I need to just buy all of Seinfeld, Fresh Prince, Friends, Family Matters, Cheers, Frasier, and just throw them into a Plex server to pick one at random. Whenever I get home and start making...
I need to just buy all of Seinfeld, Fresh Prince, Friends, Family Matters, Cheers, Frasier, and just throw them into a Plex server to pick one at random.
Whenever I get home and start making dinner I've been putting an episode of one of those shows on as background noise; it was always there when I was a kid and it's just kinda comforting to still have it there as an adult.
I have no idea what the current state of it is, but one of my friends used to use a plugin for Kodi that created a bunch of fake, customizable "channels" from your media library that you could...
I have no idea what the current state of it is, but one of my friends used to use a plugin for XBMC Kodi that created a bunch of fake, customizable "channels" from your media library that you could surf around through like traditional TV. It was pretty neat for that "just put something random on" type of usage.
I was going to say that I wouldn't feel bad about pirating those shows and throwing them into Plex, but your solution was probably exactly what he was looking for.
I was going to say that I wouldn't feel bad about pirating those shows and throwing them into Plex, but your solution was probably exactly what he was looking for.
I don't use a Plex server but may end up getting one. It's turning out to be easier and cheaper to purchase and watch quality content I own than dealing with myriad streaming services that offer...
I don't use a Plex server but may end up getting one. It's turning out to be easier and cheaper to purchase and watch quality content I own than dealing with myriad streaming services that offer much duplicated and mediocre content. Any good sources for getting started?
Never mind. I don't see spending 4.99 for another monthly service. I might just set up a simple way to track what I watch out of my growing collection. It's already a bit hard to keep up with...
Never mind. I don't see spending 4.99 for another monthly service. I might just set up a simple way to track what I watch out of my growing collection. It's already a bit hard to keep up with where I am on the two series I'm currently on. Bingeing isn't my style, so this stuff lasts a long time.
Plex Pass is only necessary for features like syncing offline copies of files to mobile devices, as well as early access to beta features. All the major core functionality is free.
Plex Pass is only necessary for features like syncing offline copies of files to mobile devices, as well as early access to beta features. All the major core functionality is free.
Every time I hear about deals like this, I just keep thinking that there's no way that content companies can keep moving at the pace they are and stay profitable. Will they make an extra $500...
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but since the rights are for worldwide distribution, Netflix paid far more than the $500 million NBCUniversal paid for “The Office,” and the $425 million WarnerMedia shelled out for “Friends,” people familiar with the deal said. Both of those five-year deals were for streaming rights in the U.S. only.
Every time I hear about deals like this, I just keep thinking that there's no way that content companies can keep moving at the pace they are and stay profitable. Will they make an extra $500 million because they have Seinfeld? I doubt it. So I just don't see how these deals are viable for streaming companies.
It turns out that the biggest bulk of shows being watched on Netflix are people rewatching old favourites over and over and over again. Netflix are losing the office and friends (two of their most...
It turns out that the biggest bulk of shows being watched on Netflix are people rewatching old favourites over and over and over again.
Netflix are losing the office and friends (two of their most streamed shows) to new steaming services soon, so it makes sense for them to invest heavily to secure a Seinfeld. These kinds of shows are the bread and butter of streaming sites.
I don't understand it at all either. The price of a Netflix subscription varies between countries, but if you take $10 USD/month as a reasonable average, and even if you assume they paid $500M...
I don't understand it at all either. The price of a Netflix subscription varies between countries, but if you take $10 USD/month as a reasonable average, and even if you assume they paid $500M (which seems to be on the low end), will the presence of Seinfeld really be solely responsible for over 50 million additional subscriber-months?
That seems ridiculous to me, like will 25 million people all subscribe for two months longer than they otherwise would have, entirely because Seinfeld is there? I highly doubt that, and I think it's deals like this that will keep Netflix unprofitable.
It might do, at that. Netflix operate in 190 countries, many of whom have quite possibly never seen Seinfeld, and it's a hugely famous and important show. Their potential customer base has to be a...
It might do, at that. Netflix operate in 190 countries, many of whom have quite possibly never seen Seinfeld, and it's a hugely famous and important show. Their potential customer base has to be a billion people, at least. At that scale finding 50 million or more subscriber-months isn't too bad. There's also the about-to-leave customer, who says "well, I'll just rewatch Seinfeld, then I'll cancel" (like they did with Friends, and like they'll do with whatever classic show Netflix get after this), and that person is in for at least another 2-3 months because there's 180 episodes to get through!
They've probably pretty much reached saturation in the US with ~60m subscribers but there's a huge amount of space to grow elsewhere. Netflix India only has 1m subscribers, for example, and there's a lot of people in India..
As far as I can find out, Netflix isn't unprofitable. They made nearly $2bn profit in Q2 2019.
That's gross profit, but it doesn't account for the money they're spending on original content (which is a ton), because those are considered long-term investments. Looking at Free Cash Flow is a...
That's gross profit, but it doesn't account for the money they're spending on original content (which is a ton), because those are considered long-term investments. Looking at Free Cash Flow is a better measure of revenue vs. spending because it includes those costs, and from their Q2 2019 Shareholder Letter (PDF):
Net cash used in operating activities in Q2’19 was -$544 million vs. -$518 million in the prior year period. Free cash flow (FCF) totaled -$594 million vs. -$559 million in Q2’18. We’re still forecasting FCF of approximately -$3.5 billion for the full year 2019 and expect improvement in 2020. From there, we’ll continue to reduce our free cash flow deficit as we intend to continue growing our member base, revenues, and operating margin, which provides a clear path towards positive FCF.
