Are Netflix and the Like Dying?

[Sigmund]

The one thing that I dislike about streaming and it might have happened anyway with normal viewing is that Netflix and company will make a show about ANYTHING. Anyone or anything that they can sqeeze a little drama into becomes a tv show. It doesnt matter if it has any value. Its the tv version of clickbait. While that is alright it lets them get away with producing less so overall quality degrades. But maybe Im just being a grumpy old man...that is possible. All said, I do like the streaming experience. There is no way I would watch network tv if it went away. Id just post on forums

 

[jpmcwjr]

Fortunately, among Netflix, Prime, Paramount+, Britbox, PBS Passport, Peacock, Hulu and others, there's no need to watch dreck.

It reminds me I need to be more proactive in finding good movies and series, rather than just starting something that looks good and interesting.

 

[sablebrush52]

It's quite the opposite actually! Streaming platforms like Netflix have been experiencing significant growth over the years. They've revolutionized the way we consume entertainment, offering a vast library of content accessible at our fingertips. While there's always competition and evolving market dynamics, streaming services continue to adapt and innovate to maintain their relevance. So, rather than dying, they're shaping the future of entertainment consumption.

I’ve never thought that streaming would fail, nor stated anything to that effect. It will consolidate, with higher subscription rates, as profit margins need to increase from practically zero. The other way to increase profitability is to cut costs.
Unscripted “reality” programming is becoming more popular because it’s cheap to make, and people watch it.
The other way is to automate and cut down the number of monkeys needed to produce content and that’s where AI comes in.
I’m seeing apps in development that will do a lot of the work done by humans. As for the creative dumbing down, that’s a given, since there will be less human players, with less human experience. Dumbing down is already happening with all the cheap unscripted content. AI’s involvement with creativity will limit it to the tried and true and profitable. There will just be a lot less people involved in making the new old crap.

 

[fireground_piper]

I’ve never thought that streaming would fail, nor stated anything to that effect. It will consolidate, with higher subscription rates, as profit margins need to increase from practically zero. The other way to increase profitability is to cut costs.
Unscripted “reality” programming is becoming more popular because it’s cheap to make, and people watch it.
The other way is to automate and cut down the number of monkeys needed to produce content and that’s where AI comes in.
I’m seeing apps in development that will do a lot of the work done by humans. As for the creative dumbing down, that’s a given, since there will be less human players, with less human experience. Dumbing down is already happening with all the cheap unscripted content. AI’s involvement with creativity will limit it to the tried and true and profitable. There will just be a lot less people involved in making the new old crap.

They are all also finding the formally known financial value of ads/commercials. I expect that’s going to be a bigger push than subscription cost increases because putting ads in front of people makes more money than an extra few bucks per month. I feel as free options will eventually go away across most platforms entirely.

 

[jpmcwjr]

They are all also finding the formally known financial value of ads/commercials. I expect that’s going to be a bigger push than subscription cost increases because putting ads in front of people makes more money than an extra few bucks per month. I feel as free options will eventually go away across most platforms entirely.

How do you know this? My guess is the opposite.

 

[sablebrush52]

They are all also finding the formally known financial value of ads/commercials. I expect that’s going to be a bigger push than subscription cost increases because putting ads in front of people makes more money than an extra few bucks per month. I feel as free options will eventually go away across most platforms entirely.

Yep, and “ad free” subscription rates will skyrocket.
That’s progress for you, from “free” TV with ads, to paid TV with ads.

 

[sablebrush52]

How do you know this? My guess is the opposite.

Because it’s already happening. Prime jumped up their No ad subscription costs and added ads. Want no ads? Cough up more money.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Oh, it's happening all right. But my question is about what makes more money for a streaming service? E.g., ads for $20, or no ads for $24?

In any event, I am sure the pencil pushers make the numbers come out pretty even for them.

 

[Sigmund]

So far from what I have seen there are not a lot of ads and the ones I see are not what would typically be high flying companies advertising on streaming. I imagine they get more from the added couple of bucks per house. How many companies want to advertize on idiot shows and with viewers they know find them more unwanted than usual? More importantly why would a company want to advertize to people that may lack the extra funds to opt out? I think at this point ads are sold (probably cheaply) to leverage customers to pony up some more cash for non comercial streaming. Blackmail has been around for a long time...probably because it works.

 

[fireground_piper]

Oh, it's happening all right. But my question is about what makes more money for a streaming service? E.g., ads for $20, or no ads for $24?

