Netflix already lost at least some Disney content when Starz left.

I swear to f*cking god. Netflix and Hulu is the only way I've devised to have legal and affordable à la carte cable. If you bastards screw with me, I'm going to give away all my possessions and go off to live in the forest... in the nude.

NewportBarGuy: I swear to f*cking god. Netflix and Hulu is the only way I've devised to have legal and affordable à la carte cable. If you bastards screw with me, I'm going to give away all my possessions and go off to live in the forest... in the nude.

LONG LIVE THE BIG PRODUCERS!

Dibs on the TV and/or wife

NewportBarGuy: I swear to f*cking god. Netflix and Hulu is the only way I've devised to have legal and affordable à la carte cable. If you bastards screw with me, I'm going to give away all my possessions and go off to live in the forest... in the nude.

It won't work. It'll just take time to shake out while these studios encourage piracy.

y'know...the networks should stop trying to fight the way technology is changing the market place, they should adapt to it.

Weaver95: y'know...the networks should stop trying to fight the way technology is changing the market place, they should adapt to it.

We keep saying the same thing about coal, oil and nat gas companies. Nobody cares as long as the money flows.

Weaver95: y'know...the networks should stop trying to fight the way technology is changing the market place, they should adapt to it.

Indeed.

Of course, in network/MPAA/RIAA speak, that just means more lawsuits, DRM, Lobbyists pushing through anti-internet bills, and generally trying to stuff the genie back in the box.

/I'd love to see the companies piss so many people off they stop consuming the products. Then where would their precious ratings and ad money be?

uh oh

I've been living quite happily without cable since November. Don't have Netflix either (not enough bandwidth speed on my DSL connection for a smooth stream).

Surprisingly, I find MORE than enough to watch on TV on the 17 over-the-air channels I get with my rooftop antenna.

And people wonder why pirating will never die.

Britney Spear's Speculum: And people wonder why pirating will never die.


Duh, if they pull their shows off Netflix, you're totally gonna sign up for the ultra-deluxe $200 a month cable plan. And you're totally gonna buy movies on Blu-Ray for $30 a pop too.

This just means my kids won't watch your marketing material. Which means that they won't beg me for a Disney themed lunchbox/back pack/hoveround. Best of luck with your business model, but I'll survive without Princess saved by testosterone hero VII, or Inanimate Objects come to life IV.

TV is going to have to figure out that Americans won't pay for 23:38 of reality TV and car commercials and 0:22 of an actual show they like, anymore.

Britney Spear's Speculum: And people wonder why pirating will never die.

Problem: Too many people are watching your shows legally on Netflix, resulting in less revenue sharing than before.

Solution(?): Make them watch your shows illegally, resulting in absolutely no revenue sharing whatsoever.

Sounds about right.

*

I can't help but think this argument sounds strangely similar to far-extremist political idiots, and Caribbean Cargo Cults. These people seem to believe if they can somehow make the world the same as it was before, then we'll all magically go back in time to when things were better, and cargo and goodness will rain down from above again; and so they expend all of their energies trying to reset the wold to how it was in the past; rather than trying to improve the world for the future, optimistically gazing forth into what we could achieve as a species, instead deliberately trying to stagnate the cosmos, so we never go anywhere again.

They fail to realize they cannot put that genie back in the bottle, and the horse has long ago escaped through the barn door. The internet exists. Rather than trying to pass nonsense laws such as SOPA an some misguided attempt to ban the internet, instead you can make even more revenue by taking advantage of the internet's strengths: You can take all those cheapass reality shows that there's never enough air-space for and simply post them to Netflix, rather than a traditional TV channel, picking up whatever revenue happens to come by from whatever cult following the obscure show yields up. Hell, you can make a thousand independent shows for every niche market out there, and double your money on each one. And as an additional bonus, you'll occasionally stumble across a Minecraft, Harry Potter, and/or My Little Pony sleeper show, treble your market share, and make out like a bandit.

If I were a spiteful person, this sort of shiat would make me pirate shows I didn't even intend to watch, just to be an asshole.

/not spiteful
//no, really

Sim Tree: Problem: Too many people are watching your shows legally on Netflix, resulting in less revenue sharing than before.

Solution(?): Make them watch your shows illegally, resulting in absolutely no revenue sharing whatsoever.

Sounds about right.

