SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
posted by
martyb
on Thursday May 23 2019, @05:06AM
from the here's-hoping-the-fat-lady-has-laryngitis dept.
from the here's-hoping-the-fat-lady-has-laryngitis dept.
Netflix changed how we watch TV, but it didn't really change what we watch...
Netflix has achieved its incredible growth by taking distribution away from cable companies. Instead of watching The Office on cable, people now watch The Office on Netflix.
This edge isn't sustainable.
...
Disney's cable business has stagnated over the past seven years. But in about 175 days, Disney is set to launch its own streaming service called Disney+.It's going to charge $6.99/month—around $6 cheaper than Netflix.
And it's pulling all its content off of Netflix.
This is a big deal.
No more Bunk'd on Netflix? Nooooooooooooooo...
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
Netflix has 175 Days Left to Pull Off a Miracle... Or It's All Over
|
Log In/Create an Account
| Top
| 81 comments
| Search Discussion
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Grelb's Reminder:
Eighty percent of all people consider themselves to be above
average drivers.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Thursday May 23 2019, @04:20PM (1 child)
Disney has a large back catalog, and their acquisitions of Marvel and Star Wars augment that a lot. But, really, who hasn't already seen all of that dozens of times in their lives already? And small kids don't care about any of it. They think all that stuff is for old people, and they're right. And when it comes to us old people, Disney has so antagonized the hell out of us with their disrespect to canons that we have had near religious devotion to our whole lives, that they're not gonna squeeze one more nickel out of many of us.
And that's the biggest couple of reasons in Netflix's favor: Disney's back catalog is stale and over-marketed, and their recent moves have destroyed the brand equity of at least one of their biggest franchises, and has dampened that of another.
Another reason I think Netflix has an edge is that they have been running minute data analysis of their streaming traffic for years. They can tell exactly when it is during a show's plot that viewers switch off and walk away. They can tell from cross-tabs which kinds of viewers like what kind of content, so that they can recommend good choices to them? Does anybody else remember how they ran that big contest for a better recommendation engine? That was at least a decade ago that they were thinking about that kind of thing.
When it comes to precisely mapping what streaming audiences like and how to cater to it, Disney and their fellows are babes in the woods next to Netflix.
What I'm watching closely now is Netflix's experiments with interactive content. I said about 15 years ago that would be a way for content creators to move past piracy, because it would be a living, breathing narrative instead of a dead, shrink-wrapped one that is easily commoditized and shared. And here they are doing it, and I'm wondering how much longer before they steal another march on the dinosaurs of the world like Disney..
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Thursday May 23 2019, @04:46PM
Looks like someone hasn't been with any kids between 4 and 11 for quite a while.
We don't have TV, we have adblockers on everything, and we limit non-homework screen time strictly. But they sing the Disney songs with their friends, know the plots, and want to see the movies (old and new) any chance they get (playdates and birthdays). The merchandise keeps showing up all around them, and they get gifted a lot of it (rarely by us).
I won't pay for the Disney service. But I would be surprised if less than 75% of the elementary school households do.
And given Disney's giant catalog, I'm guessing most people won't drop it as soon as their kids hit puberty. "It's only 6 bucks, come on!"