When it comes to tech, look around for Netflix as a service providers out there so you can just focus on content. One of the bigger ones I know is https://www.accedo.tv but I am sure the commenters will help you find more.
Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people
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Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people
#732Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
That's a bit like saying "I guess there is no freedom" when you don't get to move your knight like a bishop. We're playing a particular game here: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor....
Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people
#733Earlier quoted context omitted.
> You can only discriminate against white people. You can't discriminate against all of the political elite's pets. Pets include blacks, browns, gays, trans, and all the victim groups. Wow. Pets, okay. > I get that this tag line is more for marketing purposes, and in fact they might not refuse to take white ppl's money that want to sign up... but they are in fact discriminating in the type of content they will produc…
Pretty sure none of those networks are advertising themselves as 'something for -some race', they just exist, do business and focus a sector of the US population, never mention anything else You can target a niche, thats fine, but doing this type of headlines, you just end up segregating yourself.
BET has been around since 1980.
Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people
#734Earlier 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…
> 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 don’t see a messaging problem. I see you positing a different unmet need than the one that firm here has identified and is addressing. Which is fine, but “Netflix for people who want Black-created content but get icky feeling about products marketed to Black audiences” is, I suspect, a much narrower niche, and certainly a different niche, than BlackOakTV seems interested in serving, whose existence (to the extent it exists) does nothing to invalidate the niche BlackOakTV is trying to address or their efforts to do so.
Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people
#735Earlier 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?
> So why do we need a Netflix for black people? Someone perceives an unmet need, and seeks to meet it. > Why can't e.g. the existing Netflix simply air culturally black content if people are craving more of it? They could . Someone with sufficient motivation and resources to launch a business thinks they aren't. That's...kind of true of most startups—an incumbent could meet the need they are marketing too, but they t…
My point is not that I think they're wrong for trying to address a market. Everybody is welcome to do that. My point is that we don't call Netflix "Netflix for white people" and it's not designed in an exclusive way such that it aims to only serve a white audience. I'm probably not conveying my sentiment well: please read it more as "I'm excited about this effort and want include myself as an audience member to help promote the content they are promoting." If you tell me your service is for black people then I am excluded. My initial comment that stared this sub-thread is that I see a social utility to having content "for women" since it's motivated by biology but I don't see a social utility to having content "for black people" since that seems racially motivated (which we agree is an expression of tribalism) and I don't find our tribal desires to assert subculture dominance to be productive in society. I view western liberalism as an effort to transcend tribalism where we treat all participate as equals rather than continue to divide into subcultures.
Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people
#736Some feedback: 1. What is your cost per episode? Can your subscription fee sustain realistically sustain that? 2. Your design needs improvement, at least on desktop. Haven't looked at the apps yet. If you expect "product" do be your differentiator, there's a LOT of work. Also, I'm not sure this is a sufficient competitive advantage. (a) its replicable (b) I've never seen this as a reason for people to pick one conten…
These are tremendous questions! Ones we need to continue to think through, but I can share our early thoughts...
1. Content cost: Generally speaking, and assuming capital raises, we will only buy content that our subscription revenues can sustain. And over time, we do intend to raise our price as the service gets better.
2. Product: Yes, the product is far from perfect. We wanted to get in market with content, and iterate on product as we learn. We're largely leveraging third-parties to hold this thing up, but we will make improvements just as any product does. In terms of it being a differentiator, it's just that different, not necessarily defensible. But the way the market sits, we're the only ones interested in doing that. But I get your point, it's not like Netflix has a game-changing technology advantage over all the companies chasing them.
3. Content diversification: We hope to have the most, and best, black content on the planet.
4. Lack of content: Yes, we're very early, and I'm worried about not having enough content. But we will continue to add to it as we grow. We definitely do not plan to stay where we're at, but where we're at does work for our super-niche demo w/in the greater black community at this point.
5. UX/filtering/etc.: Thank you for calling those site issues out. We aim to fix those this weekend!
6. Content sampling: Agreed. We should, and will, make it easier to do that. However, the 7-day free trial mitigates that to some degree. Additionally, people generally don't just land on our site/homepage randomly. They usually have seen a trailer or come through a landing page that features (and describes) a specific show.