*

I can't help but think this argument sounds strangely similar to far-extremist political idiots, and Caribbean Cargo Cults. These people seem to believe if they can somehow make the world the same as it was before, then we'll all magically go back in time to when things were better, and cargo and goodness will rain down from above again; and so they expend all of their energies trying to reset the wold to how it was in the past; rather than trying to improve the world for the future, optimistically gazing forth into what we could achieve as a species, instead deliberately trying to stagnate the cosmos, so we never go anywhere again.

They fail to realize they cannot put that genie back in the bottle, and the horse has long ago escaped through the barn door. The internet exists. Rather than trying to pass nonsense laws such as SOPA an some misguided attempt to ban the internet, instead you can make even more revenue by taking advantage of the internet's strengths: You can take all those cheapass reality shows that there's never enough air-space for and simply post them to Netflix, rather than a traditional TV channel, picking up whatever revenue happens to come by from whatever cult following the obscure show yields up. Hell, you can make a thousand independent shows for every niche market out there, and double your money on each one. And as an additional bonus, you'll occasionally stumble across a Minecraft, Harry Potter, and/or My Little Pony sleeper show, treble your market share, and make out like a bandit.

Sim Tree: Problem: Too many people are watching your shows legally on Netflix, resulting in less revenue sharing than before.

Solution(?): Make them watch your shows illegally, resulting in absolutely no revenue sharing whatsoever.

Sounds about right.

*

I can't help but think this argument sounds strangely similar to far-extremist political idiots, and Caribbean Cargo Cults. These people seem to believe if they can somehow make the world the same as it was before, then we'll all magically go back in time to when things were better, and cargo and goodness will rain down from above again; and so they expend all of their energies trying to reset the wold to how it was in the past; rather than trying to improve the world for the future, optimistically gazing forth into what we could achieve as a species, instead deliberately trying to stagnate the cosmos, so we never go anywhere again.

They fail to realize they cannot put that genie back in the bottle, and the horse has long ago escaped through the barn door. The internet exists. Rather than trying to pass nonsense laws such as SOPA an some misguided attempt to ban the internet, instead you can make even more revenue by taking advantage of the internet's strengths: You can take all those cheapass reality shows that there's never enough air-space for and simply post them to Netflix, rather than a traditional TV channel, picking up whatever revenue happens to come by from whatever cult following the obscure show yields up. Hell, you can make a thousand independent shows for every niche market out there, and double your money on each one. And as an additional bonus, you'll occasionally stumble across a Minecraft, Harry Potter, and/or My Little Pony sleeper show, treble your market share, and make out like a bandit.

Speaking of Ponies...

Hasbro is doing things right.

Besides having My Little Pony available on Netflix and itunes, Hasbro doesn't seem to mind that all the episodes are available on Youtube (as long as the user doesn't post the HD itunes version), and usually don't request any fan created material be removed.

Now, granted, with this particular property, Hasbro probably cares more about how many toys they sell, and the free publicity can only help their sales numbers. But, there is at least one company that seems to be using the internet to their advantage instead of suing grandmas and pissing off their customers.

I moved recently and missed two weeks of the Avengers cartoon I watch with my kids. It's a Disney production. I look it up on iTunes today. Three farkING DOLLARS to buy a 22 minute Avengers cartoon on iTunes. Disney doesn't rebroadcast it during the week, so I can't pick it up on Tivo. fark you, Disney.

Disney/Viacom kid's shows? Meh, whatever.

FirstNationalBastard: Sim Tree:

Speaking of Ponies...

Hasbro is doing things right.

Besides having My Little Pony available on Netflix and itunes, Hasbro doesn't seem to mind that all the episodes are available on Youtube (as long as the user doesn't post the HD itunes version), and usually don't request any fan created material be removed.

Now, granted, with this particular property, Hasbro probably cares more about how many toys they sell, and the free publicity can only help their sales numbers. But, there is at least one company that seems to be using the internet to their advantage instead of suing grandmas and pissing off their customers.

What's puzzling to me about this particular case is that My Little Ponies does not come across as a toy series that is being heavily marketed or merchandized compared to Star Wars, Transformers, Marvel. I mean, it's certainly there, but it seems fairly modest compared to some of the other crap that catches my kids attention in the toy aisles.

If I spent all the time watching the shows Netflix believes I'd want to watch by following their distribution model, I wouldn't have time for exercise, work, eating - or doing THIS.

/I do keep meaning to buy The West Wing boxed set, however.
//for obvious reasons.

Nadie_AZ: We keep saying the same thing about coal, oil and nat gas companies. Nobody cares as long as the money flows.

and this is why humanity won't be ready for a real catastrophe. We're the intellectual evolutionary equivalent to a peacock with a dildo on our head.

