20 votes

Streaming TV is about to get very expensive as Disney, NBC and more companies start launching their own services and pulling their content from others

22 comments

  1. [4]
    Sahasrahla
    Link
    I think there will be an eventual contraction in the number of streaming services. Right now it feels like a bit of a land rush; Netflix showed there's a lot of money to be made in streaming...

    I think there will be an eventual contraction in the number of streaming services. Right now it feels like a bit of a land rush; Netflix showed there's a lot of money to be made in streaming television and every content provider thinks they can bootstrap their own service and become one of the dominant players. The thing is though, there can't be that many large streaming services, and a streaming service is only good if it's large, i.e. if it has a lot of content that viewers want to watch. Some people say we're going back to an age of de facto cable TV where we'll have to buy a subscription for each network but I think the psychology of paying for a cable package and paying for 12 different subscriptions for 12 different looking services is quite different, especially when people have gotten used to cord cutting in favour of 1–3 streaming services. Add to that the ease with which even non-technical people can pirate shows and movies and I think there will be very few people who are willing pay for a different streaming service for each content provider.

    Then there's the calculus of profit to consider for the networks and others. Selling an old show to Netflix (or whoever) is free, easy money. Starting your own streaming service is full of costs: you have to pay to create the service and make sure it works seamlessly, you probably have to pay for more content (original programming or licensing) beyond the shows you were already making to attract and keep subscribers, and all of this has to be consistently more profitable than what you could get from just selling your content to an established streaming service. I think most of these new or planned streaming services we're seeing now will fizzle out and we'll be left with a few big players like we have now. Maybe there will be a few more, maybe they'll be different than what's dominant now, but this new status quo can't last.

    18 votes
    1. [2]
      Adys
      Link Parent
      Honestly, Netflix was super convenient but even imagining all the services are free, just the hassle of switching between apps on my tv is enough to make me want to drop everything and go back to...

      Honestly, Netflix was super convenient but even imagining all the services are free, just the hassle of switching between apps on my tv is enough to make me want to drop everything and go back to piracy. I'm thinking, set up a solid Plex server somewhere…

      8 votes
      1. babypuncher
        Link Parent
        Lots of these one-off services are available as "add-ons" on Hulu and Amazon, which takes a lot of the hassle out of accessing the content as well as unsubscribing.

        Lots of these one-off services are available as "add-ons" on Hulu and Amazon, which takes a lot of the hassle out of accessing the content as well as unsubscribing.

        2 votes
    2. babypuncher
      Link Parent
      I think a lot of surviving services will also make themselves available as "add-ons" for larger services, which some are already doing. Being able to add CBS to my Amazon video during Star Trek:...

      I think a lot of surviving services will also make themselves available as "add-ons" for larger services, which some are already doing. Being able to add CBS to my Amazon video during Star Trek: Discovery was nice, as it made subscribing, accessing the content, and cancelling very easy compared to managing a whole extra app on my streaming devices.

      3 votes
  2. [10]
    json
    Link
    Piracy rates are generally accepted to be proportional to cost of services.

    Piracy rates are generally accepted to be proportional to cost of services.

    10 votes
    1. [5]
      LukeZaz
      Link Parent
      Reminds of this article Lars Doucet posted in 2012, which I think is as applicable here as ever: Piracy has cost in integrity, stress, difficulty to do, etc, and that's what keeps people from...

      Reminds of this article Lars Doucet posted in 2012, which I think is as applicable here as ever: Piracy has cost in integrity, stress, difficulty to do, etc, and that's what keeps people from pirating, but if you raise the monetary cost enough, those other costs start to not look so bad and suddenly piracy is appealing.

      Wish more companies would take that to heart.

      11 votes
      1. mrbig
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        There is absolutely no integrity cost for me. As one of the founders of my country’s Pirate Party, I don’t feel any less virtuous for pirating. Plus, in Brazil the cost for goods priced in dollar...

