19 votes

In race to beat Netflix, studios give up billions in profits

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7 comments

  1. [4]
    Sahasrahla
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    That's something I hadn't considered before. As the number of subscription services increases it's obvious that most people won't want to pay $100+ for a dozen Netflix clones, but we're starting...
    • Exemplary

    There's also some expensive marketing to be done, as 50 percent of American adults have little or no clue that Disney+ is on the horizon and even more are similarly unfamiliar with WarnerMedia's (55 percent) and NBCU's (53 percent) upcoming streaming products, a recent Hollywood Reporter/Morning Consult poll found. In contrast, just 17 percent haven't heard of Netflix, which already has 58.5 million streaming customers in the U.S.

    That's something I hadn't considered before. As the number of subscription services increases it's obvious that most people won't want to pay $100+ for a dozen Netflix clones, but we're starting to get to the point where most people won't even hear about competing services. I've heard of Lionsgate but this article is the first I've heard of Starz.

    I think there's also a bit of arrogance from some of these media companies when it comes to the tech side of things. Whenever I hear of these competing services at all one of the most common complaints is that the interface is bad, the quality is often poor, and sometimes it doesn't even work at all. Media conglomerates are hoping that by bootstrapping a streaming service with their content library they can manage to be one of the few big streamers that survives when the dust settles, but running a streaming service is more complex than just hitting a big "upload" button on all your IP. Getting the tech to work well, especially if you're not already a tech company, is expensive and difficult.

    16 votes
    1. [4]
      Comment deleted by author
      Link Parent
      1. [2]
        cromiium
        Link Parent
        Yeah big props to whomever works on Netflix's UI/UX team. Even a service as well established as hulu (imo) has at least a step down UI to Netflix. They've really got something going. It's other...

        Yeah, I mean even Amazon is years behind Netflix with their "UX doesn't matter" stance. I'd never get Prime to watch Videos because the experience is so bad.

        Yeah big props to whomever works on Netflix's UI/UX team. Even a service as well established as hulu (imo) has at least a step down UI to Netflix. They've really got something going.
        It's other things too, even though sometimes Netflix can goof the recommended section I find it years ahead of Amazon's. Not to mention the fact that 85% of Amazon's videos are buried deep in a weird "scroll through everything to find things" UI/UX design.

        3 votes
        1. [2]
          Comment deleted by author
          Link Parent
          1. cromiium
            Link Parent
            Yeah, I've got some complaints about some recent changes. And I think that we've gone past the peak of what Netflix would recommend. And don't particularly care for the giant banner ad-like...

            Yeah, I've got some complaints about some recent changes. And I think that we've gone past the peak of what Netflix would recommend. And don't particularly care for the giant banner ad-like trailer that they have for Netflix Originals on the home page. But overall I feel like if I'm using a different service I find myself comparing certain features or designs to something on Netflix.
            Just to be clear I'm not a Netflix shill or something. If anything I've been using Netflix less and less. Unfortunately with the vast amount of streaming services now, many tv shows and movies are locked behind other gates. Leading to me (and it seems like others too) opting to sail the high seas.
            https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/d3q45v/bittorrent-usage-increases-netflix-streaming-sites
            One that I found funny, which may be anecdotal is that the time it takes for Netflix to ask if I'm still watching their show. I wonder if it's because they got better at detecting whether I'm watching something or if it's that the amount of time someone will spend watching something has increased.

      2. nsz
        Link Parent
        Stars has made some good shows, Counterpart is a prime example. Black sails is another little known show GoT style show that's actually quite good.

        Stars has made some good shows, Counterpart is a prime example. Black sails is another little known show GoT style show that's actually quite good.

        1 vote
  2. Gorf
    Link
    Remember when platforms like Hulu promised to be "the platform" for content providers to publish on? I loved Hulu for a long time, but now everyone is launching their own streaming service. I'm...

    Remember when platforms like Hulu promised to be "the platform" for content providers to publish on? I loved Hulu for a long time, but now everyone is launching their own streaming service. I'm not paying for 10 different streaming services at $10 - $15 each. That, combined with the utterly, completely, superduper horrible new Hulu interface has largely caused me to leave.

    The harder it is for me to find data, the easier it becomes to simply download it onto my plex server.

    2 votes
  3. [3]
    Comment removed by site admin
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    1. [2]
      kfwyre
      Link Parent
      The balkanization of digital media is an interesting phenomenon to watch, especially for video. Each company wants to have their slice of the pie, and each seems to be leaning on exclusives and...

      The balkanization of digital media is an interesting phenomenon to watch, especially for video. Each company wants to have their slice of the pie, and each seems to be leaning on exclusives and loyalty as their main draws.

      I can't speak for everyone, but as a casual movie viewer/series watcher, the increased number of options for content degrades my interest in all of them. I want a one-size-fits-all library like I have with music, not a dozen different services that I have to wade through separately. I'll just as soon not watch any of them than try to juggle different subscriptions.

      Fast forward twenty years and surely we'll be able to pay a single monthly fee for 60+ different streaming platforms in one convenient package. We'll call it, oh, I don't know--maybe something like "cable?"

      8 votes
      1. alyaza
        Link Parent
        which ironically might end up pushing people back to cable on some level just because you really can watch almost anything on cable with the right cable packages, and you're not going to be able...

        I want a one-size-fits-all library like I have with music, not a dozen different services that I have to wade through separately. I'll just as soon not watch any of them than try to juggle different subscriptions.

        which ironically might end up pushing people back to cable on some level just because you really can watch almost anything on cable with the right cable packages, and you're not going to be able to do that with streaming services until the bottom falls out and people realize that balkanization just leads to everybody losing out.

        4 votes