Nuclear Monk: FirstNationalBastard: Sim Tree:

Speaking of Ponies...

Hasbro is doing things right.

Besides having My Little Pony available on Netflix and itunes, Hasbro doesn't seem to mind that all the episodes are available on Youtube (as long as the user doesn't post the HD itunes version), and usually don't request any fan created material be removed.

Now, granted, with this particular property, Hasbro probably cares more about how many toys they sell, and the free publicity can only help their sales numbers. But, there is at least one company that seems to be using the internet to their advantage instead of suing grandmas and pissing off their customers.

What's puzzling to me about this particular case is that My Little Ponies does not come across as a toy series that is being heavily marketed or merchandized compared to Star Wars, Transformers, Marvel. I mean, it's certainly there, but it seems fairly modest compared to some of the other crap that catches my kids attention in the toy aisles.

Well, it doesn't seem Hasbro has yet fully adjusted to the new demographic that enjoys My Little Pony. So it's still basically a toy for little girls... a lot of pink packaging, ponies with brushable hair, castle playsets... I don't think they're ready yet to take the leap and come out with a fully articulated Pinkie Pie with fourth wall breaking action and fireable party cannon.

But, that new demographic is the one that does the mashups and animation edits and all that stuff you can find on youtube... stuff that Hasbro could DMCA and have removed if they wanted to, as most other companies would. However as I mentioned earlier... they're not antagonizing that new demographic, and in fact, they seem to be embracing it.

And that's what more media companies should be doing instead of trying to shove the genie back into the bottle and pretend the internet doesn't exist... getting along with the people who enjoy their stuff, because a happy consumer is one that will keep giving you money, unlike the very rightly mad consumers in this thread, who wonder why they don't just pirate shiat.

Mayhem of the Black Underclass: This just means my kids won't watch your marketing material. Which means that they won't beg me for a Disney themed lunchbox/back pack/hoveround. Best of luck with your business model, but I'll survive without Princess saved by testosterone hero VII, or Inanimate Objects come to life IV.

But what about Cute Anthropomorphic Animal XXIV?

Last time I was in a hotel, every time I turned on nickelodeon, spongebob was on. Apparently he's on there 5 hours a day.

It's no real surprise that people might want to watch something else. Also spongebob's on netflix.

It's about control, the internet threatens all sorts of traditional power brokers.

Nuclear Monk: What's puzzling to me about this particular case is that My Little Ponies does not come across as a toy series that is being heavily marketed or merchandized compared to Star Wars, Transformers, Marvel. I mean, it's certainly there, but it seems fairly modest compared to some of the other crap that catches my kids attention in the toy aisles.

Hasbro's been cutting back on MLP for years. In 07-08 or so, they'd have a couple dozen differently colored & named toys coming out every year. For some reason they cut back to 6 and rereleased alternates throughout the year with a new hat on them, subtle color variants, etc. They don't seem to have noticed that the toy selling cartoon might actually sell toys.

/not obsessed with mlp
//wife is

Phil Moskowitz: Nadie_AZ: We keep saying the same thing about coal, oil and nat gas companies. Nobody cares as long as the money flows.

We're the intellectual evolutionary equivalent to a peacock with a dildo on our head.

You just got added to my favorites for that

Broadcast TV is SOOOO 20th century.

Phil Moskowitz: Nadie_AZ: We keep saying the same thing about coal, oil and nat gas companies. Nobody cares as long as the money flows.

and this is why humanity won't be ready for a real catastrophe. We're the intellectual evolutionary equivalent to a peacock with a dildo on our head.

You sir, get pretty green.

As for the article, genie back in the bottle, piracy HO!, etc. This is the entertainment equivalent of taking the ball and going home. Everyone else playing the game is just going to find a new ball.

So I guess these people do not get that at this point netflix drives traffic to their traditional media and merchandise?

About the time this happens it looks like the Disney Channels will no longer be shown on my cable either after a few minutes of reprogramming. Kid will just have to make do with the dozens of Spiderman, Xmen and other superhero cartoons netflix offers, Without the exposure should also take care of most of the merchandise as well. Also kid is now old enough to go to Universal (not to mention Legoland and Bush Gardens) instead of the mouse park so that is a few hundred more per year. It will not change the world but will allow me to shake my angry fists at them for trying to revive their cart and buggy business.

Will miss Phineas and Ferb however.

