11 ms·

Agreed. I only pay for netflix and HBO (and amazon, but that's a bonus for paying for prime). HBO doesn't feel like "extra" because it's always been an optional

Agreed. I only pay for netflix and HBO (and amazon, but that's a bonus for paying for prime). HBO doesn't feel like "extra" because it's always been an optional add-on that costs more. First all the "major" studios will split and start charing $10/month. Then adds will start creeping back in. Before you know it everyone will be paying for an ad-hoc cable subscription. I think a better option would be to do what Amazon is doing for HBO - offer a small portion of the studio (in this case Disney) included with the platform (Netflix) with the option to pay additional fees for the entire catalog. The biggest deterrent, for me at least, is not the price but the need to switch platforms. I'm already annoyed when I have to go from Netflix to Amazon to find a movie/show I want to see but can't remember where it is. No chance I'll add a third, forth, or fifth platform to the mix.

amag 9y ago
> The biggest deterrent, for me at least, is not the price but the need to switch platforms. Agree, especially when most doesn't work nearly as well as Netflix. I prefer to use the TV app and the horrible user experience I had with HBO (for instance) made me quickly stop using it. For a streaming company user engagement should be taken very seriously, but it seems that most studio-turn-streaming-company miss this. They think content is everything because that's what a studio is about. But content doesn't matter if I can't stream it easily and many studios are so over-protective of their content that they forget about usability.
jacobr1 9y ago
> I'm already annoyed when I have to go from Netflix to Amazon to find a movie/show I want to see but can't remember where it is. This problem was solved for me by Roku search on my roku device. It still is something I'd rather not need to do, but the search interface is just as good as the dedicated ones for amazon or netflix and shows you the results across all services.
- funkaster 9y ago
  yup. same for me. Having a search that centralizes all subscriptions you currently have really makes it easy to access that content. I remember the Wii U was supposed to have something similar, it never worked for me. The roku search on the other hand, works just fine. Even the voice search is not that bad.
px1999 9y ago
Long term, we'll probably wind up with a couple of major marketplaces that provide a UI that ties together content bundles that you've purchased from different distributors (who will actually serve up their catalogs). It's a bit depressing how similar that sounds to how cable networks work. Or platform specific app stores.
- fweespeech 9y ago
  The big Media companies want it to work like cable because they think their "premium content" will get people to pay more. In reality, they are likely to trigger a backlash that increases piracy instead.
  - komali2 9y ago
    I don't know why all these people behind these decisions don't just look at Gabe Newell and his simple statement - "Piracy is a service problem." Steam is a rampant success. You'd think people would catch on. Have the content, make it easy to access, make it easy to pay, and people will give you money hand over fist.
    - duckingtest 9y ago
      That's only partly true. There are countries where average wage is $300/month. They are NOT going to buy legal software and media for $40/thing no matter how easy it is.
      - ricardobeat 9y ago
        Brazil checking in. People still pay for steam games despite the cost. It is often cheaper than the currency-converted USD price, and otherwise you don't have multiplayer. Piracy is down by orders of magnitude from 10 years ago.
      - vlunkr 9y ago
        There are always exceptions, I don't think this invalidates the parent comment in any way.
giancarlostoro 9y ago
My Mi Box (Android TV) lets me search accross apps so I just usually search for movies and shows that way unless I know it's already on Netflix. The weird part for me is Disney coulda just made themselves exclusive to Hulu instead. Just means I wont be watching any Disney movies or shows ever again since I won't bother paying for just Disney or even having regular cable (no more Disney channel for me). Sadly for others it may mean torrenting because the convenience is taken away for the sake of profit.
Shivetya 9y ago
With HBO I simply do one month subs when a season will complete during it so I can get the whole season in. Once a site passes the $10 mark I quickly lose interest and then I start determining how I can maximize my sub time. Now what will be interesting is seeing which studios cannot float their own streaming service and combine either with another studio or group of them under an all inclusive banner. I figure we will go nearly full circle and end up with an aggregator like cable was but this time without too much junk. my beef with some of these "premium" sites is they think that ever after they get $15 from me that I have to watch THEIR ads. Really? I paid for the shows, not 30 to 60 seconds of your ads.
- seanp2k2 9y ago
  I will never pay for YouTube Red. When an unskippable ad starts playing, I just look away. Most of the time, I realize that I'm wasting time watching idiotic YouTube content, and I quit the app. In this, they're actually lessening my addiction to their platform in that they're giving me a break to consider if I should keep watching or not.
  - kogepathic 9y ago
    > When an unskippable ad starts playing, I just look away. Does uBlock Origin block YouTube ads? I'm asking because it's been years since I saw/was forced to watch a video ad on YouTube. Sure, there are occasionally the banner ads at specific times in the videos, but no video ads. So either the channels I watch have somehow opte out of video ads, or uBlock is taking care of them? Or maybe this is a geographic thing and YouTube in Germany doesn't show video ads? Anyway, if you have Android and want to watch on mobile, I highly recommend NewPipe (F-Droid). Lets you: watch, listen, download, repeat YouTube videos and I've never seen an ad in it. Really awesome app!
    - lucasverra 9y ago
      It does block YT video ads, not banners
JKCalhoun 9y ago
Like if each music label decided to create their own online music-store/streaming-service. I guess greed? (derp.)
wh-uws 9y ago
Well we've gotten the bifurcation we have because thats what people have always wanted. An ad-hoc cable subscription. Few people really wanted all the channels they were getting and would gladly have paid less to get only what they wanted. Another thing we might see here though has happened to me a lot with music because of Spotify. If you music isn't on Spotify or Soundclound... I'm just going to listen to it less. Its too much trouble to go download/buy from so many different sources. I can't be bothered to spend the time anymore.
