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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

#71

Post by idlemind »

coldtea wrote: post #22

Why don't major services (Netflix, Disney, HULU, etc) come together to build a best of breed shared service, that operates vendor-neutrally, and each gets to keep all the profits from people watching their stuff? Each could still have its own promotions, bundles, etc (e.g. pay X more to watch new movies from Disney), but at least the base proposition can have a single subscription price and some pay as you consume mo…

I'm guessing they don't do this voluntarily because they've seen how the music industry had its revenues eroded by Spotify/iTunes (where mostly the user can pick one and get pretty much everything). They're probably ignoring the fact that music piracy is presumably lower than ever because of this.

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

#72

Post by scarface74 »

gldalmaso wrote: post #27
scarface74 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Your circle” unless it includes families with small kids, isn’t Disney’s primary audience. Most normal middle class people aren’t going to go through the trouble of pirating movies and setting up a Plex server and then worry about setting up their router to get a good connection while they are away from home and even then deal with the abysmally slow upload speed of the typical home network instead of spending $8 a…

Pirating shows and putting them on an external drive that you plug on any TV and can take with you on trips works fine and most normal middle class people can manage it though.

Any TV except the ones in most hotel rooms that lock down the HDMI input and the ones that don’t exist in most cars. Then you have the issue of the kids fighting over what to watch and wanting to watch video on their phones and tablets.

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

#74

Post by scarface74 »

hendersoon wrote: post #34
scarface74 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Your circle” unless it includes families with small kids, isn’t Disney’s primary audience. Most normal middle class people aren’t going to go through the trouble of pirating movies and setting up a Plex server and then worry about setting up their router to get a good connection while they are away from home and even then deal with the abysmally slow upload speed of the typical home network instead of spending $8 a…

You don't understand how low-friction piracy is these days. Only techies deal with automation and Plex. Most people just buy a "fully loaded" android box which lists thumbnails for all the latest movies and TV shows on various file storage sites. They select a thumbnail and the movie plays. Nothing local at all, all streamed.

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

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

#75

Post by viraptor »

scarface74 wrote: post #18
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…

“Your circle” unless it includes families with small kids, isn’t Disney’s primary audience. Most normal middle class people aren’t going to go through the trouble of pirating movies and setting up a Plex server and then worry about setting up their router to get a good connection while they are away from home and even then deal with the abysmally slow upload speed of the typical home network instead of spending $8 a…

That sounds terribly complicated. You know you can google "watch ... online free" and get a streamable version in the first two pages of results, right?

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

#76

Post by Freak_NL »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #53
personlurking wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Though unrealistic, all things considered, there needs to be a single site for everything (akin to pirated tv/film sites, incidentally). The user would go to a central place where all streaming options are available to be browsed and watched. The point of differentiation would be at payment, as the cost to the user, for whatever they just selected, would go to those who own the rights. No walled gardens, everyone win…

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).

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

#77

Post by mc32 »

chii wrote: post #68
mc32 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. There is definitely a market for a streaming bundling service where you pay for a bundle and get subscribed to multiple services for some monthly fee which would be at a great discount to subscribing separately to each service.

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.

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

#78

Post by CoolGuySteve »

scarface74 wrote: post #58
CoolGuySteve wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are only one or two Marvel or Star Wars movies a year though. Is that really worth subscribing to a streaming service for? (Not to mention that only maybe a quarter of these movies are worth seeking out, the rest are something I’d only ever watch for free on an airplane or something. But that’s just personal taste).

Seeing the box office results of Disney’s movies, your anecdotal opinion doesn’t jibe with the overall market. Besides, there will also be Disney original MCU and Star Wars TV series.

Yeah you’re sort of right, 5 of the top 10 on this list are from Disney, including 2 Marvel properties: https://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2019&p=.htm

But what I’m talking about is if you scroll down this list, 8 of the top 100 are from Disney unless I’m missing a studio name, I’m counting BV and MGM. So those 5 are pretty much all the 2019 blockbusters you’ll get from the service in a few months.

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

#80

Post by Jaruzel »

cptskippy wrote: post #33
coldtea wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Most normal middle class people aren’t going to go through the trouble of pirating movies and setting up a Plex server and then worry about setting up their router to get a good connection while they are away from home and even then deal with the abysmally slow upload speed of the typical home network instead of spending $8 a month to just have the convenience of Disney+ to be a glorified babysitter. Depending on t…

Sadly Disney is a lifestyle choice for a lot of people and the passion they have for the brand can be downright cultish and creepy at times. Groups like hardcore Disney fans, R. Kelly fans, and Evangelical Christians all share a very similar devotion and loyalty to their idols.

For Star Wars and Marvel fans, they don't really have any choice in the matter these days.
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