7. Just be a curator: Netflix also had the advantage of doing this 10+ years ago, so we can't change that. The truth is that with today's number of options, you have to have content that people can't get elsewhere. Plus, as I've alluded to in the comments, working directly with creators has been a big part of acquiring subscribers for us, and will likely continue to be so.
Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people
#737Can any French, Belgians, or Dutchies with significant Black African sub-culture comment? I am curious: If there was a French-language or Flemish-/Dutch-language "Netflix for black people" in your country, what would be the reaction?
In France blacks don't really have a different culture, except when they carry their own from their country of origin, sometimes passed into french-born blacks. It's not like in the US where (it seems) there's a clear black-american culture with visible boundaries. Blacks of different origin also have different cultures. I mean, if one tried to start up a netflix for blacks in an european context, with the same leiv…
The US is a somewhat unique case because of (of course) slavery, and in particular how long it lasted and how difficult it was to eradicate the last vestiges of explicit or implicit slavery. (People were still being treated as de facto slaves into the 1960s, for example: https://www.livescience.com/61886-modern-slavery-united-stat...)
In most other countries, including other countries that practiced slavery, either more of the original cultural of Black residents remains intact, or there's been more time post-slavery for a united-by-slavery monoculture to more visibly break up into smaller subcultures, or both.
Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people
#738Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not sure what you're suggesting about my intentions or those of people giving honest feedback here. If BlackOak is only interested in black viewers, then good luck. They simply won't be getting my money or attention, then, since I don't identify as culturally black. Personally I don't see why their (or any) platform needs to be exclusive to further their mission. If I made a "Neflix for white people", what do you…
I don't know anything about your intentions, but this whole thread is a good illustration of, again, something YC tells people all the time: start by making something that a few people love, rather than something that everyone will like a little bit, or, worse, just not object to.
Well I don't disagree there. Maybe I've just spoken sloppily. I wish BlackOak success in their mission. And I hope at some point I can be part of their vision for audience. Everything else I've said can simply be considered feedback, which I think the founder solicited in the OP.
Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people
#739Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It's pretty easy to accuse the latter statement of being racist isn't it? Not so much the former though huh? Why do you think that is? I'm not sure that it's easy; it depends on the context. As we know well, many racists use conceivably non-racist criticism to find ways to denigrate African-Americans, so it's important to be careful and sensitive to that. But the big difference is the vulnerability of the groups. I…
> As we know well, many racists use conceivably non-racist criticism to find ways to denigrate African-Americans, so it's important to be careful and sensitive to that. This, of course, deeply depends on your definition of racist/racism. If I criticize some behavior that happens to be more prevalent among black americans than other americans, to some people that simple fact makes that critique, and thus me, a racist.…
> If I criticize some behavior that happens to be more prevalent among black americans than other americans, to some people that simple fact makes that critique, and thus me, a racist.
You'll have to talk to those people, whoever they are. What I'm saying is that actual racist behavior often uses arguably non-racist arguments to attack African-Americans. It's an obvious and well-used tactic.
> No, they're not.
Hate speech spreads and promotes hate, of course, and that is dangerous to vulnerable minorities. And yes, people lose their jobs because they are minorities.
Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people
#740Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> United States society has been problematically lumping people together based on skin tone > Wouldn't the best solution to this problem represent a rejection of such categorization? Wouldn't that necessarily exclude "X for Black People" in the same way it excludes "X for White People"? I'd like to live in a society where skin tone is no more important than hair color. Surely the best way to get there is to de-empha…
> Why do they need your approval? They clearly don't. I'm just pointing out that "X for Black People" seems to perpetuate and deepen racial tension and division, rather than helping alleviate them. It's moving the needle in the wrong direction, much like a nuclear arms race would. > The racists and systematic racism are the overwhelming cause This is not at all clear, and is hideously complicated (see below). To what…
>> The racists and systematic racism are the overwhelming cause
> This is not at all clear
This crosses the line into absurdity. Have a great day!