- devotedtoneu 9y ago
  To me, that indicates that your favorite must-have content is available on Spotify. If more of your favorite artists were not available on streaming services you'd probably be ok with spending the time.
spinlock 9y ago
I have an Apple TV and I have to switch from it to the TV to get Amazon because Apple and Amazon won't play nice together.
- calesce 9y ago
  You soon won't have to do that any longer: https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/5/15732608/amazon-prime-video-apple-tv-app-announced-wwdc-2017 https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/5/15732608/amazon-prime-vide...
  - spinlock 9y ago
    You just made my day :)
daigoba66 9y ago
> HBO doesn't feel like "extra" because it's always been an optional add-on that costs more. Disney Channel used to be a premium, ad-free channel.
- dpark 9y ago
  And they didn't have enough subscribers to justify that model. I wonder what they think has changed. Maybe on demand Disney movies are valuable enough to enough parents to justify this?
  - jacobsenscott 9y ago
    I bet star wars changed this.
    - diogenescynic 9y ago
      Marvel and Star Wars both.
      - SllX 9y ago
        Plus Pixar and ABC (with Shonda Rhimes' shows) and every movie and show they've ever released since they stopped being a premium channel. Disney has managed to get a lock on a lot of very hot property.
- akhilcacharya 9y ago
  I'm fairly certain that it's still ad-free.
TallGuyShort 9y ago
>> Before you know it everyone will be paying for an ad-hoc cable subscription. Still better than a cable subscription. That's my biggest beef. I want 2 channels and I can't get them for less than $150 a month. So they get nothing and neither do I.
- nebabyte 9y ago
  If we move fully into that model, how long do you think it will be before they realize merging with smaller networks to start hiking prices is more lucrative than letting people pick and choose?
  - iends 9y ago
    That model is clearly not working currently.
    - nebabyte 9y ago
      > kill competition, then raise the prices Do I really have to go over econ 101 with you? The past distro channels look to "not work" while there's a better alternative; once the latter have a monopoly - oh fuck it, just sit back and pay attention.
- seanp2k2 9y ago
  ...and for those who are paying $150, $130 of it goes to lawyers and people trying to get laws passed to allow them to sabotage any real competition before it even becomes a problem. facepalm
seanp2k2 9y ago
Yep -- Comcast was getting up to $200 a month. You want Netflix + Disney + HBO + Prime + Hulu + Discovery + BBC iplayer + ... $150/month on top of your cable bill. And let's bundle it. Actually, I'd love to be able to pay BBC even $20/month for iplayer access in the USA.
byuu 9y ago
Unfortunately, Amazon is a large part of the problem too. People who want to watch Japanese cartoons get to pay for yet another streaming service, and for years there was a split where we had to pay for both Crunchyroll and Funimation. We finally saw light at the end of the tunnel with the advent of a partnership to share content. Only it turned out to be an Amazon freight train in the form of Anime Strike, which not only requires a $99/yr Prime account, but an additional $5/mo surcharge. And now once again, we have a service cannibalizing half the important shows each season. And I'm just ... out. Amazon is not getting more money from me. I'm not supporting this balkanization of media content. And I will likely drop Crunchyroll because it doesn't have half of what I want to watch anymore. These companies are never going to learn. I am happy to pay for content, but I'm not going to sign up for one streaming service per show I want to watch. Like most people, I simply can't afford that.
- Figs 9y ago
  I buy DVDs. My data cap is too low to stream, and I can't get a higher one. (I've tried.) Netflix and whoever licensing shows for streaming only really pisses me off because then there's no way for me to watch those shows.
  - aaronblohowiak 9y ago
    You can't download over wifi somewhere?
    - maccard 9y ago
      Some people (lots) have caps even on wifi/ethernet connections.
- nebabyte 9y ago
  > These companies are never going to learn They're not trying to learn, they already know. If you continue to think they are optimizing for your happiness you're the one who'll never learn.
chrishacken 9y ago
| The biggest deterrent, for me at least, is not the price but the need to switch platforms. I'm already annoyed when I have to go from Netflix to Amazon to find a movie/show I want to see but can't remember where it is. No chance I'll add a third, forth, or fifth platform to the mix. That's my biggest pain point as well. I already have to switch between Netflix / Hulu / Amazon to figure out who has the content I want. I've always been a huge Stargate fan; Netflix and Amazon used to have it, now only Hulu has it. Amazon is the only one that has the latest episodes for shows that I like, (although I have to pay extra, I'm willing to bite the bullet for my favorite show).
- TheCoreh 9y ago
  IMO, one of the biggest design goals of Apple TV is precisely exposing content on a provider-agnostic interface, to avoid this pain. As services get more and more fragmented, Apple could become more and more competitive in that space.
- upvotinglurker 9y ago
  Using Prime and Netflix with the FireTV Stick, if I search for a movie in Amazon's interface and Netflix has it, Amazon will tell me so and provide a button to click directly to that movie in the Netflix app. Same with the Showtime app (not sure about Hulu as I don't subscribe to it currently)
gordon_freeman 9y ago
what about Roku? I thought they have a central search where you can enter a movie or show name and then it shows you the results from your connected services like HBO, AmazonVideo, Netflix etc.
agent86 9y ago
>I think a better option would be to do what Amazon is doing for HBO - offer a small portion of the studio (in this case Disney) included with the platform (Netflix) with the option to pay additional fees for the entire catalog. Just a heads up - HBO is pulling their shows from Amazon in mid-2018[1]. They essentially view it as competition with HBO Now. [1]http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/hbo-amazon-shows-leaving-streaming-platform-2018-1202407887/ http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/hbo-amazon-shows-leaving-str...
tallanvor 9y ago
If you use an Amazon Fire, you can use Alexa to find titles whether they're on Prime, Netflix, or Hulu, at least, and probably others. Unfortunately the Nextflix integration is problematic if you're not in the US, because it still uses the US catalog.
npsimons 9y ago
> Then adds will start creeping back in. When this happens, I will drop that service, full stop. I don't pay to be advertised to.

