4 ms·

While I'm sure it's not entirely Netflix's fault (media companies realizing their back catalog has a value), it seems to be a common evolution for movie service

While I'm sure it's not entirely Netflix's fault (media companies realizing their back catalog has a value), it seems to be a common evolution for movie services to move to providing their own content. Look at HBO. In the 1980s, it was all about showing movies (the name even meant "Home Box Office"). Now it is all about Game of Thrones and what not. With things like House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, etc., that's what Netflix is doing as well.

bagacrap 10y ago
HBO is a good example but I don't see blockbuster or Redbox creating content so I wouldn't say it's inevitable. Where are the movie companies hawking their back catalog if not Netflix?
- beardicus 10y ago
  Is it the various pay-per-view and on-demand services?
- luma 10y ago
  Blockbuster is a great example of a company that didn't do that. How are they doing these days?
bryanlarsen 10y ago
"The goal is to become HBO faster than HBO can become us." - Ted Sarandos, Netflix Chief Content Officer
- goostavos 10y ago
  Which has always seemed like a _gross_ misunderstanding of what people enjoyed about Netflix from the very beginning. If Netflix launched with Orange is the New Black, Luke Cage, and Daredevil, would they have even a tiny fraction of the user base they currently have? My Netflix hours per month has dropped to well under 10 hours per month these days. There's just not much content on there that interests me. I see more use out of Amazon because, even though it's comparatively expensive at ~$5 per rental, when I feel like sitting down and watching a movie, it's nice to actually have a catalog to browse that's not 90% garbage.
  - empath75 10y ago
    I think they've figured out that the people who subscribe and stay subscribed are people that binge watch tv shows, not people who sign on every once in awhile to watch movies. I don't think they're interested in competing with the PPV movie market.
  - AJ007 10y ago
    In terms of jumping back to Netflix at the "beginning" the streaming library was incredibly shallow. Netflix during the DVD days was another matter. Yet Amazon has been pushing video searches which are available for stream back to DVD/Bluray results ; has anyone else noticed this? I haven't been able to figure it out.
  - bryanlarsen 10y ago
    "If Netflix launched with Orange is the New Black, Luke Cage, and Daredevil, would they have even a tiny fraction of the user base they currently have?" I think there's fairly strong evidence that the answer would be "yes" to that question. More people have signed up for Netflix since the release of House of Cards in Feb 2013 than signed up before then. IIRC that it's right around that time that the Netflix movie catalog really started to shrink, and also the time when Netflix started to have attractive original content.
    - prakashk 10y ago
      I think there's fairly strong evidence that the answer would be "yes" to that question. I doubt that. Netflix didn't start with original content. They had to spend many years acquiring their substantial member-base before they started experimenting with the original content. If the company literally launched with House of Cards with no existing members to speak of, it would have been much tougher for them to convince people to pay them money and watch their as yet unproven original content.
jccalhoun 10y ago
I have noticed a lack of black and white movies on netflix. I know Hulu has the Criterion Collection which has some prestige black and white movies but there are tons of them that seem like they should be cheap for netflix to license. Has TMC bought them all up and refuse to license them to netflix or does netflix think no one wants to watch black and white movies?
- donretag 10y ago
  How many B&W movies have made it to the public domain? Why are companies not streaming public domain movies? There are many classics available for free.
  - jccalhoun 10y ago
    On roku there are tons of channels that can be installed that stream public domain movies. Unfortunately, the channels I've seen tend to have poor quality prints.
- ArkyBeagle 10y ago
  Some of those may be (poorly resolutioned ) on YouTube. Yes, I think TMC is the dominant player in that niche.
e40 10y ago
While I'm sure it's not entirely Netflix's fault It's very clearly not Netflix's fault. The content owners want Netflix to die. Had Netflix not gone the "make our own content" route, they would be dead now (or the walking dead with just DVD customers).

bagacrap 10y ago

HBO is a good example but I don't see blockbuster or Redbox creating content so I wouldn't say it's inevitable. Where are the movie companies hawking their back catalog if not Netflix?

beardicus 10y ago
Is it the various pay-per-view and on-demand services?
luma 10y ago
Blockbuster is a great example of a company that didn't do that. How are they doing these days?

bryanlarsen 10y ago

"The goal is to become HBO faster than HBO can become us." - Ted Sarandos, Netflix Chief Content Officer

goostavos 10y ago
Which has always seemed like a _gross_ misunderstanding of what people enjoyed about Netflix from the very beginning. If Netflix launched with Orange is the New Black, Luke Cage, and Daredevil, would they have even a tiny fraction of the user base they currently have? My Netflix hours per month has dropped to well under 10 hours per month these days. There's just not much content on there that interests me. I see more use out of Amazon because, even though it's comparatively expensive at ~$5 per rental, when I feel like sitting down and watching a movie, it's nice to actually have a catalog to browse that's not 90% garbage.
- empath75 10y ago
  I think they've figured out that the people who subscribe and stay subscribed are people that binge watch tv shows, not people who sign on every once in awhile to watch movies. I don't think they're interested in competing with the PPV movie market.
- AJ007 10y ago
  In terms of jumping back to Netflix at the "beginning" the streaming library was incredibly shallow. Netflix during the DVD days was another matter. Yet Amazon has been pushing video searches which are available for stream back to DVD/Bluray results ; has anyone else noticed this? I haven't been able to figure it out.
- bryanlarsen 10y ago
  "If Netflix launched with Orange is the New Black, Luke Cage, and Daredevil, would they have even a tiny fraction of the user base they currently have?" I think there's fairly strong evidence that the answer would be "yes" to that question. More people have signed up for Netflix since the release of House of Cards in Feb 2013 than signed up before then. IIRC that it's right around that time that the Netflix movie catalog really started to shrink, and also the time when Netflix started to have attractive original content.
  - prakashk 10y ago
    I think there's fairly strong evidence that the answer would be "yes" to that question. I doubt that. Netflix didn't start with original content. They had to spend many years acquiring their substantial member-base before they started experimenting with the original content. If the company literally launched with House of Cards with no existing members to speak of, it would have been much tougher for them to convince people to pay them money and watch their as yet unproven original content.

jccalhoun 10y ago

I have noticed a lack of black and white movies on netflix. I know Hulu has the Criterion Collection which has some prestige black and white movies but there are tons of them that seem like they should be cheap for netflix to license. Has TMC bought them all up and refuse to license them to netflix or does netflix think no one wants to watch black and white movies?

donretag 10y ago
How many B&W movies have made it to the public domain? Why are companies not streaming public domain movies? There are many classics available for free.
- jccalhoun 10y ago
  On roku there are tons of channels that can be installed that stream public domain movies. Unfortunately, the channels I've seen tend to have poor quality prints.
ArkyBeagle 10y ago
Some of those may be (poorly resolutioned ) on YouTube. Yes, I think TMC is the dominant player in that niche.

e40 10y ago

While I'm sure it's not entirely Netflix's fault It's very clearly not Netflix's fault. The content owners want Netflix to die. Had Netflix not gone the "make our own content" route, they would be dead now (or the walking dead with just DVD customers).