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

[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]

That's true for HBO and Showtime as well. And you could throw all of cable in there - AMC, TNT, FX, etc - pretty soon you've eliminated everything on TV worth watching.

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.

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.

 

[Amaris]

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]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/12/netflix-price-subscription-plan_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.

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]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/12/netflix-price-subscription-plan_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.

Especially since it was announced almost 2 months ago!

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

 

[Idran]

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]

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.

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]

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.

Party Down is not crappy. Nor Spartacus.

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

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The bastards cancelled Party Down! So they don't get to lay claim to that one.

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

It does sound like Starz is trying to strongarm Netflix simply to stop cord-cutting. But Disney and Sony have interests far beyond cable, so why should they be happy that Starz is depriving them of another outlet for their products?

 

[Professor Zoom]

The bastards cancelled Party Down! So they don't get to lay claim to that one.

Right. Because low ratings and losing your main character (Adam Scott) weren't factors... They just did it 'cause.

 

[bigdaddy]

The bastards cancelled Party Down! So they don't get to lay claim to that one.

Right. Because low ratings and losing your main character (Adam Scott) weren't factors... They just did it 'cause.

And nevermind Jane Lynch after season 1. It's hard to do a show without any of it's main characters.

 

[Professor Zoom]

The bastards cancelled Party Down! So they don't get to lay claim to that one.

Right. Because low ratings and losing your main character (Adam Scott) weren't factors... They just did it 'cause.

And nevermind Jane Lynch after season 1. It's hard to do a show without any of it's main characters.

I did grow to like Megan, but, the show did lose some of it's bite without Jane.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Don't you think they could have brought in new actors and kept going? They cancelled it because it got shitty ratings and didn't fit their new strategy of using international financing to try to compete with HBO and Showtime without needing to front all the money themselves. Party Down is a comedy and comedies don't travel very well overseas.

At any rate, the reasons don't matter. The fact that they show nothing I want to watch is what matters. Therefore, they are worthless. And also assholes for trying to get Netflix to drive up costs.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Don't you think they could have brought in new actors and kept going?

How many shows can you think of that survived changing the MAIN CHARACTER?

And ones with low ratings?

They cancelled it because it got shitty ratings and didn't fit their new strategy of using international financing to try to compete with HBO and Showtime without needing to front all the money themselves. Party Down is a comedy and comedies don't travel very well overseas.

So, you're upset that they made a sound business decision? Why not be upset with those that didn't watch it?

And besides, they DID give it two seasons. TWO. It's not like they cancelled halfway through the first.

Give them credit. They tried a show that no one else would.

It's like screaming at FOX for cancelling Arrested Development after three seasons.

At any rate, the reasons don't matter. The fact that they show nothing I want to watch is what matters. Therefore, they are worthless. And also assholes for trying to get Netflix to drive up costs.

THOSE points make sense. (Though Spartacus is good bloody fun that I was able to watch on Netflix.)

 

[Amaris]

Good on Netflix for not giving in to their unreasonable demands. I'll hate to see Starz go, since I do watch a couple of shows that are under their license, but I'd rather see that happen than Netflix get strong-armed into raising their prices unfairly, just to appease one network that's full of itself.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

New article on Yahoo.

The gist is, Netflix has lost 600,000 customers since June. Apparently far more than they had anticipated.

Kinda sad that they anticipated losing any substantial number of customers.

This is more connected to the price increases.

 

[Spot's Meow]

The information in the article isn't surprising. And I think that one dude who said the quote about taking the beef away from the buffet was right on about the drop. It's not that the price increase was that outrageous or that streaming/DVDs isn't worth the $10 or whatever it is you'll pay now, but it's that before you felt as though you were really getting a great deal, a steal, something no other company could offer. It was that awesome buffet in town with the really great food that was somehow super cheap. But once they take away that something extra, it's just another restaurant, and instead of thinking, "yes, let's go there tonight, it's a great deal!" you just think, "well, we could go out tonight, but maybe we should just save some money and stay in instead."

But, we all knew it was too good to last forever. I moved to the streaming only plan, and after I finish getting through all of Voyager and TNG, I think I'll probably cancel Netflix altogether.

 

[SG-17]

I just wish that Netflix would make a deal with Warner Bros. Animation so that they can get the entire DCAU on instant streaming.