Right? The math just doesn’t add up. I could understand one deal as a sort of “we have one of the most popular shows of all time!” selling points but they’re constantly paying crazy prices for...
Right? The math just doesn’t add up. I could understand one deal as a sort of “we have one of the most popular shows of all time!” selling points but they’re constantly paying crazy prices for content.
Not bad. I've been meaning to (re)watch it for a few years, but not seriously enough to go out of my way for it. If it's on Netflix it'll be convenient to queue up an episode now and then. I'm in...
Not bad. I've been meaning to (re)watch it for a few years, but not seriously enough to go out of my way for it. If it's on Netflix it'll be convenient to queue up an episode now and then. I'm in no hurry, so 2021 works fine for me.
I need to just buy all of Seinfeld, Fresh Prince, Friends, Family Matters, Cheers, Frasier, and just throw them into a Plex server to pick one at random.
Whenever I get home and start making dinner I've been putting an episode of one of those shows on as background noise; it was always there when I was a kid and it's just kinda comforting to still have it there as an adult.
I have no idea what the current state of it is, but one of my friends used to use a plugin for
XBMCKodi that created a bunch of fake, customizable "channels" from your media library that you could surf around through like traditional TV. It was pretty neat for that "just put something random on" type of usage.It looks like it was probably "PseudoTV", here's a random, old, shaky demo of it I found on YouTube, jumped to the spot at the end where he looks through the "program guide" (the whole video before that seems to be going through each channel individually). Looks like some kind of development is still happening on it too.
I was going to say that I wouldn't feel bad about pirating those shows and throwing them into Plex, but your solution was probably exactly what he was looking for.
That is awesome, I'll check into that, thanks!
I don't use a Plex server but may end up getting one. It's turning out to be easier and cheaper to purchase and watch quality content I own than dealing with myriad streaming services that offer much duplicated and mediocre content. Any good sources for getting started?
Never mind. I don't see spending 4.99 for another monthly service. I might just set up a simple way to track what I watch out of my growing collection. It's already a bit hard to keep up with where I am on the two series I'm currently on. Bingeing isn't my style, so this stuff lasts a long time.
you dont need to pay for the plex subscription.
Plex Pass is only necessary for features like syncing offline copies of files to mobile devices, as well as early access to beta features. All the major core functionality is free.
Thanks!
If you're looking to self-host, ,maybe Emby would be up your alley.
Emby's free option is much less featureful than Plex.
Every time I hear about deals like this, I just keep thinking that there's no way that content companies can keep moving at the pace they are and stay profitable. Will they make an extra $500 million because they have Seinfeld? I doubt it. So I just don't see how these deals are viable for streaming companies.
It turns out that the biggest bulk of shows being watched on Netflix are people rewatching old favourites over and over and over again.
Netflix are losing the office and friends (two of their most streamed shows) to new steaming services soon, so it makes sense for them to invest heavily to secure a Seinfeld. These kinds of shows are the bread and butter of streaming sites.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/aug/21/the-age-of-comfort-tv-why-people-are-secretly-watching-friends-and-the-office-on-a-loop
I don't understand it at all either. The price of a Netflix subscription varies between countries, but if you take $10 USD/month as a reasonable average, and even if you assume they paid $500M (which seems to be on the low end), will the presence of Seinfeld really be solely responsible for over 50 million additional subscriber-months?
That seems ridiculous to me, like will 25 million people all subscribe for two months longer than they otherwise would have, entirely because Seinfeld is there? I highly doubt that, and I think it's deals like this that will keep Netflix unprofitable.
I think they paid $500 million to stave off the idea that Netflix isn't losing major shows to the great scattering of rights.
It might do, at that. Netflix operate in 190 countries, many of whom have quite possibly never seen Seinfeld, and it's a hugely famous and important show. Their potential customer base has to be a billion people, at least. At that scale finding 50 million or more subscriber-months isn't too bad. There's also the about-to-leave customer, who says "well, I'll just rewatch Seinfeld, then I'll cancel" (like they did with Friends, and like they'll do with whatever classic show Netflix get after this), and that person is in for at least another 2-3 months because there's 180 episodes to get through!
They've probably pretty much reached saturation in the US with ~60m subscribers but there's a huge amount of space to grow elsewhere. Netflix India only has 1m subscribers, for example, and there's a lot of people in India..
As far as I can find out, Netflix isn't unprofitable. They made nearly $2bn profit in Q2 2019.
That's gross profit, but it doesn't account for the money they're spending on original content (which is a ton), because those are considered long-term investments. Looking at Free Cash Flow is a better measure of revenue vs. spending because it includes those costs, and from their Q2 2019 Shareholder Letter (PDF):
From that perspective, they're expecting to lose $3.5 billion in 2019. Here's an article about it from earlier this year, including that they have over $10 billion in debt now: Netflix now expects to burn through $3.5 billion in cash this year. That's about $500 million more than it previously forecast
Right? The math just doesn’t add up. I could understand one deal as a sort of “we have one of the most popular shows of all time!” selling points but they’re constantly paying crazy prices for content.
This is a really interesting article I read a while ago that gives context to this decision:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/aug/21/the-age-of-comfort-tv-why-people-are-secretly-watching-friends-and-the-office-on-a-loop
This might come to replace the Pledge of Allegiance in the U.S.
So, really, Netflix (etc) show reboot old shows and turn them into comfort programmes.
A newer better Doogie Howser MD would be good. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096569/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
Or Due South: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108756/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
Not bad. I've been meaning to (re)watch it for a few years, but not seriously enough to go out of my way for it. If it's on Netflix it'll be convenient to queue up an episode now and then. I'm in no hurry, so 2021 works fine for me.