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Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

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Re: Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

#611

Post by strunz »

larrik wrote: post #581
bee_rider wrote: post #554

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder to what extent tossing away non-paying users will hurt their network effect. How many people got HBO because their friends (paying or not) were talking about Game of Thrones? Hopefully for Netflix somebody there has run the numbers WRT one incremental unit of video-delivery-cost is worth more or less than one incremental unit of chatter.

But nobody talks about Netflix shows because there's no shared progress, so you can't even begin to discuss it with your friends until everyone is completely finished with. Then at that point, it's finished, why bother?

Because you can still watch something that is highly recommended? You think people only discuss shows that are week to week? Plenty of people won't even watch something unless they can binge at least a season.

Re: Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

#612

Post by drusepth »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #583
melvinmelih wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think the issue is that people who are paying for an account they are sharing are likely to keep the account active so their family members can continue watching, even if they are also using a competitor. When the family are cut off, they cancel. Definitely the case for me. I am able to help out 10-20 family members across 4 countries, and all I have to do is pay a measly $17.99/mo. If that goes away, I will be c…

> Definitely the case for me. I am able to help out 10-20 family members across 4 countries, You're sharing an account with 20 people across 4 countries? It's honestly kind of amazing that they let this level of sharing go on for so long. It's hard for me to believe that out of 20 different people , every single one of them would decide to boycott Netflix forever because of this. If even 1 of those people decides to…

> If even 1 of those people decides to re-subscribe, Netflix has lost nothing. If 2 or more subscribe, they win.

While extrapolating over a large dataset, it's important to get the initial numbers as correct as possible. Since the person you're replying to is paying for the most expensive plan (probably to get the 4x devices-at-a-time perk for so many people), the plan those people would re-subscribe at is important (and less likely to be the same plan if only for one person).

They'd need at least 3 people to re-subscribe on either of the two cheapest plans to net a profit, or they'd need at least 2 people to re-subscribe on the "Standard" $16/mo plan to net a profit. Anything less is a net negative. It's a favorably-biased population for Netflix, but that'd still require a 15%-30% conversion rate for users.

I'm sure they'll come ahead in the end, but I imagine a high % of the expected profit comes from cutting costs from serving 20x "free" users per plan rather than converting them into paying users themselves.

Re: Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

#613

Post by gnicholas »

I wonder if this will cause some people to actually share accounts more than before, not less. For example, I pay for my own account, despite my brother asking me to share with him (we're both employed and in our 40s, and I feel like we should pay our own way). He eventually set up an account and shares with our parents. So between us, we are probably paying about $40/mo for Netflix.

With this new system, I might decide that I should jump onto my family's account for $5.99 or whatever, since this type of sharing is now blessed by Netflix. That would cut their revenue from our family to $32 (an extra $6 for my parents and me) from $40.

Re: Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

#614

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

bmikaili wrote: post #610

Of course people are moving to piracy. No one wants to subscribe to 5 services á 10 bucks to view all their shows. This is gonna blow up sooner or later.

I mean 5 services at $10 bucks is still much cheaper than people were paying for cable TV for a long time.

Re: Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

#615

Post by mig39 »

bragr wrote: post #609
webmobdev wrote: post #595

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to a TF article in 2012 - https://torrentfreak.com/top-bittorrent-countries-in-the-wor... - Spain was one of the top 10 countries of torrent downloaders. Is there any statistics of torrent users (by country) for 2023? It will be interesting to see if those million outraged spanish Netflix users have now turned to torrenting Netflix shows.

Are torrents even the primary methods of piracy now? That's an actual question: I get the impression that a lot of piracy has switched to grey market file hosting and streaming sites, but I don't have the perspective to say if that's accurate.

My impression is that the tech-savvy people still use torrents, but nowadays they share these torrents with their less savvy group using things like Plex (and Plex alternatives).

That's what I've witnessed with my Portuguese and Spanish friends anyway. Extended groups who depend on one or more sources of "private Netflix (ie: Plex)".