amag 9y ago

> The biggest deterrent, for me at least, is not the price but the need to switch platforms. Agree, especially when most doesn't work nearly as well as Netflix. I prefer to use the TV app and the horrible user experience I had with HBO (for instance) made me quickly stop using it. For a streaming company user engagement should be taken very seriously, but it seems that most studio-turn-streaming-company miss this. They think content is everything because that's what a studio is about. But content doesn't matter if I can't stream it easily and many studios are so over-protective of their content that they forget about usability.

jacobr1 9y ago

> I'm already annoyed when I have to go from Netflix to Amazon to find a movie/show I want to see but can't remember where it is. This problem was solved for me by Roku search on my roku device. It still is something I'd rather not need to do, but the search interface is just as good as the dedicated ones for amazon or netflix and shows you the results across all services.

funkaster 9y ago
yup. same for me. Having a search that centralizes all subscriptions you currently have really makes it easy to access that content. I remember the Wii U was supposed to have something similar, it never worked for me. The roku search on the other hand, works just fine. Even the voice search is not that bad.

px1999 9y ago

Long term, we'll probably wind up with a couple of major marketplaces that provide a UI that ties together content bundles that you've purchased from different distributors (who will actually serve up their catalogs). It's a bit depressing how similar that sounds to how cable networks work. Or platform specific app stores.

