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Netflix Is Becoming Just Another TV Channel

An anonymous reader writes: Netflix revealed in a blog post that it will not renew its contract with Epix, meaning you won't be able to watch movies like The Hunger Games and World War Z through the service anymore. With the increase in cord-cutters and more original content, Netflix is positioning itself to be like any other TV channel (one that owns its own distribution model) and is betting that customers won't miss the Epix content. Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos says, "While many of these movies are popular, they are also widely available on cable and other subscription platforms at the same time as they are on Netflix and subject to the same drawn out licensing periods."

19 of 294 comments (clear)

  1. I don't want a fucking TV channel! by Chas · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I want something that allows me to watch movies and/or episode-based content AS *I* want.

    Their offerings of content have continued to get slimmer in the recent couple of years. And I'm finding myself using them less and less.

    If Netflix stops delivering that content altogether, I stop subscribing.

    And, if we start seeing ADS attached to the content, I'm fucking outta there so fast the wind of my passing will bowl you over.

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    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
  2. Idiots. by gfxguy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "While many of these movies are popular, they are also widely available on cable and other subscription platforms at the same time as they are on Netflix and subject to the same drawn out licensing periods."

    The reason we can be cord cutters is because we get netflix, so you're suggesting I go back to doing both? %#!# you. #@# you very much.

    --
    Stupid sexy Flanders.
    1. Re:Idiots. by Phoenix+Rising · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This. I get Netflix so I can "rent" movies. While I've liked some of the Netflix original content, what I really want is a super video rental store.

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      Let us live so that when we come to die, even the undertaker will be sorry -- Mark Twain
    2. Re:Idiots. by Daetrin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Agreed. Like so many other lines of business there are two general strategies they could go for, wide or deep. In the case of media distribution you can try to have as much content as possible, "why subscribe to all those other channels/distributors when you can get it all here in this one spot?" Or they can try to have unique programming that is unavailable anywhere else. "If you want to watch this show you have to subscribe to us."

      Doing both can be difficult, both in terms of balance and expense, (but it is the way to go if you want to become a monopoly.) Unfortunately it seems like Netflix is trying to transition between the two, which is a tough sell to the people who originally bought into the service because of what they _used_ to be. They not only have to convince me to be interested in their new original content, they also have to convince me not to care too much about the old licensed content that they're losing.

      If any other service (Hulu being at the top of the list) were able to snag all the content that Netflix is dropping Netflix might be in some serious trouble. From what i understand though the reason Netflix is dropping so much content is that the owners have started realizing how much streaming rights are worth, so luckily for Netflix it seems unlikely that any single provider will be able to acquire the same range of content that Netflix used to have.

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    3. Re:Idiots. by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Hulu will *never* be a contender for me, as they insist on shoving advertisements in my face even if I pay for a premium subscription. I've experienced TV programming on demand and without commercial interruptions. I can't go back.

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      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
  3. TV channels are not what people want by McGregorMortis · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What people want from a streaming service is every movie, every TV episode, and every piece of music ever made at any any point in history, anywhere in the world, at a modest fee.

    Netflix certainly wasn't that, but it was trying to be. If it's going to stop even trying, then they're just driving people back to BitTorrent. Because that's what BitTorrent is, and it's free.

    Until people are given what they want at a fair price, they will continue to find it elsewhere.

    1. Re:TV channels are not what people want by bobbied · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Never going to happen, NEVER. No matter how many different services you sign up for. Seriously there is way too much stuff to do what you want and there are films which will never, ever see the light of internet streaming. For instance "Song of the South" which is owned by Disney will never be shown in public again for PC reasons, not to mention all the horrible "B and C" movies which would never deserve the disk space needed. (Who's going to watch "Howard the Duck" more than once? Most will quit that movie before the first reel change.) There is just way too much material which the license holder won't let go of and a whole host of stuff nobody wants to watch, even for free.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  4. Re:Epix was one reason they were forced to stream. by Grishnakh · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How is it a tech hub like Seattle doesn't have broadband fast enough for Netflix, yet I'm living in rural Virginia and it works just great for me? What the hell is going on in Seattle?

  5. You're opening the door to your competitors... by thedarb · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Taking away popular movie titles is only going to give your competitors an in. I didn't have to go see films at the theatre if I didn't want. It would end up on Netflix. I didn't need Comcast, it would end up Netflix.

    Simply put, if things stop coming to Netflix, so will the viewers. We aren't locked in to 2 year contracts, so we can come and go as we please. Maybe, Netflix, you should continue to court us.