        There is absolutely no integrity cost for me. As one of the founders of my country’s Pirate Party, I don’t feel any less virtuous for pirating.

        Plus, in Brazil the cost for goods priced in dollar has always been prohibitive, so we have a different outlook on the situation.

        The other costs are just minor annoyances for the technically inclined.

        6 votes
      2. json
        Link Parent
        Yep. I was considering saying something along the lines of "this will mean it becomes more cost effective to pirate" which on face value seems silly and obvious because free is always more cost...

        Yep. I was considering saying something along the lines of "this will mean it becomes more cost effective to pirate" which on face value seems silly and obvious because free is always more cost effective than paid. But then the other costs are the issue to overcome.

        5 votes
      3. [2]
        NaraVara
        Link Parent
        My piracy skills have kind of atrophied away. I don’t even really know what people do anymore. Is it torrent trackers? Swapping files through dodgy file transfer services?

        My piracy skills have kind of atrophied away. I don’t even really know what people do anymore. Is it torrent trackers? Swapping files through dodgy file transfer services?

        1. LukeZaz
          Link Parent
          I've got no clue, to be honest. I never really pirate anything; I don't watch TV enough to worry about this particular situation, and Humble Bundle expanded my available games list so much I...

          I've got no clue, to be honest. I never really pirate anything; I don't watch TV enough to worry about this particular situation, and Humble Bundle expanded my available games list so much I basically never need to get anything new. I mean, I'm pretty sure I've never even used torrents before.

          If I had to guess, it'd probably largely just be picking a site that's above-average in trustworthiness, then making sure whatever you downloaded is in working (and non-malicious) order, but I can't really say.

    2. [4]
      SleepyGary
      Link Parent
      I don't think it's necessarily cost of services but convenience of service, it is very inconvenient for me to juggle multiple services, I was okay with one or two, even three, but it's becoming a...

      I don't think it's necessarily cost of services but convenience of service, it is very inconvenient for me to juggle multiple services, I was okay with one or two, even three, but it's becoming a pain in the butt to switch, and my older TV doesn't support the new services, it doesn't have an app store I can download it from, and I'm not about to go out and buy yet another chromecast/firestick/appletv/etc just to get it to work.

      Platform exclusivity is killing my desire to support artists in both gaming and tv/film. For the vast majority of cases I'm simply going to do without and for other cases, well, I've made my peace with the unethical ways I will obtain it.

      2 votes
      1. [2]
        Weldawadyathink
        Link Parent
        Also, most streaming apps suck. Netflix is decent, but pretty much every other one I have used sucks. I had an issue with hulu recently where the audio would keep playing and the video would...

        Also, most streaming apps suck. Netflix is decent, but pretty much every other one I have used sucks. I had an issue with hulu recently where the audio would keep playing and the video would freeze. How to you screw up video playback on a video app? Now, I may stream the first few episodes of a TV show to see if I am interested, and then I RIP the show to my emby/plex server. If streaming services had a plugin for emby where their shows looked and acted like local media for emby, and I could stream them through the emby interface, I would do that.

        1 vote
        1. SleepyGary
          Link Parent
          They definitely all have their issues. I would say that Prime Video sucks the least next to Netflix. I really appreciate the X-Ray feature for when I want to know that actors name or the song...

          They definitely all have their issues. I would say that Prime Video sucks the least next to Netflix. I really appreciate the X-Ray feature for when I want to know that actors name or the song playing. I would say that the PC Netflix experience is superior to even Kodi/Plex in terms of having a easy to use interface with minimal setup but at the cost of customizability. Back in my 20s when I was single and I had the patience to configure my XMBC to do what I needed and look like I wanted it that was fine but in my now it's a lot of work I don't want to have to do it let alone teach my wife and child how to do it when I'm not available.