fweespeech 9y ago
The big Media companies want it to work like cable because they think their "premium content" will get people to pay more. In reality, they are likely to trigger a backlash that increases piracy instead.
- komali2 9y ago
  I don't know why all these people behind these decisions don't just look at Gabe Newell and his simple statement - "Piracy is a service problem." Steam is a rampant success. You'd think people would catch on. Have the content, make it easy to access, make it easy to pay, and people will give you money hand over fist.
  - duckingtest 9y ago
    That's only partly true. There are countries where average wage is $300/month. They are NOT going to buy legal software and media for $40/thing no matter how easy it is.
    - ricardobeat 9y ago
      Brazil checking in. People still pay for steam games despite the cost. It is often cheaper than the currency-converted USD price, and otherwise you don't have multiplayer. Piracy is down by orders of magnitude from 10 years ago.
    - vlunkr 9y ago
      There are always exceptions, I don't think this invalidates the parent comment in any way.

giancarlostoro 9y ago

My Mi Box (Android TV) lets me search accross apps so I just usually search for movies and shows that way unless I know it's already on Netflix. The weird part for me is Disney coulda just made themselves exclusive to Hulu instead. Just means I wont be watching any Disney movies or shows ever again since I won't bother paying for just Disney or even having regular cable (no more Disney channel for me). Sadly for others it may mean torrenting because the convenience is taken away for the sake of profit.

Shivetya 9y ago

With HBO I simply do one month subs when a season will complete during it so I can get the whole season in. Once a site passes the $10 mark I quickly lose interest and then I start determining how I can maximize my sub time. Now what will be interesting is seeing which studios cannot float their own streaming service and combine either with another studio or group of them under an all inclusive banner. I figure we will go nearly full circle and end up with an aggregator like cable was but this time without too much junk. my beef with some of these "premium" sites is they think that ever after they get $15 from me that I have to watch THEIR ads. Really? I paid for the shows, not 30 to 60 seconds of your ads.

seanp2k2 9y ago
I will never pay for YouTube Red. When an unskippable ad starts playing, I just look away. Most of the time, I realize that I'm wasting time watching idiotic YouTube content, and I quit the app. In this, they're actually lessening my addiction to their platform in that they're giving me a break to consider if I should keep watching or not.
- kogepathic 9y ago
  > When an unskippable ad starts playing, I just look away. Does uBlock Origin block YouTube ads? I'm asking because it's been years since I saw/was forced to watch a video ad on YouTube. Sure, there are occasionally the banner ads at specific times in the videos, but no video ads. So either the channels I watch have somehow opte out of video ads, or uBlock is taking care of them? Or maybe this is a geographic thing and YouTube in Germany doesn't show video ads? Anyway, if you have Android and want to watch on mobile, I highly recommend NewPipe (F-Droid). Lets you: watch, listen, download, repeat YouTube videos and I've never seen an ad in it. Really awesome app!
  - lucasverra 9y ago
    It does block YT video ads, not banners

JKCalhoun 9y ago

Like if each music label decided to create their own online music-store/streaming-service. I guess greed? (derp.)

wh-uws 9y ago

Well we've gotten the bifurcation we have because thats what people have always wanted. An ad-hoc cable subscription. Few people really wanted all the channels they were getting and would gladly have paid less to get only what they wanted. Another thing we might see here though has happened to me a lot with music because of Spotify. If you music isn't on Spotify or Soundclound... I'm just going to listen to it less. Its too much trouble to go download/buy from so many different sources. I can't be bothered to spend the time anymore.

devotedtoneu 9y ago
To me, that indicates that your favorite must-have content is available on Spotify. If more of your favorite artists were not available on streaming services you'd probably be ok with spending the time.

spinlock 9y ago

I have an Apple TV and I have to switch from it to the TV to get Amazon because Apple and Amazon won't play nice together.

calesce 9y ago
You soon won't have to do that any longer: https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/5/15732608/amazon-prime-video-apple-tv-app-announced-wwdc-2017 https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/5/15732608/amazon-prime-vide...
- spinlock 9y ago
  You just made my day :)

daigoba66 9y ago

> HBO doesn't feel like "extra" because it's always been an optional add-on that costs more. Disney Channel used to be a premium, ad-free channel.

dpark 9y ago
And they didn't have enough subscribers to justify that model. I wonder what they think has changed. Maybe on demand Disney movies are valuable enough to enough parents to justify this?
- jacobsenscott 9y ago
  I bet star wars changed this.
  - diogenescynic 9y ago
    Marvel and Star Wars both.
    - SllX 9y ago
      Plus Pixar and ABC (with Shonda Rhimes' shows) and every movie and show they've ever released since they stopped being a premium channel. Disney has managed to get a lock on a lot of very hot property.
akhilcacharya 9y ago
I'm fairly certain that it's still ad-free.