Sim Tree: I can't help but think this argument sounds strangely similar to far-extremist political idiots, and Caribbean Cargo Cults. These people seem to believe if they can somehow make the world the same as it was before, then we'll all magically go back in time to when things were better, and cargo and goodness will rain down from above again; and so they expend all of their energies trying to reset the wold to how it was in the past; rather than trying to improve the world for the future, optimistically gazing forth into what we could achieve as a species, instead deliberately trying to stagnate the cosmos, so we never go anywhere again.

I think you have it exactly right.

The problem right now, is that the major studios have all managed to establish positions in the market that they would have killed for years ago. Executives who were working their way up through the ranks have reached the top and they know that their companies are stronger than they ever have been in the past.

Unfortunately, they are like the military strategists of early 1914. Each of them is supremely confident that they have the most advanced cavalry in the world. Each of them is blissfully unaware of the potential ramifications of those toys the engineers and chemists have been tinkering with....

The WindowLicker: Sim Tree: I can't help but think this argument sounds strangely similar to far-extremist political idiots, and Caribbean Cargo Cults. These people seem to believe if they can somehow make the world the same as it was before, then we'll all magically go back in time to when things were better, and cargo and goodness will rain down from above again; and so they expend all of their energies trying to reset the wold to how it was in the past; rather than trying to improve the world for the future, optimistically gazing forth into what we could achieve as a species, instead deliberately trying to stagnate the cosmos, so we never go anywhere again.

I think you have it exactly right.

The problem right now, is that the major studios have all managed to establish positions in the market that they would have killed for years ago. Executives who were working their way up through the ranks have reached the top and they know that their companies are stronger than they ever have been in the past.

Unfortunately, they are like the military strategists of early 1914. Each of them is supremely confident that they have the most advanced cavalry in the world. Each of them is blissfully unaware of the potential ramifications of those toys the engineers and chemists have been tinkering with....

So the internet is aircraft, machine guns, and tanks?

Ftfa: Sanford Bernstein senior analyst Todd Juenger, a former TiVo advertising executive, used data obtained from TiVo DVRs to compare usage of households with Netflix and those without.

"Turns out, Netflix Streamers watch just as much traditional TV as Non-Streamers," he wrote in a report. "However, there is a significant share shift among Streamers. Kids' networks (not just Nickelodeon) and syndicated shows are getting severely whacked."

Am I the only one who thinks his sample was a little bit biased? There's no point in owning a TiVo if you don't watch a lot of traditional tv. If all you watch is netflix, you'll get a roku.

The business model still doesn't make sense. And until it makes sense, financially, companies aren't going to get behind it.

Neflix charges $7.99 per month. People are willing to pay $7.99 per month for an unlimited amount of TV. Commercial free TV.

The majority of the funding that goes to the studios to produce their TV shows comes from advertisers. Advertisers pay for commercials. Lots and lots of money. Advertisers want the most people to see their ads, so more popular shows fetch a higher premium. Hence, studios fight over ratings as a means of getting revenue.

Netflix can't pay the studios as much as the advertisers can because Netflix only gets $7.99 per month, per household. And it's customers won't tolerate traditional commercials. When Netflix is some weird new thing; that studios can get money from *IN ADDITION* to their primary revenue stream - it makes sense. When Netflix is so popular that people watching TV and their ratings drop and advertisers won't pay them anymore.....that threatens the studio's ability to stay in business. OF COURSE, they are going to pull the plug.

'Wait - so I can either keep selling stuff in my store - or let people pay you $4 dollars per month for the ability to buy all the stuff they want from my store, for free? But, that will put me out of business? I'm not going to do that!'
As much as we like to hate on the rich TV and movie studios - and as much as we say their stuff sucks - we still love to watch it. And we can't watch it if they don't make it. And they can't make it if they don't have a source of income.

FirstNationalBastard: Nuclear Monk: FirstNationalBastard: Sim Tree:

But, that new demographic is the one that does the mashups and animation edits and all that stuff you can find on youtube... stuff that Hasbro could DMCA and have removed if they wanted to, as most other companies would. However as I mentioned earlier... they're not antagonizing that new demographic, and in fact, they seem to be embracing it.

And that's what more media companies should be doing instead of trying to shove the genie back into the bottle and pretend the internet doesn't exist... getting along with the people who enjoy their stuff, because a happy consumer is one that will kee ...

This is a good point, except I believe they know about us and acknowledge us without really understanding what Internet users are. They seem to think we're Trekkies. We're overgrown children preoccupied with our shiny lithium-ion battery powered gizmos. I think the entertainment industry really is that out-of-touch with Net culture.

