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Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros

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Re: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros

#941

Post by wombat-man »

venturecruelty wrote: post #837
wombat-man wrote: post #433

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I torrent too, but I think it makes sense to buy/rent or sub to a service in many cases. Companies look at views and revenue to decide what content to actually make. So, especially for ongoing series that I'm enjoying I want them to keep renewing it. I subscribe to ad-free versions of services so I don't really run into ads a lot unless I'm trying to watch something live on TV.

How did good movies and TV shows get made before the panopticon? How did we get Casa Blanca when there were no Nielsen ratings?

Casablanca? The only way to really see it then was at a theater. They just bankrolled an A team of filmmakers and actors.

Re: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros

#942

Post by softwaredoug »

walterbell wrote: post #939

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/the-slow-death-of-hollywo... > [Netflix] now routinely ends shows after their second season, even when they’re still popular. Netflix has learned that the first two seasons of a show are key to bringing in subscribers—but the third and later seasons don’t do much to retain or win new subscribers.. Ending a show after the second season saves money, because showrunners who oversee pro…

A lot of shows go on too long. Andor, the best show of the year, had 2 perfect seasons.

Re: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros

#943

Post by RangerScience »

thayne wrote: post #514
nonethewiser wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Any consolidation like this seems like a negative for consumers This is a very common narrative to this news. But coming into this news, I think the most common narrative against streaming was essentially "There is not enough consolidation." People were happy when Netflix was the streaming service, but then everyone pulled their content and have their own (Disney, Paramount, etc.)

I want a separation between the streaming platform companies and the content making companies, so that the streaming companies can compete on making a better platform/service and the content companies compete on making better content. I don't want one company that owns everything, I want several companies that are able to license whatever content they want. And ideally the customer can choose between a subscription t…

Mostly agree, but I’d advocate for a carve-out for DropoutTV; maybe; exempt if (1) only hosting your own content and (2) that content can be licensed by other services?

Re: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros

#944

Post by mastax »

nonethewiser wrote: post #315
afavour wrote: post #182

Any consolidation like this seems like a negative for consumers. But at least it wasn’t bought by Larry Ellison, as was considered very likely (assuming this merger gets approved, in the current administration you never know). From a Hacker News perspective, I wonder what this means for engineers working on HBO Max. Netflix says they’re keeping the company separate but surely you’d be looking to move them to Netflix…

> Any consolidation like this seems like a negative for consumers This is a very common narrative to this news. But coming into this news, I think the most common narrative against streaming was essentially "There is not enough consolidation." People were happy when Netflix was the streaming service, but then everyone pulled their content and have their own (Disney, Paramount, etc.)

People were happy when Netflix was the streaming service and it cost $7.99. People will be unhappy if Netflix is the streaming service and it costs $159.99. The glory days were only possible because the streaming market didn’t matter.

Re: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros

#945

Post by FreeQueso »

The offer makes sense if you don’t treat as a straightforward attempt to buy WBD. The proposal itself creates advantages long before the deal closes.

What matters:

- Strategic signaling: Submitting a bid instantly places Netflix in the same acquisition arena as Amazon and Apple. In other words, it’s good PR.

- Access to real diligence: A signed agreement gives Netflix a look inside WBD’s business. Even if everything falls apart, the information has value.

- Pressure on competitors: The bid forces others to act or sit still. Netflix gets to watch how serious each player is.

- Reverse fee as escape valve: A large break fee functions like insurance. If regulators turn the deal into a grind, Netflix can pay the fee and walk away without carrying the wreckage.

- Positioning for the aftermath: If the process damages WBD’s stock and the deal collapses, Netflix has a cleaner path to revisit individual assets later.

- Regulatory posturing: Even if the deal never closes, the offer forces agencies to treat Netflix as a potential consolidator. By proposing to buy all of WBD, Netflix shifts the Overton window by anchoring the conversation at “full acquisition.” Whatever pushback Netflix gets now becomes the map for every deal it tries later.

All of this happens before a single regulator approves anything.

The reverse fee is the cost of the offer, which is roughly 1 percent of Netflix’s market cap.

In practice, that’s the price of buying information at scale, along with the PR and regulatory positioning that come bundled with the offer.

Re: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros

#946

Post by walterbell »

softwaredoug wrote: post #942
walterbell wrote: post #939

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/the-slow-death-of-hollywo... > [Netflix] now routinely ends shows after their second season, even when they’re still popular. Netflix has learned that the first two seasons of a show are key to bringing in subscribers—but the third and later seasons don’t do much to retain or win new subscribers.. Ending a show after the second season saves money, because showrunners who oversee pro…

A lot of shows go on too long. Andor, the best show of the year, had 2 perfect seasons.

Competitive markets provide natural death of weak content, without premature euthanasia of strong content. With on-demand streaming, viewers can stop watching if/when a show deteriorates in quality. Some shows have maintained relatively high quality over multiple seasons.

  The Americans (6 seasons, 75 episodes)
  Battlestar Galactica (4 seasons, 88 episodes)
  Borgen (3 seasons, 30 episodes)
  Burn Notice (7 seasons, 111 episodes)
  The Shield (7 seasons, 88 episodes)
  Slow Horses (5 seasons, 30 episodes)
  WestWorld (4 seasons, 36 episodes)
  The Wire (5 seasons, 60 episodes)

Re: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros

#947

Post by citizenpaul »

phartenfeller wrote: post #52

I don't like this. Netflix rarely creates excellent content; instead, it frequently produces mediocre or worse content. Will the same happen for Warner? Are cinemas now second behind streaming? Edit: I agree Netflix has good Originals. But most are from the early days when they favored quality over quantity. It is sad to see that they reversed that. They have much funding power and should give it to great art that re…

It seems to be endemic to the industry. Why was the latest predator movie turned into what is functionally a buddy comedy with some action scenes?

Re: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros

#948

Post by downrightmike »

walterbell wrote: post #946
softwaredoug wrote: post #942

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of shows go on too long. Andor, the best show of the year, had 2 perfect seasons.

Competitive markets provide natural death of weak content, without premature euthanasia of strong content. With on-demand streaming, viewers can stop watching if/when a show deteriorates in quality. Some shows have maintained relatively high quality over multiple seasons. The Americans (6 seasons, 75 episodes) Battlestar Galactica (4 seasons, 88 episodes) Borgen (3 seasons, 30 episodes) Burn Notice (7 seasons, 111 ep…

Star Trek: Voyager(7 seasons, 172 episodes) And they still rushed it at the end.

Re: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros

#949

Post by jakubmazanec »

softwaredoug wrote: post #942
walterbell wrote: post #939

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/the-slow-death-of-hollywo... > [Netflix] now routinely ends shows after their second season, even when they’re still popular. Netflix has learned that the first two seasons of a show are key to bringing in subscribers—but the third and later seasons don’t do much to retain or win new subscribers.. Ending a show after the second season saves money, because showrunners who oversee pro…

A lot of shows go on too long. Andor, the best show of the year, had 2 perfect seasons.

AFAIK Andor was supposed to be 5 seasons, and the story for seasons 2-5 was squashed into season 2, because the production was too long, because that's how it goes these days in streaming.
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