TallGuyShort 9y ago

>> Before you know it everyone will be paying for an ad-hoc cable subscription. Still better than a cable subscription. That's my biggest beef. I want 2 channels and I can't get them for less than $150 a month. So they get nothing and neither do I.

nebabyte 9y ago
If we move fully into that model, how long do you think it will be before they realize merging with smaller networks to start hiking prices is more lucrative than letting people pick and choose?
- iends 9y ago
  That model is clearly not working currently.
  - nebabyte 9y ago
    > kill competition, then raise the prices Do I really have to go over econ 101 with you? The past distro channels look to "not work" while there's a better alternative; once the latter have a monopoly - oh fuck it, just sit back and pay attention.
seanp2k2 9y ago
...and for those who are paying $150, $130 of it goes to lawyers and people trying to get laws passed to allow them to sabotage any real competition before it even becomes a problem. facepalm

seanp2k2 9y ago

Yep -- Comcast was getting up to $200 a month. You want Netflix + Disney + HBO + Prime + Hulu + Discovery + BBC iplayer + ... $150/month on top of your cable bill. And let's bundle it. Actually, I'd love to be able to pay BBC even $20/month for iplayer access in the USA.

byuu 9y ago

Unfortunately, Amazon is a large part of the problem too. People who want to watch Japanese cartoons get to pay for yet another streaming service, and for years there was a split where we had to pay for both Crunchyroll and Funimation. We finally saw light at the end of the tunnel with the advent of a partnership to share content. Only it turned out to be an Amazon freight train in the form of Anime Strike, which not only requires a $99/yr Prime account, but an additional $5/mo surcharge. And now once again, we have a service cannibalizing half the important shows each season. And I'm just ... out. Amazon is not getting more money from me. I'm not supporting this balkanization of media content. And I will likely drop Crunchyroll because it doesn't have half of what I want to watch anymore. These companies are never going to learn. I am happy to pay for content, but I'm not going to sign up for one streaming service per show I want to watch. Like most people, I simply can't afford that.

Figs 9y ago
I buy DVDs. My data cap is too low to stream, and I can't get a higher one. (I've tried.) Netflix and whoever licensing shows for streaming only really pisses me off because then there's no way for me to watch those shows.
- aaronblohowiak 9y ago
  You can't download over wifi somewhere?
  - maccard 9y ago
    Some people (lots) have caps even on wifi/ethernet connections.
nebabyte 9y ago
> These companies are never going to learn They're not trying to learn, they already know. If you continue to think they are optimizing for your happiness you're the one who'll never learn.

chrishacken 9y ago

| The biggest deterrent, for me at least, is not the price but the need to switch platforms. I'm already annoyed when I have to go from Netflix to Amazon to find a movie/show I want to see but can't remember where it is. No chance I'll add a third, forth, or fifth platform to the mix. That's my biggest pain point as well. I already have to switch between Netflix / Hulu / Amazon to figure out who has the content I want. I've always been a huge Stargate fan; Netflix and Amazon used to have it, now only Hulu has it. Amazon is the only one that has the latest episodes for shows that I like, (although I have to pay extra, I'm willing to bite the bullet for my favorite show).

TheCoreh 9y ago
IMO, one of the biggest design goals of Apple TV is precisely exposing content on a provider-agnostic interface, to avoid this pain. As services get more and more fragmented, Apple could become more and more competitive in that space.
upvotinglurker 9y ago
Using Prime and Netflix with the FireTV Stick, if I search for a movie in Amazon's interface and Netflix has it, Amazon will tell me so and provide a button to click directly to that movie in the Netflix app. Same with the Showtime app (not sure about Hulu as I don't subscribe to it currently)

gordon_freeman 9y ago

what about Roku? I thought they have a central search where you can enter a movie or show name and then it shows you the results from your connected services like HBO, AmazonVideo, Netflix etc.

agent86 9y ago

>I think a better option would be to do what Amazon is doing for HBO - offer a small portion of the studio (in this case Disney) included with the platform (Netflix) with the option to pay additional fees for the entire catalog. Just a heads up - HBO is pulling their shows from Amazon in mid-2018[1]. They essentially view it as competition with HBO Now. [1]http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/hbo-amazon-shows-leaving-streaming-platform-2018-1202407887/ http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/hbo-amazon-shows-leaving-str...

tallanvor 9y ago

If you use an Amazon Fire, you can use Alexa to find titles whether they're on Prime, Netflix, or Hulu, at least, and probably others. Unfortunately the Nextflix integration is problematic if you're not in the US, because it still uses the US catalog.

npsimons 9y ago

> Then adds will start creeping back in. When this happens, I will drop that service, full stop. I don't pay to be advertised to.