Streaming Services (business / market / service, not content-focused)

[RumHam]

Are the netflix ads at least thoughtfully placed? I think it was IMDBtv I watched Mad Men on and the ad placement was just like every X minutes regardless of if someone was mid-sentence. It was jarring.

[Werthead]

On 5/7/2022 at 4:19 PM, Zorral said:

Television Is in a Showrunning Crisis
More and different kinds of people can now aspire to TV’s most important job—but streaming and COVID have set them up to fail.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/epxeze/television-is-in-a-showrunning-crisis

 

The situation I think is unsustainable because it is leading to substandard product, a baseline of mediocrity as I saw someone say. It's also causing problems with quality control higher up the chain with not enough experienced execs and studio suits who know good stuff when they are looking at it. There's been commentary that a lot of Netflix's big hits came about because they had good people higher up looking after them, or because they made a good show in spite of network inexperience. HBO has often been praised for having a supportive and experienced structure and network that allows even inexperienced showrunners to flourish.

The multi-showrunner point is a good one as well. The idea of one savant making all the choices is often bollocks. J. Michael Straczynski and Joss Whedon, two of the original showrunner archetypes, had very strong producer assistance on their shows. Babylon 5 adopted a tripartite structure with JMS handling writing, John Copeland studio production and Doug Netter all the business and money decisions, and that worked quite well-ish (apart from communications problems leading to them losing their vfx house and at least one of their lead actors).

[HexMachina]

Is HBO Max in its midlife crisis phase or palliative care?

[SpaceChampion]

1 minute ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Is HBO Max in its midlife crisis phase or palliative care?

didn't it just start a year or so ago?  I'd say it has SIDS.

Edited December 22, 2022 by SpaceChampion

[HexMachina]

1 minute ago, SpaceChampion said:

didn't it just start a year or so ago?  I'd said it has SIDS.

The first rule of improv is yes and. Thank you so much for your service 

[DaveSumm]

They talk toward the end of the possibility that we’ve reached “peak ‘peak TV’ “, as in, the business model could shift to cheaper shows. Which theoretically could be OK, I imagine shows like Severance aren’t particular expensive. But more likely will mean lower quality.

[SpaceChampion]

I heard someone say Paramount+ was the service with the least churn rate, based on retaining Star Trek fans throughout the years  Seemed surprising.  And doesn't look like that's true:

From https://crossscreen.media/state-of-the-screens/why-streaming-churn-matters/

Quote

Average monthly churn rate in 2022 by streaming service:
1) Netflix – 3.3%
2) Disney+ – 4.2%
3) HBO Max – 4.7%
4) Peacock – 5.7%
5) Average – 5.8%
6) Discovery+ – 5.9%
7) Hulu – 6.4%
8) Apple TV+ – 6.6%
9) Paramount+ – 7.1%
10) Showtime – 7.4%

It's one of the worst.  Never believe people, folks.

Compared to other industries:

Quote

Churn rate by industry:
1) Wireless phone service (Verizon) – 0.9%
2) Digital fitness (Peloton) – 1.1%
3) Satellite TV (DISH) – 1.5%
4) Satellite radio (SiriusXM) – 1.5%
5) Streaming radio (Spotify) – 3.9%
6) Streaming video (average) – 15.6%

Quote

Big question #6: How does churn impact a customer’s lifetime value to a streaming service?

Quick answer: Higher churn leads to lower lifetime values.

More revenue → more content → more customers → lower churn → more revenue

Lifetime value (LTV) for various streaming services:
1) Netflix – $468
2) HBO Max – $239
3) Hulu – $200
4) Peacock – $175
5) Disney+ – $151
6) Discovery+ – $136
7) Paramount+ – $76

Clearly the sky is NOT falling at Netflix, nor at Disney or HBO.

[SpaceChampion]

A worker-owned "post-capitalist" streaming service Means.tv

from https://www.hourdetroit.com/community/means-tv-post-capitalist-socialism-detroit/

Quote

What exactly does post-capitalist programming look like? Is it just one big, long Bernie Sanders campaign speech? 

Hayes: Post-capitalist entertainment is just entertainment that’s created without the extracting, corrosive, and corruptive effects of capital. Instead of entertainment that’s produced with money from venture capital firms that are invested in bombs and wars, it’s produced cooperatively, and it’s centering stories of working-class people that aren’t heard in the media today. Our entertainment basically just looks like stuff that we think is more entertaining. I mean, we don’t want to be preached to. We don’t want to necessarily watch the news or be educated all the time, but we don’t want stuff that’s glorifying imperialism or conquest abroad, either. 

 

[Heartofice]

2 hours ago, SpaceChampion said:

A worker-owned "post-capitalist" streaming service Means.tv

from https://www.hourdetroit.com/community/means-tv-post-capitalist-socialism-detroit/

 

Well that sounds like … fun 

[Heartofice]

I looked it up and apparently the first month of that channel is 24 hour a day broadcast of Worker and Parasite

 

https://youtu.be/z2_dhUv_CrI

 

Edited January 12, 2023 by Heartofice

[Zorral]

Netflix: Reed Hastings steps down but subscribers jump
Harry and Meghan's "great love story" was one of the big draws for customers

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64337098

Quote

 

.... They have been given a strong start, with total subscribers for the last three months of 2022 up 7.66 million, when analysts had predicted a rise of around 4.5 million.

