Netflix shoots itself in the foot... aka no more free streaming

[Data Holmes]

Rumor is spreading that dish may have bought hulu, in further plans to take on Netflix.

[nevermore]

This in no way affects my queue, so I don't care.

I'm never going to subscribe to cable or any such thing again until or unless someone offers a buffet-style set up that lets me choose the handful of channels have have something on them that I care about seeing (FX, AMC, Showtime, HBO, Comedy Central, NFL Network, and maybe ESPN) because I'm simply not willing to pay for things I don't want to watch. Honestly, I only know two people who still have pay TV of any sort, so focusing on that appears to be a losing proposition for everyone.

So we'll either be able to watch the few things we DO want to watch on Netfilx or Hulu at reasonable rates, or we'll go back to other methods through which these companies get nothing. I guess it's up to them.

[cylkoth]

Data Holmes wrote:

---

HBO, Showtime, and Starz! Are really getting into making, or co-making their own programing, while AMC, TNT, and FX are still mostly buying their shows from the studios. Also, Showtime is a part of the Epix group that just signed a deal with netflix for streaming.

Hmm...the Epix deal took place last year, a contract near the $900 million range over 5 years. Is there an article you've come across detailing something new regarding Epix?

And Epix is owned by Paramount, MGM, and Luionsgate. The execs running Paramount weren't happy that Sumner Redstone split Viacom into 2 separate companies, putting cable and pay channels Showtime on one side (Viacom) with the studio on the other (CBS Corp). and wanted back in on the pay tv arena...

[Nowhere Man]

I'm actually pretty happy with Netflix for the most part and mostly do streaming. I will be dropping the DVD's very soon and am leaning towards stoping cable all together. I never thought I'd be saying that since I've practically worshiped cable all of my life, but it's just getting worse and worse. I do have shows that I love, but I can never watch them at the time they air and I don't have a DVR, so it's just better to watch them online. I hate that they won't just pay writers to write good shows, but the reality shows will kill television it seems.

As for them losing Starz, I'm not really sure this will effect me because I don't really watch the movies Starz has on Thierry, I mainly watch old tv shows, old obscure movies and documentaries, so, it's not a problem.

[Keith1701]

bigdaddy wrote:

---

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_895779.html

Netflix has announced their new fucked up pricing model.

No more free streaming!

What made Netflix great is you can watch things online, mainly older things, and still get newer movies in the mail. That's all gone now.

This wouldn't be a big deal, but it's not like the newer movies are added to streaming quickly. Some are, but many are not. Until that is addressed I think this is insane.

This is just opening the door for other companies to come in, which is great because maybe then Netflix will get their had out of their ass.

I knew that this was going to happen.

[Warp Coil]

I dropped cable about a year and a half ago, with no regrets. Netflix, despite it's price increase and the fact that it doesn't offer its entire catalog to stream, is still dramatically cheaper than paying for cable. I don't mind getting some titles on disc and others via streaming. However, competition is healthy, and I think there will be a lot of companies vying to bite into Netflix's market share. I welcome it, especially if it means more competitive pricing down the road and/or more alternatives for consumers.

[Temis the Vorta]

Snaploud wrote:

---

HBO, Showtime, and Starz are in a slightly different financial category from AMC, TNT, and FX. I don't think AMC, TNT, and FX are nearly as hurt by having some of their content on Netflix.

Yeah, my post up there somewhere talks about how because the basic cable nets get ad revenues, it can help them to have Netflix give people an easy way to catch up on serialized shows and then jump into live viewing. Plus CNN and ESPN insulate basic cable channels on the same tier from cancellation.

CNN, MSNBC and the chance to see shows when they first run and yack about them here are the only things stopping me from cutting the cable cord. Comcast should share some of its revenues with TrekBBS.

Data Holmes wrote:

---

Rumor is spreading that dish may have bought hulu, in further plans to take on Netflix.

Unless Dish can replicate Netflix's library, no sale here. The last thing I want is to have to roam all over the place to find all the titles I want.

[J. Allen]

We have Dish (and with it free access to the online streaming movies), and the streaming selection is pretty good, though even Amazon's is superior in some ways. Netflix beats the hell out of it, that's for certain.

[Robert Maxwell]

Keith1701 wrote:

---

I knew that this was going to happen.

Especially since it was announced almost 2 months ago!

[KB24]

I'll tell you what's been bugging me about netflix recently. Do they do something to double sided discs to make the B sides not playable?