          I do have Kodi, which we use to stream a few shows and holy cow it's a pain in the ass getting setup, my wife really doesn't like the Placenta plugin with it's "clinical" analogies (e.g., Preparing the speculum) but it was the first one I found that was still working at the time. I tried to consolidate Netflix & Youtube into the Kodi interface but it was brutal trying to search and navigate, so instead of using a standalone Kodi box, I just have a Kodi program on my HTPC and use the browser for Netflix/Prime Video/Youtube.

          1 vote
      2. json
        Link Parent
        Non-financial costs of service can be considered.

        Non-financial costs of service can be considered.

  3. welly
    (edited )
    Link
    The only video streaming service I use is YouTube, which I rarely watch and I don't pay for that either. This additional media service, with I don't doubt "exclusive content!" has compounded the...

    The only video streaming service I use is YouTube, which I rarely watch and I don't pay for that either.

    This additional media service, with I don't doubt "exclusive content!" has compounded the greed that media companies all have and I'm not interested in adding to their coffers.

    Never really been much of a TV watcher throughout my life anyway so not sure I'd be missing anything. I'd rather go to the cinema and watch a movie on the big screen.

    6 votes
  4. [2]
    JXM
    Link
    I have a feeling that there will be an explosion of new streaming services, half of them will die off and then they will start to work together to offer packages of streaming services at a...

    I have a feeling that there will be an explosion of new streaming services, half of them will die off and then they will start to work together to offer packages of streaming services at a discount rate to keep subscribers attached to multiple different services.

    So basically, we're gonna end up with cable bundles again.

    5 votes
    1. fifthecho
      Link Parent
      Yes. As someone who used to work in the OTT space helping build these sorts of streaming services for niche markets and companies, we were starting to see a desire for some of these similar-ish...

      Yes.

      As someone who used to work in the OTT space helping build these sorts of streaming services for niche markets and companies, we were starting to see a desire for some of these similar-ish players that were our customers to start banding together and bundling their services together...and this was 2-3 years ago.

      3 votes
  5. Douglas
    Link
    Well the thing is, in my opinion, all this competition between media companies has created some incredible content, which is great for me-- the consumer. But now my standards have raised, and I'm...

    Well the thing is, in my opinion, all this competition between media companies has created some incredible content, which is great for me-- the consumer.

    But now my standards have raised, and I'm getting older; so with each new TV show or movie coming out, I find myself asking myself if it looks like it's worth the investment of my time/money, and if it'll be as good or different from the other shows I've enjoyed, which just makes me not bother watching them at all if they don't seem up to par.

    Coupled with that, with all of these wonderful big budget TV shows, and me being a wage slave, I develop a queue of entertainment to consume at any given point since I can't keep up. So moving forward, I get to ask myself if the streaming services' monthly fee is worth it to stay up-to-date on the latest TV show, or just go to my local movie rental place (I'm fortunate enough to live near Movie Madness in Portland)/or use Netflix DVD to catch up on the backlog.

    And if the service won't ever release their exclusive shows to DVD/rental, I know how to pirate, fellas.

    3 votes
  6. rkcr
    Link
    I don't watch that much television so I've found myself better off just buying digital copies of the shows I want to watch. It nicely sidesteps this whole problem.

    I don't watch that much television so I've found myself better off just buying digital copies of the shows I want to watch. It nicely sidesteps this whole problem.

    1 vote
  7. unknown user
    Link
    Clearly they want unauthorised distribution, because this is how you get that.

    Clearly they want unauthorised distribution, because this is how you get that.

    1 vote
  8. Arshan
    Link
    There has only been one streaming service I have even considered paying for recently; it was Mubi. It has 30 art-house and foreign films that can be difficult to find, even in the illicit side of...

    There has only been one streaming service I have even considered paying for recently; it was Mubi. It has 30 art-house and foreign films that can be difficult to find, even in the illicit side of streaming. Their other advantage is guaranteed subtitles, which can be a pain with torrenting. Now saying that, I still haven't payed for it and I don't think I will, but I do believe that more niche streaming services have a place.

    1 vote