In early 2022 Netflix faced an uphill battle. It was facing increased competition from rivals such as Amazon, HBO, Apple TV and Disney. It cut hundreds of jobs, but still found it had to put up prices to customers to cover rising costs.

That dealt a blow to its subscriber numbers in the first half of the year.

In November it introduced a cheaper ad-supported option in 12 countries, and signalled it would be less tolerant of password sharing in future.

Netflix shares, which had fallen by nearly 38% in the past year, rose in after hours trading following the results announcement.

 

 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

On 1/19/2023 at 4:37 PM, Zorral said:

Netflix: Reed Hastings steps down but subscribers jump
Harry and Meghan's "great love story" was one of the big draws for customers

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64337098

 

No shit? 

The whole "sky is falling at Netflix" thing never made sense to me. This company has over 220 million subscribers and something like 10 years of uninterrupted quarterly subscriber growth. It's perfectly normal for them to see some headwinds. 

They were also criticized for not having an ad supported tier. I think it was a good thing they didn't because it meant that lever was still available for them to pull. And Disney and amazon started with ads at much lower subscriber counts. 

I'd still like to see how the ads are executed. If it's like a content block at the beginning of a movie in the cinema, Fine. If it's like Tubi where it's the same commercial every five minutes until the film ends, not so fine. 

Edited January 27, 2023 by Deadlines? What Deadlines?

[SpaceChampion]

Most popular streaming shows for 2022:

https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/stranger-things-most-streamed-tv-show-2022-1235503095/

Interesting that the most viewed MCU movie was Eternals.

 

 

Edited January 27, 2023 by SpaceChampion

[Heartofice]

4 hours ago, SpaceChampion said:

Most popular streaming shows for 2022:

https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/stranger-things-most-streamed-tv-show-2022-1235503095/

Interesting that the most viewed MCU movie was Eternals.

 

 

I’d guess it’s the MCU movie most people couldn’t be bothered to watch in the cinema, waited for streaming instead..

Irs also well down the list of most streamed movies, all the other cartoons beating it, probably due to the younger audience of streamers.

What I noticed from having kids is that barely comprehensible made for babies show ‘coco melon’ is number 2 most streamed show, glad to hear it’s not just me plppping babies in front of it then 

[BigFatCoward]

7 hours ago, Heartofice said:

 

What I noticed from having kids is that barely comprehensible made for babies show ‘coco melon’ is number 2 most streamed show, glad to hear it’s not just me plppping babies in front of it then 

Cocomelon has driven me crazy for 5 years, and giving me peace from the kids in equal measure.  

[Heartofice]

49 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

Cocomelon has driven me crazy for 5 years, and giving me peace from the kids in equal measure.  

It is actually very interesting just how popular something like this is with children. It's incredibly simplistic, the songs are bad and annoying, the animation jarring.. but it taps into kids minds like nothing else. It's hypnotising to them.

It certainly has made my life easier.

[BigFatCoward]

21 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

It is actually very interesting just how popular something like this is with children. It's incredibly simplistic, the songs are bad and annoying, the animation jarring.. but it taps into kids minds like nothing else. It's hypnotising to them.

It certainly has made my life easier.

I feel like there might be dangerous subliminal messages hidden within, like in Serenity.  My son is certainly very violent whenever i try and turn it off. 

[mormont]

https://thestreamable.com/news/confirmed-netflix-unveils-first-details-of-new-anti-password-sharing-measures

Netflix signing their own death warrant here. You made password sharing part of your brand: now you're killing it?

Also, please stop saying 'household' when you mean 'physical location'. Those two words are not interchangeable for a substantial percentage of your subscriber base. It's bizarre that, for example, I can share my Netflix account with a stranger staying in my spare room as an AirB&B*, but not my daughter who I care for but lives at a different address. The first person, according to Netflix, is someone in my 'household' but the second is not. I can think of a dozen more examples easily, and so can you, probably - people you know. Netflix, you don't mean 'household' at all, so stop using that word.

Even more - you have to watch Netflix at least once every month or your device will be blocked! I sometimes go a month without using my account (but I don't cancel, because I'm lazy). Free money that Netflix apparently have a problem with. 

And don't go on holiday for more than a week. Netflix doesn't approve. 

This is some nonsense cooked up by middle-class people who think everyone lives the same lifestyle they do. 

 

*notionally. I don't actually do AirB&B. 

Edited February 2, 2023 by mormont

[Myrddin]

Not that I imagine it'll happen in my house (no one watching for 30 days), but the first time I get blocked will be the day I just cancel.

Frankly, I'm about to put the service on my streaming rotation schedule anyway, instead of being my default "cable" tv. Hopping month to month between all the major services if likely how we'll start using streaming. HBO, Paramount, Disney, Prime, Starz, Apple, etc. At that rate, we can tune in every six months, catch up, and jump to another channel and repeat. Netflix is about to join that schedule.

I'm waiting for Last of Us to get closer to the season end before signing up HBO again to watch White Lotus and Dark Materials.

Edited February 2, 2023 by Myrddin

[BigFatCoward]

I go halves with my dad on the 4k 4 screen package. All I'll be doing is getting the 2 screen package for our house, he will do the same. So we just lose out on 4k, and they get almost no extra money out of us.