Several times I've gotten some double billed horror discs, and fortunately the film I've been looking for has yet to be a on a blocked side 2. However, in the dvd menus of several of my rentals, they say to turn over for more shows and when I do so in the ps3, bd player, or any other device they don't play.

I have my own double sided discs and they play just fine in my players, so I don't think it is any one of my devices. My only answer is that they must block the content for some reason. I don't know why they would, as it only means you have to put another disc in your queue and they pay to mail it to you. I've heard a rumor that they deliberately copy and single side double discs, like those in a serious. But why?

As I said, thus far, I haven't had a movie blocked that I really want, but I would be really pissed if I were expecting the second feature of a double bill and didn't get it. Right now it is just a really annoying mystery to me.


As to cable, I hardly watch and if I do, it is all old material and the same few channels. We would cut it if it weren't for sports. We'll probably drop our premium channel coverage soon. I remember briefly seeing a Direct TV or such commercial with the announcer saying something like 'look, no one can give you cable a la carte...' Well, why not? That would be so much easier. I'd keep a lot more cable if I wasn't paying for dozens of channels I don't watch.

[Idran]

Robert Maxwell wrote:

---

Especially since it was announced almost 2 months ago!

And it went into effect two days before he posted that too.

[Idran]

KB24 wrote:

---

I remember briefly seeing a Direct TV or such commercial with the announcer saying something like 'look, no one can give you cable a la carte...' Well, why not? That would be so much easier. I'd keep a lot more cable if I wasn't paying for dozens of channels I don't watch.

Because that's the only thing that can keep the smaller cable channels existant. The draw of the larger channels - HBO, Showtime, ESPN, Comedy Central - subsidizes the smaller channels, and with cable a la carte the smaller channels literally wouldn't be able to exist, because while they have fans, they don't have enough fans to survive based just on the ones that would choose to subscribe to them. You'd be limited to only the current biggest cable channels. Food Network, Syfy, Discovery, AMC, pretty much any special interest channel would be dead under an a la carte system.

[Captain Craig]

Idran wrote:

---

Because that's the only thing that can keep the smaller cable channels existant. The draw of the larger channels - HBO, Showtime, ESPN, Comedy Central - subsidizes the smaller channels, and with cable a la carte the smaller channels literally wouldn't be able to exist, because while they have fans, they don't have enough fans to survive based just on the ones that would choose to subscribe to them. You'd be limited to only the current biggest cable channels. Food Network, Syfy, Discovery, AMC, pretty much any special interest channel would be dead under an a la carte system.

I don't think those are the channels that would be in trouble(maybe AMC).
Court TV, one or two music channels, Travel channel, MSNBC, Bravo, Spike TV, H&G TV, Hallmark channel and a few others. These are ones that would really be in trouble.

[Temis the Vorta]

Details on the Starz deal.

Starz didn't just want Netflix to pay more money for its content. It wanted Netflix consumers to pay more too.

Netflix offered Starz more than $300 million per year to renew their agreement, but the pay cable channel was insistent on so-called tiered pricing, according to people close to the negotiations but not authorized to speak on the record. Tiered pricing would require Netflix subscribers who want movies and television shows from Starz and other premium providers to pay more than the standard $8 per month.

That demand was apparently a key sticking point in talks that fell apart Thursday, meaning the two companies' deal, which began in 2008, will expire at the end of February.

Starz wanted Netflix to charge a premium price for its content in order to put the popular online video service more in line with cable and satellite providers. Protecting relationships with multiplatform video programming distributors (MVPDs) like DirecTV and Time Warner Cable is critical to Starz. The MVPDs are wary of Netflix because they fear customers will "cut the cord" if enough fresh content is available online at a lower price.

Netflix was apparently unwilling to introduce higher prices for access to certain content on its streaming service. The company's chief content officer Ted Sarandos, who led negotiations, declined to comment beyond an official statement that did not address the issue.

Remember, Starz controls streaming Walt Disney and Sony movies on Netflix, not just its own crappy TV shows, so this deal does matter.

[Professor Zoom]

Temis the Vorta wrote:

---

Details on the Starz deal.

Remember, Starz controls streaming Walt Disney and Sony movies on Netflix, not just its own crappy TV shows, so this deal does matter.

Party Down is not crappy. Nor Spartacus.

THAT said, Netflix could always try and make a deal directly with Disney and Sony, fuck Starz.