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    1. Re:You're opening the door to your competitors... by c · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Simply put, if things stop coming to Netflix, so will the viewers. We aren't locked in to 2 year contracts, so we can come and go as we please. Maybe, Netflix, you should continue to court us.

      You sound like believe this is something Netflix is doing on purpose. Given the business environment they're operating in and how content licensing works, it's just as likely that someone in the industry is jerking them around.

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      Log in or piss off.
  6. Re:Epix was one reason they were forced to stream. by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I really do think hell would freeze over before a republican would take office in any office that governs Seattle.

    Besides, if that was the case, then I wouldn't have gig service right now where I live in Arizona, which is about as much of a red state as you can get. In fact, come to think of it, a lot of red states have gig service somewhere within the state, such as Utah, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Louisiana.

  7. Missing the point by grilled-cheese · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Today's media consumer wants what it wants, when it wants it, right then. This is opposite traditional cable company methodologies. It's why customer's are cutting the cord. To that end, the first service to offer the best selection will win (pricing models aside). If it takes multiple overlapping subscriptions to get the selection, customers will be forced to pick and choose or to go back to pirating. The stuff frequently pirated are the things that customers can't afford (multiple services), can't find (selection problems), or are going to have going 24/7 (kids shows and bandwidth caps). I don't blame netflix entirely though. It's a business decision to keep from raising rates. The real problem lies with the distribution points arguing unreasonable amounts of money for potentially exclusive contracts with providers like Netflix/Hulu/AmazonPrime/CrunchyRoll/etc.

  8. Re:Epix was one reason they were forced to stream. by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's just the city of Seattle that's screwed up. The suburbs actually outside the city itself (where I live, and where MS is located) has FIOS broadly deployed. My understanding is that it has to do with Seattle's own rules - there's a huge amount of entrenched bureaucracy and crappy infrastructure in place that essentially prevents competitors from coming in and upgrading. Naturally, large businesses (like Amazon) can simply bypass the mess with commercial-grade connections. It's apparently just the consumers that have it bad.

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    Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
  9. Re:Epix was one reason they were forced to stream. by bobbied · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > Seattle...160 kbps

    That isn't too bad. You can download a 700 Mbyte movie in only ten hours. With my 56k modem (because stupid Comcast despite having the government-granted monopoly over most of Seattle, still doesn't offer service to their entire monopoly area), I can download that in 30 hours. That's not too bad. I can leave the download running while I'm at work and at night and then have two movies to watch over the weekend. I really do hope they add a download option.

    So a DVD will take 10 hours and a Blu-Ray will take days to get... Go with the Netflix disk delivery option and it takes about three days to turn around ANY title they have, which is just about any title you could want, plus you can save that internet connection for something else, like browsing Zillo for houses OUTSIDE of Seattle that you can afford...

    --
    "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  10. Re:Epix was one reason they were forced to stream. by bobbied · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I don't think you are centrist in reality. You want to be considered in the middle so you label yourself centrist, but in reality you really are far left, so everybody looks to far to the right from your prospective.

    Seattle is governed by the fully left of center, so is Washington state to a lesser degree. You just see it as too far right because in reality you have a leftist ideology and are nowhere near the center on just about everything.

    Be honest with yourself, you are really far left of what the center really is... Which is fine with me as long as you are honest about it...

    --
    "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  11. Quote by neminem · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "...won't be able to watch movies like The Hunger Games and World War Z"... "betting that customers won't miss the Epix content. "

    Yeah, not with examples like those I won't...

  12. not so obvious to everyone it seems by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It is because the studios asked them for a monetary number well outside Netflix's ability to pay and still stay afloat. The studios are doing it on purpose to tank Netflix because they don't like their business model and would prefer you go buy the DVD. And, because they feel they deserve the extra money. Netflix has been a real threat to them, because it has always provided viewers the ability to watch as much as they want for a reasonable fee. I don't envy them. Producers of entertainment are so toxic with their licensing deals that it almost doesn't pay to be in the media delivery business. Dish is always struggling with this as well, it is painful for them and their customers.

  13. Re: Epix was one reason they were forced to stream by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You are very lucky. I live in a suburb of Phoenix that is only served by Centurylink (no cable TV available). On a good day I can see 1.2 meg down speed and it's costing me over $60/month. Centurylink has been promising to upgrade soon (within 2 months) for the last five years.

    Why would they upgrade? They are your only choice of provider, they have you by the short and curlies.

    Time to move...

  14. Re:Epix was one reason they were forced to stream. by tsotha · · Score: 4, Insightful

    He's simply using his own personal definition of "Republican", which for him is "Any person or situation I don't like".