In any event, I am sure the pencil pushers make the numbers come out pretty even for them.

Everyone wants in on the ad business for good reason. One of Amazons greatest new revenue streams are its ad business, which is expected to have major growth in the future.

I think their Thursday night football package really solidified that. Broadcast at a major scale can sell 30 second ad blocks for major money. If you have the eyeballs, you can command premiums.

 

[fireground_piper]

How do you know this? My guess is the opposite.

Amazon Q1 Ad Revenue Leaps 24% to $11.8 Billion, Helped by Prime Video’s Addition of Commercials

Amazon raked in $11.82 billion in ad revenue for Q1 2024, up 24%, fueled by its launch of ads by default in Prime Video.

variety.com

 

[Sigmund]

On a side note...have any of you tried HBO MAX?
Its finally coming to France at the end of the month and I wonder if it is worth it.

I have Netflix and Prime. I tried Paramounts trial and found it pretty worthless and canceled. A lot of money for very little content.

If its good I dont mind paying. We dont do movie theaters since most of what we enjoy are Hollywood films and dubbed vocals are irritating at best and there is no way I can follow fast spoken French.

 

[sablebrush52]

On a side note...have any of you tried HBO MAX?
Its finally coming to France at the end of the month and I wonder if it is worth it.

I have Netflix and Prime. I tried Paramounts trial and found it pretty worthless and canceled. A lot of money for very little content.

If its good I dont mind paying. We dont do movie theaters since most of what we enjoy are Hollywood films and dubbed vocals are irritating at best and there is no way I can follow fast spoken French.

MAX, formerly known as HBO Max, offers a huge variety of content, movies, limited series, series, food, news, sports, etc, etc.
HBO spent decades producing some of the best loved, highest quality entertainment available on Cable, and now on streaming. With the purchase of Warner by Discovery the range of content has exploded. Discovery has been more focused on inexpensive content that generates revenue than high quality. But, I love the Food Network content.
It’s worth checking out. You don’t have to keep it.
Prime has more content but a fraction of the range, and much of its content is low rent.
I also like HULU, which offers excellent content.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Link deleted.

Amazon Q1 Ad Revenue Leaps 24% to $11.8 Billion, Helped by Prime Video’s Addition of Commercials.

Of course adding a revenue source will increase earnings.

But my question of you goes unanswered.

 

[fireground_piper]

Amazon Q1 Ad Revenue Leaps 24% to $11.8 Billion, Helped by Prime Video’s Addition of Commercials.

Of course adding a revenue source will increase earnings.

But my question of you goes unanswered.

I figured it was pretty obvious from that. If Netflix, for example, wanted to find nearly $12 billion in new revenue strictly by subscription fee increases it would need to increase fees by close to $50 per subscriber per quarter on their 269 million subscribers.

$5 here and there won’t get you that. Advertisements will.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Comparing Prime's financials with Netflix's and drawing conclusions is apples and oranges. Netflix can't just "find" large amounts of income, much less $12 Billion, by switching their offerings. The difference between ad supported monthlies and premium subs is $17.00.

Pretty sure management knows the cost of driving more folks to ad supported plans: It cannabalizes the subscription base that pays cash.

 

[fireground_piper]

Netflix has already announced they expect their ad tier to continue to expand and eventually be a large part of their revenue. They’ve seen the financial power of ad sales and it only launched about 18 months ago.

 

[pappymac]

For the past year we have watched more on the streaming services than on broadcast or cable TV. The why is the networks and producers keep screwing up the good shows by moving them from time slots that made them popular to other time slots in hope that the sheep are too lazy to change the channel.

That, and the majority of shows all seem to be copies of two or three basic plots and are not made that well anyway. The wife and I used to have one or two different shows to watch each night. Now we have maybe five or six network shows total that we watch. Before I "cut" the cable last month, there were days when we didn't even look to see what was on "regular" tv.

In an indictment of American made TV, the majority of the shows we watch now were produced by BBC and Australian and New Zealand. We prefer detective shows that don't rely on visual violence, car chases and gun battles. Our only complaint is that we buy into watching a show and most of them only have one or two seasons and then they disappear.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Brtibox and PBS are stellar providers of the fare you like.
I watch only sports and news on broadcast TV.

 

[ADKPiper]

What other option is there aside from streaming? Nobody is going back to cable or satellite and DVD's are deader than disco.