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The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

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Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#841
post #775

All the handwringing over Netflix subscriber loss seems to be overlooking the fact that they raised their prices - significantly. Of course they could lose subscribers from doing that. But 200k subscribers out of 150 million? Combined with the end of the pandemic and sky high inflation meaning many people have less opportunity to watch and less money to spend. The fact they raised their prices something like 20% and…

With the established content producers starting their own streaming services, or having more competition of buyers for their content, it seems Netflix has little choice but to move into production. Otherwise it would be a slow death as competitors move in and content prices are bid up. Just my guess though.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#842
post #775

All the handwringing over Netflix subscriber loss seems to be overlooking the fact that they raised their prices - significantly. Of course they could lose subscribers from doing that. But 200k subscribers out of 150 million? Combined with the end of the pandemic and sky high inflation meaning many people have less opportunity to watch and less money to spend. The fact they raised their prices something like 20% and…

> question whether, now that they have moved so solidly into content production, Netflix is actually a scalable / viable company any more

Netflix is a scalable company precisely because they produce content, when they are share other people's content any other platform can do that. But when they create their own content suddenly they operate based on a fixed cost rather than paying for other people's content.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#843
post #662

It's sad that we cannot own titles but are forced to rent them from these streaming services that can't seem to get their shit together. (Not blaming Netflix per se; this is a pox on all their houses). Used to be nice in the DVD days. I built myself a nice collection then. This was the idea behind digital rights lockers: UltraViolet, which Disney refused to participate in and which closed down in 2019, and its succes…

> It's sad that we cannot own titles but are forced to rent them from these streaming services that can't seem to get their shit together.

It's sad that the general public cannot get its shit together and every man jack keep and use his own library.

I know because I'm one of the sad sacks that owns hundreds of original LPs, CDs, VHSs, DVDs, and also has a couple TB of HDD worth of borrowed series, and hasn't touched the damn pile of 'precious' in ages.

"Give me Convenience or Give me Death", as those 1980s punks so neatly summed it up.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#844
post #775

All the handwringing over Netflix subscriber loss seems to be overlooking the fact that they raised their prices - significantly. Of course they could lose subscribers from doing that. But 200k subscribers out of 150 million? Combined with the end of the pandemic and sky high inflation meaning many people have less opportunity to watch and less money to spend. The fact they raised their prices something like 20% and…

> The there is definitely a question whether, now that they have moved so solidly into content production, Netflix is actually a scalable / viable company any more. When they were just sending other people's content around and doing it much cheaper and better that was innovative and different.

to borrow cliched terms, big companies protect their position by either building a monopoly (Bell, your traditional telco) or building a moat (Apple). Netflix started with an effective monopoly on film distribution/streaming. at some point Disney & friends extended their moat vertically (Disney+), eating into the distribution layer that Netflix previously monopolized. perhaps leadership understood the monopoly would only ever be temporary and decided to build out their internal production house as such. whatever the case, Netflix still has the possibility of transforming this into a moat that stands alongside the other players in this space. maybe it can exist as this, but it will surely be less profitable than its monopoly days.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#845

I finally canceled Netflix as many of the shows I loved were canceled (largely the expensive to produce ones). Sense8, Travelers, Altered Carbon, basically there expensive science fiction. Sure nailed it is fun but I won't miss it. The only one that I will truly miss is Big Mouth... but there are alternatives. Apple TV+ is quickly becoming my science fiction go to and they seem to be going more than HBO route with a…

Ah finally a mention for Altered Carbon! Loved the first season, and felt like they wrapped it up on the cheap the second season.

Altered Carbon was an amazing ride before it hit the wall. Really a shame how it couldn’t maintain that magic for longer but happy to have enjoyed it however short lived.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#846
There's a lot of new competition in Disney+, Discovery+, Paramount+, and Peacock. Why now?

> 71% of TV households nationwide have some form of pay-TV service. The percentage of TV households that have a live pay-TV service (via cable, satellite, Telco, or Internet-delivered vMVPD) is down from 82% in 2016, 87% in 2011, and 86% in 2006.

http://www.satellitemarkets.com/71-percent-us-households-hav...

A second source that classifies vMVPD differently: https://www.emarketer.com/chart/239301/us-pay-tv-vs-non-pay-...

Combined with the decline of movie theaters, it's an existential crisis for everyone in the media world. Can they replace lost cable/theater revenues with streaming subscriptions?

I expect we'll end up with a 2 or 3 major media companies and a couple small premium services bolted onto unrelated products like Prime and Apple TV. Netflix has some short term headwinds with this new competition but is the only company that's a shoe-in for making it.

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#847

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think I read somewhere that of one of their content production differentiators is their direct-to-consumer approach. Classically lots of content was produced for the "average" consumer. Netflix can use their subscriber data to create low-cost content for extremely niche consumers, who might love that extremely relevant production (think super edgy, super graphic, super cartoon, etc - the type of extremes not covered…

This seems like a way of sugar-coating the actual content strategy Netflix deploys, which has much more to do with product placement than it does content production. Their strategy is to align their content productions with the brands that best correlate with their subscriber base. In so doing, they can create lucrative deals with brands where their products are intricately woven into the stories/narratives of the sh…

I hope those advertisers feel like they got their money's worth, because I can't remember a single brand from Stranger Things

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#848
post #800
post #778

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder why the market reacted so harshly though, with NFLX losing 1/3 last Wednesday ($347 to $215).

The market reacted because a much higher subscriber growth was factored into the price. After the massive drop Netflix is still worth $100B and is one of the largest media companies out there, which is nothing to scoff at.

NFLX got clapped for Q4 2021 earnings too

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#849

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still buy hard media (which makes me a Luddite apparently) because I consider it art and refuse to pay for digital media that is allegedly perpetual and then one day it goes missing because the wokes decided it should be memory holed. One of many, many examples: https://screenrant.com/its-always-sunny-blackface-episodes-m... Even things like iTunes Music Store which once claimed that all your past purchases are ava…

>then one day it goes missing because the wokes decided it should be memory holed. [EDIT: yeah, I can't read. Sorry for missing the example that immediately followed. ] /ignore: Curious, can you provide any examples of this actually happening?

The next line in his comment was an example

Re: The bottom is dropping out of Netflix

#850

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still buy hard media (which makes me a Luddite apparently) because I consider it art and refuse to pay for digital media that is allegedly perpetual and then one day it goes missing because the wokes decided it should be memory holed. One of many, many examples: https://screenrant.com/its-always-sunny-blackface-episodes-m... Even things like iTunes Music Store which once claimed that all your past purchases are ava…

>then one day it goes missing because the wokes decided it should be memory holed. [EDIT: yeah, I can't read. Sorry for missing the example that immediately followed. ] /ignore: Curious, can you provide any examples of this actually happening?

They linked to one in the following sentence.
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