681–690 of 898 posts
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But it would take Netflix just one or two demo-specific properties to win that demo back. Unless the goal is to be acquired.
It doesn’t have to be either-or, lots of people have multiple streaming services
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> the mission of making Black people seem cheerful and unthreatening to America Implies that America thinks this way. Again, nuance is needed.
The explosion of (largely greenbean, but to your credit yours isn't) concern trolling on this thread certainly supports the implication. On HN one might have expected more discussion of business models, technology, etc. Instead we have wall-to-wall "don't you know it's racist not to pretend that race has never been a thing in USA?"
> the mission of making Black people seem cheerful and unthreatening to America
_seem cheerful and unthreatening_ is in particular what I take umbrage with. That implies that America finds black folks threatening which is why there better be some deep clarification in that statement. But on it's face who really thinks this way? Only ignorant people and true racists have this perception. As far as I can tell that percentage is low.
As far as the business goes I think there's more opportunity in casting that wider net like Cosby or more recently The Neighborhood and creating more appeal for a larger audience. The model of "Netflix for black people" immediately excludes about 86% of the population. Some non-black folks will subscribe, and giving a very liberal 16% of that share they are still excluding 70% of the potential population. This doesn't mean that they won't be successful though - Tyler Perry basically does the same thing (though not overtly so) and he does pretty well for himself. If I were an investor I'd have to examine this under a microscope before jumping into any investments. But who knows? Hopefully they will do well.
Offtopic, but not being from the USA I have real trouble understanding the concept of "blackness" in that country. What does it mean, exactly, to be black? Is it a genetic, a phenotypic or a cultural thing? How is it determined whether mixed-race people are black? And what about trans-racially adopted children? Does a black kid adopted by a white family become white? Does a white kid adopted by a black family become…
I am fine if you want to downvote me but this kind of things I don't want to exist.
There are other ways to do this but building a streaming service for people based on their race is too much extreme.
I think people should try to bring people together instead of further separating based on their Race.
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Almost all the movies and TV shows and video games I’ve consumed featured no one who looked like me. But I still felt represented when a character behaved like I did or was interested in the same things I was - characteristics that formed a bigger part of my identity than my skin colour. I’d speculate you might be the same - you’re listening to stories that feature people who display characteristics similar to yours.…
> But here’s the thing you’re missing - if your race is a dominant part of your identity, like it is for many black people in America, it’s certainly normal to look for stories that feature black people and black stories. Stories where the characters experience problems and issues similar to the ones they might face in their lives. Yeah, maybe, I can perhaps agree with that, but I still fail to see the political prop…
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The explosion of (largely greenbean, but to your credit yours isn't) concern trolling on this thread certainly supports the implication. On HN one might have expected more discussion of business models, technology, etc. Instead we have wall-to-wall "don't you know it's racist not to pretend that race has never been a thing in USA?"
It takes significant historical events to shed the consequences of past significant historical events. The past is exactly that but that doesn't mean we can escape it. People with half a brain know and understand this but (if I'm understanding you right) there's also a lot of using it as a club in these types of discussions. We'll never get away from that without some significant shift in the collective frames of ref…
You are certainly welcome to subscribe no matter who you are, and you might well do that if you're interested in stories told in a Black context --- for the same reason you might have been super interested in watching Babylon Berlin even if you don't even speak German. Or you might not. That's one of the cool things about pluralism.
Everyone else has given you some good advice on your messaging, so I'll give you some business/technical advice as a former Netflix employee: Try to negotiate your contracts with global streaming rights. It shouldn't cost too much more but will make your life a lot easier as you try to expand globally. That was one thing that slowed Netflix's global expansion -- a lot of the content was not globally licensed. You wil…
Hey...this is really great stuff! Thank you so much for this. This...this is what I was hoping for!
Congrats on the launch!!
When I read "Black" on HN or Reddit, it usually refers to African-American blacks, do you also have (or are looking for) content outside that region, more specifically Africa? A suggestion: have some description of your content somewhere. At least logged out, I can barely see more than the episode title, I have no idea what any of the shows are about. In any way, I (white) think this sounds like a great idea, congrat…
We do want this to be a global company. Obviously, we have to start somewhere, so the U.S., where we are, is a logical first step, but we already have content from outside of our region, and hope to expand that greatly in the months and years to come! And yes, our site needs a lot of work in terms of the meta data. We're working on getting that filled in across the site as much as possible. Hopefully, the free episod…
Why YC fund this kind of startup. I am fine if you want to downvote me but this kind of things I don't want to exist. There are other ways to do this but building a streaming service for people based on their race is too much extreme. I think people should try to bring people together instead of further separating based on their Race.
We detached this comment from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28089696.