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Yes or no: There are already too many streaming services? (1 Viewer)

Sam Posten

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That goes back to my overall feeling that today's production teams just don't know how to deliver quality work in a timely fashion.

We are living in the golden age of TV production as far as quality story telling goes. You wanna take 3 years for the next season? I WILL WAIT.
 

BobO'Link

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We are living in the golden age of TV production as far as quality story telling goes. You wanna take 3 years for the next season? I WILL WAIT.
If it's *serialized* story telling I won't. I'll move on and may not bother when/if you finally return. If it takes that long to post a TV show then you need to re-evaluate how you're doing things.

Because of these stupidly long delays I no longer watch anything "live" and for serialized programs wait until it's all out before deciding if I want to watch it or not. I've been burned too many times with series being cancelled on season short or delivering crap for the last season.

Back on topic...

I don't think many people in the "Joe 6-pack" crowd will do short term, rotating, subscriptions. They'll likely pick one or two that give them the bulk of the shows they want and ignore or share logins for the rest. Many of the people I know just won't bother with the "hassle" of rotating subscriptions. There are a few exceptions - but very few.
 

Worth

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There's just so much stuff out there, it's going to be difficult for anything to break through. Netflix has an advantage because it's already well established and people are familiar with it, as does Disney, based on sheer size and name recognition. I don't think the others are going to fare as well.
 

Malcolm R

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I currently have Netflix and Amazon. I also have Hulu only because of the holiday offer for $1/month for a year. When that's up I'll be cancelling Hulu, as I don't even think it's worth $1/month. I almost cancelled it already, but for only $1/month I figured I'd let it run to the end of the promo offer. The commercials are incredibly aggravating and there's not really much content of interest on Hulu, IMO. Plus the stream often freezes up on me, something I've not had issues with on Netflix or Amazon.

I'm not sure I watch either Netflix or Amazon enough to make either worthwhile, but there seems to be a fair amount of things I'd like to watch on Netflix and Amazon Prime has other perks. I don't see me signing up for any other services.
 

Nick*Z

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I guess the author doesn't realize that people can just rotate subscriptions among 2 or 3 services each month, instead of subscribing to everything all the time.

Okay, but how is that juggling act less of a pain in the buttocks than simply collecting what you want to watch on physical media and having it at your disposal whenever you damn well please to view it? Sounds to me like streaming is not only going to get less cost-effective for the viewer, but also become a real hassle for those who just want to watch something, and don't want to have to start making lists of what's on where and how long a particular subscription will last before it can be switched over for another one, and then another one, and then...oh hell. Just buy. Own. Watch at your own leisure. Simple, right?
 

Worth

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Okay, but how is that juggling act less of a pain in the buttocks than simply collecting what you want to watch on physical media and having it at your disposal whenever you damn well please to view it? Sounds to me like streaming is not only going to get less cost-effective for the viewer, but also become a real hassle for those who just want to watch something, and don't want to have to start making lists of what's on where and how long a particular subscription will last before it can be switched over for another one, and then another one, and then...oh hell. Just buy. Own. Watch at your own leisure. Simple, right?
Sure, if price is no object. But most people aren't going to drop $20 every time they want to watch an individual title. Not to mention the fact that a lot of the films and series on streaming services aren't being released on physical media.
 

Nick*Z

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Sure, if price is no object. But most people aren't going to drop $20 every time they want to watch an individual title. Not to mention the fact that a lot of the films and series on streaming services aren't being released on physical media.

Agreed. I guess the answer is to become more selective in your viewing habits so that you don't become a slave to either physical or streaming demands.
 

Scott Merryfield

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Okay, but how is that juggling act less of a pain in the buttocks than simply collecting what you want to watch on physical media and having it at your disposal whenever you damn well please to view it? Sounds to me like streaming is not only going to get less cost-effective for the viewer, but also become a real hassle for those who just want to watch something, and don't want to have to start making lists of what's on where and how long a particular subscription will last before it can be switched over for another one, and then another one, and then...oh hell. Just buy. Own. Watch at your own leisure. Simple, right?

Collecting versus subscribing has nothing to do with physical media versus streaming. You can purchase titles that become part of your permanent library and you can watch whenever you desire both on physical media and via streaming services such as iTunes, Vudu and Amazon. The monthly subscription services from studios are not changing that.

Monthly streaming subscription services compete with cable and satellite television, where content can be constantly changed and you never know what will be available for viewing.
 
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Sam Posten

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There's just so much stuff out there, it's going to be difficult for anything to break through. Netflix has an advantage because it's already well established and people are familiar with it, as does Disney, based on sheer size and name recognition. I don't think the others are going to fare as well.

Apple will be fine. In the foreseeable future I am more worried about Netflix going away than Apple not taking off.
 

Chris Will

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Apple will be fine. In the foreseeable future I am more worried about Netflix going away than Apple not taking off.

I'm not sure the success of Apple TV+ is guaranteed yet. They've announced 7 or 8 original shows, that's it. They are not licensing content so, again, that's it. No price announced yet either but, how much are people willing to pay for just 8 shows? Sure, over time their content will grow but, it will be the first major service that only offers original content. All the other big boys license stuff, or have a huge library built up to draw from (like Disney). Still too many question that need to be answered for Apple TV+.

I'll admit that I'm interested in Amazing Stories and For All Mankind. None of the other shows they announced sound interesting to me. I'm not sure I'll subscribe on a month to month basis for just 2 shows though.
 

