just want something easy (e.g. I'm cooking and put on an episode of Bob's Burgers in the background even though I've seen it a few times)

I suspect a lot of people do this. A friend of mine listens to old familiar audiobooks they've heard dozens of times when they are trying to sleep. I can understand why people might find comfort in rewatching their favorite shows and listening to the same music they always have.

Re: Netflix launches an ad-supported tier

#44

Post by kbelder »

linuxftw wrote: post #29
tfsh wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 720p max That is definetly a deal breaker for anyone with a new device post ~2012. I'd class 720p as outdated given todays technology and I can't see anyone going for this. I'm going to make some shameless generalisations here, but a better pilot country would be one that is less ecnonomically developed where people are more likely to have outdated hardware, not the US. > 10% of the catalog unavailable I wonder if…

720p is more than adequate for most shows and movies. I don't mind 720p at all.

Yeah, that's still a better-than-DVD level of quality.

Re: Netflix launches an ad-supported tier

#45

Post by pastor_bob »

Alupis wrote: post #9
MBCook wrote: post #4

Up to 5 minutes per hour of ads, one device, streaming only (no downloading for planes/etc), 720p max, 10% of the catalog unavailable. That’s a hell of a lot of compromises.

They could probably honestly remove 10% of the catalog and nobody would miss anything. It feels like 80% of the catalog is Netflix homebrewed garbage, another 10% is foreign dubbed garbage, and the remaining 10% you've probably already seen. I honestly have never thought harder about outright cancelling Netflix. I'm very close... Every time I log in to watch something, Netflix recommends TV Shows and Movies they know…

the 10% not available is due to licensing, i.e. stuff that doesn't want to be run with ads. Assuming that is the more premium content.

Re: Netflix launches an ad-supported tier

#46

Post by Bhurn00985 »

karim79 wrote: post #22
akmittal wrote: post #3

It's like all the services are increasing their price and decreasing the content/quality. I find that's issue with startup culture where they have lost billions of dollars in name of growth and now they need to recover

My gripe here is, for example, YouTube premium charging to remove ads and that indeed does make the experience better - and then there are sponsorship messages for stuff I won't name nordvpn for instance. There seems to be no rules about in-video sponsorship which honestly is driving me nuts. I feel like it is impossible to get away from ads no matter what one pays at this point.

Though I pay for premium because I loathe ads, it still feels like a blackmail payment. A bit like paying protection money to the mafia.

That said, sponsorblock works decently well for automatically skipping sponsored messages.

Re: Netflix launches an ad-supported tier

#47

Post by yamtaddle »

tfsh wrote: post #18
MBCook wrote: post #4

Up to 5 minutes per hour of ads, one device, streaming only (no downloading for planes/etc), 720p max, 10% of the catalog unavailable. That’s a hell of a lot of compromises.

> 720p max That is definetly a deal breaker for anyone with a new device post ~2012. I'd class 720p as outdated given todays technology and I can't see anyone going for this. I'm going to make some shameless generalisations here, but a better pilot country would be one that is less ecnonomically developed where people are more likely to have outdated hardware, not the US. > 10% of the catalog unavailable I wonder if…

I find 720p entirely OK at 8-10' from a 65" screen. But distractingly fuzzy/pixelly at ~5-6' from the same screen. And lots of people are on smaller, older screens (in the 30" and 40" ranges) and/or at viewing distances where 720p vs. 1080p isn't really a big difference.

And then there are young kids, who truly do not give a shit and if you've mainly got Netflix for them, 720p would definitely be fine. Though their kids' content is so bad, on average, and last I checked you can't narrow kids' accounts down to an allowlist instead of just "everything Netflix marked as for-kids", that I wouldn't recommend turning kids loose on it, personally, even with time-limits.

Re: Netflix launches an ad-supported tier

#49

Post by tomjen3 »

Arubis wrote: post #33

On day 0, this probably doesn't affect most folks here. The option to not have ads remains, and thus far at the same-ish price, hand-waving preexisting upward adjustments. Most of the brouhaha around this will be pricing-related: will Netflix use this to boost their prices???? Will I have to pay more?????? I dunno. Maybe. Doesn't seem unlikely. I don't really care, though, to be honest. $5 a month doesn't make a huge…

You are not wrong, but they had ads before: it was just called product placements. For example their Swiss Family Robinson (but in space) had a 15-20 minute segment of an episode about a packet of Oreos.

Re: Netflix launches an ad-supported tier

#50

Post by tomjen3 »

linuxftw wrote: post #29
tfsh wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 720p max That is definetly a deal breaker for anyone with a new device post ~2012. I'd class 720p as outdated given todays technology and I can't see anyone going for this. I'm going to make some shameless generalisations here, but a better pilot country would be one that is less ecnonomically developed where people are more likely to have outdated hardware, not the US. > 10% of the catalog unavailable I wonder if…

720p is more than adequate for most shows and movies. I don't mind 720p at all.

It may be adequate for you, but I don't have a 4k screen to watch low quality content, unless the content I want to watch cannot be had in a reasonable quality.

If you are watching it on your phone, then I completely agree with you, but I don't do that.

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