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Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

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711–720 of 898 posts

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#711
post #690

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.

Please don't hijack top comments by replying with non-replies, and certainly not with flamebait. We detached this comment from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28089696 .

I love you dang but I guess there is no free speech.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#712
post #678

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, I agree. So why do we need a Netflix for black people? How does that help? Why can't e.g. the existing Netflix simply air culturally black content if people are craving more of it? Why does the service itself need to be exclusive and segregated?

It "helps" by satisfying a market need for a space for Black creators to tell Black stories without shouldering a burden to translate, soften, or attenuate that culture for other audiences, as would be the expectation on a mass media cable channel. It's not complicated; venues like this serve all sorts of ethnicities.

I think like many have pointed out, there's a messaging issue. I want to feel like I'm welcome, even though I'm not culturally black, to consume content created by black creators on a platform that helps promote that content. I like k-pop, I like Bollywood, I like Sister Deborah, I generally enjoy experiencing other culture. I don't need attenuation. One of the strengths of America is the capacity for cultural exchange. "Netflix for black people" does not achieve that. It makes me feel unwelcome on the platform and triggers angst related to my opposition to the idea of asserting ownership over and further segregating sub-cultures being part of the solution space. If BlackOak is truly trying to promote black cultural exchange, then don't use exclusive language. I really have no problem with a production company like BET geared at being a space to promote a given subculture. Personally, If I was the founder, I'd welcome this type of feedback even if it feels tired because the appropriate messaging may be integral to the success of the venture.

Edit: Want to also point out that in practice we don't seem to attenuate messaging in black pop culture. It's some of the most explicit sexual and sometimes violent content in existence and it appears all over radio, TV, and the internet. I'm not saying it's exclusively that, but it doesn't seem to suffer from expectation that it be attenuated "for white people". If that were happening I'd immediately be on the side of any effort to stop censoring it because I believe in freedom of expression.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#713

ITT: Whyt folx suggesting that curating media that targets a specific cultural audience is problematic without realizing that they already enjoy that same experience every day of their lives. But I love it. One thought that comes to me: If you’re successful at this, you probably get to repeat the story of the big record labels poaching black creators in the 1920s. That’d be good history to dive into and weave into th…

Demeaning racial labels and slurs have no place on HN.

I agree completely. Though I’m confused by your use of the world slur. Are you referencing my use of “whyt”?

Happy to discuss if you’re interested in discussion.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#714
post #712

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It "helps" by satisfying a market need for a space for Black creators to tell Black stories without shouldering a burden to translate, soften, or attenuate that culture for other audiences, as would be the expectation on a mass media cable channel. It's not complicated; venues like this serve all sorts of ethnicities.

I think like many have pointed out, there's a messaging issue. I want to feel like I'm welcome, even though I'm not culturally black, to consume content created by black creators on a platform that helps promote that content. I like k-pop, I like Bollywood, I like Sister Deborah, I generally enjoy experiencing other culture. I don't need attenuation. One of the strengths of America is the capacity for cultural exchan…

They're not trying to promote Black cultural exchange. That's not the point. Rather, argumentative message board nerds are telling them that's what they need to be doing, rather than serving the customers they really need to love them. They would do well not to take that advice, not least because it is not, in the main, well-intentioned.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#715

Best of luck in your endeavor. I don’t personally have the guts to take on a space where it seems to me like Netflix could decide to squash you at any moment by outbidding for the catalog of work by other creators. I wonder to what extent that was also true with BET, which is an obviously extremely successful outcome. (Maybe I’m just chicken.) Again, best of luck; this seems like a really smart idea and has a team th…

BET was a financial success for investors, but was it a success for the black community? Depends who you ask. I lean towards The Boondocks' take: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZchP89w2pJo

[deleted]

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#716

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> people who aren't bigoted should be aware and pushing back every minute, in every way they can. Nah man, I think just being not-bigoted and intolerant of directly witnessed bigotry is good enough.

It's hard to tell how serious you are, based on the first couple of words, but that tactic seems to have failed. Racism is widespread and, according to some data and personal experience, has broadened and deepened in the last few years. If we want something to change, we'll have to act. African-Americans are only ~1/7th of the US population - not enough to make changes themselves.

Oh really? Black americans are totally disempowered to make any changes at all? I couldn't disagree more, and object to your denial of agency to these people.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#717

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OK, replace "countries" with "communities" - my point stands.

No, it doesn't; if you replace countries with communities, the other statement becomes immediately and obviously problematic.

Really? Would you care to elaborate as to why? Why are larger groups (countries) criticizable and smaller groups are not?

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#718
post #676

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Race shouldn't matter" is a fine thing to say, but is a really unhelpful principle for those people for whom it can't not matter. Or to put it another way, with an example: I'm sure there are plenty of non-religiously-observant American Jews who would be happy to treat race as a non-entity, but that's not much of an option for them when anti-Jewish slander and violence is an ongoing part of society.

So if all subgroups are subject to slander directed at their subgroup, then why is the answer to further segregate subgroups and create segregated services that only cater to certain subgroups?

> and create segregated services that only cater to certain subgroups

I fail to see the "segregated" and "only" parts. Marketing to a particular demographic and reflecting the life experiences of that demographic doesn't mean that other demographics aren't allowed, nor does it mean that nobody else is going to be interested.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#719

Maybe I just have enough black friends in Hollywood, but in the past few years, the following shows from black showrunners all made the cultural zeitgist on broadcast tv: Blackish, Empire, How to Get Away with Murder, and Bob and Abishola; and on on cable/streaming: Atlanta, Insecure, Power, Dear White People, Lovecraft Country, and I May Destroy You. (Note, I am friends with some of the writing staff and crew on sev…

Those may all be perfectly good shows. But there is space for them (BlackOakTV) if the market is really underserved.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#720

Maybe I just have enough black friends in Hollywood, but in the past few years, the following shows from black showrunners all made the cultural zeitgist on broadcast tv: Blackish, Empire, How to Get Away with Murder, and Bob and Abishola; and on on cable/streaming: Atlanta, Insecure, Power, Dear White People, Lovecraft Country, and I May Destroy You. (Note, I am friends with some of the writing staff and crew on sev…

I'd say you have a fair point about the competition, but not about their being a lack of critical examination. A critical examination of the market would yield the fact that surveyed black viewers want more content targeted at them, don't feel fully represented even in the existing black content that's out there, and that despite an admittedly (and perhaps temporary) spike in black content, an estimated $10b in revenue is being left on the table due to the mismatch between the supply of black content and the demand for it by black viewers.

So yes, BET, and others, are going after this market. We looked at the landscape and decided there was something different we could do that wasn't just unique, but likely execute in a manner that the incumbents could not realistically pull off.

BET--to use your own example--is owned by Viacom, whose two biggest strategic revenue plays are growing Paramount+ and licensing their content/channels to other distributors. Thus, BET can never be all the way in on serving the black audience, as Viacom will always look to maximize a piece of content through the channel that makes it the most money--usually one of the two I just mentioned.

There's also the product side, where none of the incumbents have invested in, and the large players, have actually disintermediated themselves by selling through other products like Amazon and Roku channels. Now we haven't built out a differentiated product yet either, but it's on the roadmap and you can be assured that disintermediation is not a strategy we're interested in.

Yet I understand your criticism...this idea is not new, has lots of competition, and is late to a game that has already started. But no one said this would be easy, and we have a differentiated approach that we believe gives us a strong shot at success.

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