Re: Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

#616

Post by philsnow »

highwaylights wrote: post #380
conradfr wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First season is OK. Same for Ted Lasso.

You can't please everybody. Tried with Mythic Quest for two seasons and just couldn't stick with it. Ted Lasso OTOH I'll watch as soon as a new episode pops up.

I skip most of the Ted Lasso scenes with Mr Gruff and lil' Ms SideBusiness. If you had told me back in season one that I'd prefer watching the scenes with Mr BoringHomeLife, I wouldn't have believed you.

Re: Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

#617

Post by afavour »

autoexec wrote: post #601
larrik wrote: post #581

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But nobody talks about Netflix shows because there's no shared progress, so you can't even begin to discuss it with your friends until everyone is completely finished with. Then at that point, it's finished, why bother?

If you want to time gate your episodes with your friends you're still welcome to coordinate that with them. Lots of couples do this too ("Don't watch until we can do it together") but personally, no matter how excited I am for a show, if a streaming platform withholds episodes so that they can better manage social media and stretch out advertising I'll just wait until the whole thing is out before I even start watchi…

> If you want to time gate your episodes with your friends you're still welcome to coordinate that with them.

That feels somewhat naive. People don't only belong to one friendship group.

> if a streaming platform withholds episodes so that they can better manage social media and stretch out advertising I'll just wait until the whole thing is out before I even start watching.

Sounds like it works out for everyone, then: those that want to watch and discuss week-to-week can, those that don't can wait until the end of the season and watch all at once.

Re: Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

#618

Post by afavour »

strunz wrote: post #611
larrik wrote: post #581

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But nobody talks about Netflix shows because there's no shared progress, so you can't even begin to discuss it with your friends until everyone is completely finished with. Then at that point, it's finished, why bother?

Because you can still watch something that is highly recommended? You think people only discuss shows that are week to week? Plenty of people won't even watch something unless they can binge at least a season.

It's definitely a thing. I remember when Lost first aired I had lengthy discussions every week with friends, I even logged into Lostpedia to browse, exchange theories etc.

By comparison, the first Netflix show I remember really watching was House of Cards. Tried to have conversations with friends about it but inevitably you'd start with "oh, what episode are you on? Is that the one with the...? So you haven't seen...?".

Discussing an entire season when it's complete is definitely less fulfilling than discussing each episode. Depending on the show, of course.

Re: Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

#619

Post by zo1 »

DoctorNick wrote: post #598
hulitu wrote: post #465

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Violence. Extreme right. I searched for Dracula, got documentaries about nazis.

I mean, what are said documentaries about the nazis like? Are they presenting an uncritical viewpoint? I don't think I've ever seen a documentary about the nazis not include the context of all the horrible shit they did

Not OP. They're pushing an agenda is the general criticism. E.g. I'm all for them not excluding minorities. If the show does good, it does good. It's a universal unassailable good/win. But when they want to enforce quotas and promoting DEI content synthetically and unnaturally, then they've crossed a line.

Re: Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

#620

Post by nkrebs13 »

biztos wrote: post #430
gnicholas wrote: post #416

Losing 1M users is not good, but isn't the real question how many accounts they lost? > The move was linked to a fall in users of more than a million, two thirds of whom were using someone else’s password, according to Kantar’s research, which is based on surveys of household streaming habits. This makes it seem like they lost 333k customers. I don't know how many customers they have in Spain, but that sounds like a…

Apple, Google and Amazon would seem to have a big advantage here in doing Family Accounts. By putting someone "in your family" you at least feel like you're giving them access to a lot of stuff, so you probably don't do it with friends as much. Plus there is some unique tracking by account even if it's just an email address. I never tried it but I would assume I can't be in multiple "families" at the same time on Pri…

I agree with you but also it's easy to not do it right for YouTube movies. You can't share videos with family unless "you purchase them with the family payment method" (source: https://support.google.com/families/answer/7007852?hl=en#zip...). I bought a movie on YouTube a few days ago. SO couldn't find it because I didn't buy with the correct credit card.
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