I agree with this WHOLE thread.

The thing is, when we find alternatives (ahem) to Netflix and broadcast TV, those advertisers are going to seek alternative forms of advertising.
I am sick and tired of having crap marketed to me at the gas pump, on my words with friends... ad nauseum.

of course people with netflix watch a lot of tv. Have you seen the movie rights they buy?

serial_crusher: Am I the only one who thinks his sample was a little bit biased?

Nah, I was thinking it's like surveying 80 year olds with landlines. Why yes, young whippersnapper, 8 out of 10 still look up numbers in the phone book and haven't ever heard of the interwebs,

FFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU

I finallly got my daughter to agree to only get new episodes of Phineas and Ferb and Good Luck Charlie on the Tivo and watch older episodes on Netflix, therely making sure the Tivo is not recording either show about 30 times per day.

If I gotta put it on my XBMC, I'll do it.

Obviously the media companies will be dragged kicking and screaming into streaming their content. I can't justify paying $100 a month for cable when I can't possibly watch that much stuff to get my money's worth. Can't parents just buy the DVDs anyways? I keep hearing the kids will have their favorite films to watch over and over again.

surprised netflix hasn't tried to appease the networks by creating a streaming service that has commercials. i would hate such a service but just surprised it hasn't gone there yet

jaggspb: surprised netflix hasn't tried to appease the networks by creating a streaming service that has commercials. i would hate such a service but just surprised it hasn't gone there yet

I pay for Netflix because 7.99 a month is every cent that being able to watch what I want when I want is worth to me. If what I want to watch is no no longer there, I will still get it and I wont pay a dime.

This is what threatens their precious little business model. They are terrified people will pay what their material is worth to them instead of what they demand for it.

I also have HBO for a total 65 minutes each week. Costs me $3 a month to keep up with GoT, but my cable company is cool like that.

jaggspb: surprised netflix hasn't tried to appease the networks by creating a streaming service that has commercials. i would hate such a service but just surprised it hasn't gone there yet

Lets hope that when they do it has better ads than Hulu runs. I don't need to see an ad for a car I would never buy even if I had the money and then another one for depression medication. I don't need or want either of those.

This is one of the reasons I've repeatedly said that Netflix and other low-cost all-you-can-watch streaming services are just a flash in the pan. They're all dead in the water. Networks don't like these guys because they're siphoning viewers and hurting their ad revenue and so they're going to start pulling content and/or negotiating ever-higher licensing fees. Cable companies don't like them because more and more people are dropping cable and going streaming-only. If net neutrality is ever abandoned, it'll be the final nail in the third-party streaming service coffin.

The days of all-you-can-watch commercial-free streaming for $8/month are numbered. Enjoy them while they last.

Mark my words: This time 5 years from now, Netflix will be dead or might as well be, and every damn content producer will have their own streaming service they'll want us to buy for $10-15 a month. And they will all suck balls.

Netflix could do this for the networks if they would let them. They already have the system in place, it works great, people love it, and it's such a standard that even Apple puts it on their Apple TV. If you're a network all you have to do is let Netflix pay you millions of dollars a year for the right to show your stuff. And it's not even day and date stuff; it's last season (or more) junk, even stuff that's had a chance to sell Season DVD's to hardcore fans of your shows. The Netflix customer base knows this, and they accept it. Gladly. It's free money to the networks, almost literally.

But that's not going to matter to them. Those greedy bastards won't be able to see the forest for the trees, and all they're going to think about is how much more they could make if they were getting the $10 a month. Or they'll think that if they kill it everyone will magically go back go buying DVD's again. They won't see the fracturing of the television marketplace that's already long been happening. They won't get that consumers aren't going to put up with having to subscribe to every damn channel they want to see stuff on.

They're going to kill this. As sure as the sun rises.

"TV and Movies" just need to go to the radio model.
Everyone that wants to broadcast a video pays the distributor $.0003 per play.
Then it is up to the media outlet (TV, Cable, Sat., Web) to figure out how to generate enough revenue to pay for the plays. Allow anyone, through any media, to play the video according to a way more open model.

NewportBarGuy: I swear to f*cking god. Netflix and Hulu is the only way I've devised to have legal and affordable à la carte cable. If you bastards screw with me, I'm going to give away all my possessions and go off to live in the forest... in the nude.



Approves

As long as 9songs is still on Netflix, no one will care.