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Netflix Says People Watch Same Amount of Movies Regardless of Perceived Quality or Depth (news.com.au)
Two of the most common issues people have with Netflix is: the movie catalog is shrinking, and the quality of the movies aren't that great anymore. Netflix says it is aware of those issues, and it thinks, in reality, those factors don't really matter much as people end up watching the same amount of movies as they always have. From a report:According to the Netflix exec, subscribers spend about the same time watching movies on the service regardless of the depth or perceived quality of the movie library. "No matter what, we end up with about one-third of our watching being movies," he told the audience. Mr Sarandos cited two contrasting examples of the United States and Canada as proof of such behavior. In Canada, Netflix has five major deals with movie studios to use their content while in the US the company basically has none, with the exception of the recently signed Disney deal. Despite US subscribers having far less access to movies from big studios, both countries spend roughly the same proportion of their time on the service watching movies. Netflix believes that by the time many blockbuster movies make it onto the platform -- many months after being released in the cinema -- a majority of fans have already seen them. "If you were passionate (about a movie), you've already seen it," he said.
If the same holds true for television -- that people watch the same amount regardless of quality -- it explains why I get 140 channels and can't find a show worth watching.
The Netflix DVD service used to be famed for including almost every movie ever made. When its big switch to streaming was stymied by licensing squabbles, I was one of many subscribers who stayed with the DVD service because of its depth. I have no problem waiting a month or two for new releases when so much older content is still available. But lately, I get the impression that worn-out DVDs are not being replaced as Netflix concludes that a somewhat better streaming selection means no more need to keep up the overhead of physical distribution and storage.
It's gonna be a hairy couple of years before the business models work themselves out and everyone finds a happy niche. Meanwhile, I'm off to pitch a gritty remake of...let's go with, uh, Jimmy Olsen as Elastic Lad.