Robert Crawford

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I'm not sure the success of Apple TV+ is guaranteed yet. They've announced 7 or 8 original shows, that's it. They are not licensing content so, again, that's it. No price announced yet either but, how much are people willing to pay for just 8 shows? Sure, over time their content will grow but, it will be the first major service that only offers original content. All the other big boys license stuff, or have a huge library built up to draw from (like Disney). Still too many question that need to be answered for Apple TV+.

I'll admit that I'm interested in Amazing Stories and For All Mankind. None of the other shows they announced sound interesting to me. I'm not sure I'll subscribe on a month to month basis for just 2 shows though.
Man, it's going to be a feeding frenzy for that low annual pricing. You know how many people are going to buy that just for their kids and grand kids. Granted, their shows need to expand and be interesting, but I expect some peak interest initially from the general public.
 

Robert Crawford

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Man, it's going to be a feeding frenzy for that low annual pricing. You know how many people are going to buy that just for their kids and grand kids. Granted, their shows need to expand and be interesting, but I expect some peak interest initially from the general public.
Oops, strike that, I mistakenly thought you were talking about Disney+. I expect some level of interest for AppleTV+, but not on the same level as Disney+. Apologies extended to you for my mistake.
 

Cranston37+

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I'm not sure the success of Apple TV+ is guaranteed yet. They've announced 7 or 8 original shows, that's it. They are not licensing content so, again, that's it. No price announced yet either but, how much are people willing to pay for just 8 shows? Sure, over time their content will grow but, it will be the first major service that only offers original content. All the other big boys license stuff, or have a huge library built up to draw from (like Disney). Still too many question that need to be answered for Apple TV+.

I'll admit that I'm interested in Amazing Stories and For All Mankind. None of the other shows they announced sound interesting to me. I'm not sure I'll subscribe on a month to month basis for just 2 shows though.

I think the metric for success for Apple TV+ will be much different than other services.

They aren't looking to get into the streaming business as much as they are looking to make the Apple ecosystem a more attractive and relevant place to be.

It won't necessarily be about how many subscribers it gets as much as how many people it helps bring into, or stay in, the Apple ecosystem.
 
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Sam Posten

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These guys are all running around with their heads cut off and have no clue what is going to work....

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/10/magazine/streaming-race-netflix-hbo-hulu-amazon.html

“Three giant telecoms are gonna make and own all the content, and they’re not gonna want anyone else to make it,” Weidenfeld went on. “There’s not gonna be a lot of innovation. ‘Russian Doll’s won’t get made for a while.” Weidenfeld grinned. “In a few years,” he predicted, “it’s gonna suck.”
 

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These guys are all running around with their heads cut off and have no clue what is going to work....

I've said this before, but the biggest hurdle that any content producer faces in 2019 (and beyond) isn't merely to get people interested in their content. The struggle is to get people to pay for the content that they consumer.

Most people do not perceive digital piracy to be a crime. We see confirmation of this attitude again and again, whether it's the people who share passwords to services rather than subscribing themselves, people who purchase hacked streaming devices for unlimited free viewing (who may not even realize it's illegal because it's something they bought at a legitimate retailer like Amazon), or people who download material illegally through file sharing programs. People feel pretty emboldened to pirate content, and even discuss it publicly. When HTF made an official post on Facebook last week with an announcement about a new disc coming out, the very first comment was someone saying how they were going to use a torrent program to download the disc.

All of these streaming companies, whether it's Hollywood studios or telecom business, are all facing that same uphill battle: getting people interested in a show or film isn't the problem. Getting them to pay for it is. All of these companies are spending fortunes on original content in the hopes that it will entice people to subscribe. And some will.

But long term, I have no idea how any of this plays out. The theatrical business is dying, and I don't know what will happen to content producers in general when that revenue stream disappears. And I don't know what will happen with all of these different streaming services when it turns out that what they spend on original content isn't made up by what people pay into the system.

There are probably too many services, and probably too much content, for it all to do well. I'd say that under the best of circumstances, and what we're in right now is far from ideal. At a certain point, I don't know how the math works if (for instance) a Netflix hit is viewed by 50% of homes with streaming capability, but only 10% of those homes are actually paying for Netflix.
 

Cranston37+

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These guys are all running around with their heads cut off and have no clue what is going to work....

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/10/magazine/streaming-race-netflix-hbo-hulu-amazon.html

So, AT&T, what exactly does this all entail...

6A9BDDFE-D8D7-4348-8553-5F28947F1417.jpeg
 
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TJPC

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We are still cable subscribers, although we are on my daughters Netflix account, which we rarely use. Generally, we feel absolutely overwhelmed with content and often fill our PVR. We do hear about series we don’t get, but with so much everything else, we have been able to resist them.

Honestly, we can’t see the need for more services at all. We also are retired, so by the time any movie is on these services, we have seen it theatrically.

I think with the utter convenience of cable as opposed to what I find extremely fiddly with these on line services, it would not be a good idea to provide them through cable with an extra fee of course for those who want them, like extra sports or movie channels. Cable networks are actually being offered on line for those who want a 2”x 2” view.

In Canada, most of these services are unavailable anyway. It is almost as if the CRTC is waiting for the USA to thrash it out and then when the smoke clears go with the winners. The side benefit here is a lot of on line shows like “Star Trek Discovery” and “The Good Wife” are available through regular cable here.
 

Worth

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...In Canada, most of these services are unavailable anyway. It is almost as if the CRTC is waiting for the USA to thrash it out and then when the smoke clears go with the winners. The side benefit here is a lot of on line shows like “Star Trek Discovery” and “The Good Wife” are available through regular cable here.
For once, Canada is at an advantage compared to the US. Crave gets you HBO, Showtime and Starz in one package. Though, the streamers are starting to expand here, as well. Disney is coming a year after its US launch and we already have Criterion.
 

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