46 ms·

Netflix approached the Hollywood studios to license their content for streaming, and Hollywood snickered and took the easy money. They expected it to be a total

Netflix approached the Hollywood studios to license their content for streaming, and Hollywood snickered and took the easy money. They expected it to be a total failure on Netflix's end. Then, when Netflix started growing like crazy and the studios panicked. If Netflix was the only streaming service around, it would enable them to dictate licensing contracts. Suddenly, streaming was a real thing and they wanted to extract every cent possible from their content. In order to slow Netflix down the studios pulled the majority of the "good" content from Netflix, and kept licensing them their b-movies and documentaries. To this day, you still don't see a whole lot of blockbusters or theatrical releases available on Netflix. Netflix knew that they couldn't remain at the mercy of the content owners. So they leveraged their head start on content delivery by producing their OWN content only available through themselves. It was a brilliant strategy, and I'm sure it took a lot of cajones to go down that path.

greggarious 8y ago
>Netflix knew that they couldn't remain at the mercy of the content owners. So they leveraged their head start on content delivery by producing their OWN content only available through themselves. My only concern is they don't seem capable of letting things die. House of Card and Orange is the New Black both went from very good to terrible. If every hit series they make turns into the final season of "Dexter", it will cause issues.
- rainbowmverse 8y ago
  They inverted the typical network TV situation. Instead of shows taking three seasons to warm up, they fall apart within three.
  - icebraining 8y ago
    What shows took three seasons to warm up?
    - kevin_thibedeau 8y ago
      Seinfeld started out with poor ratings.
      - scarface74 8y ago
        As did Cheers....
    - rainbowmverse 8y ago
      I'd be hard pressed to think of a show that didn't take a few seasons to warm up. That's not to say they were bad, but it took some time for the actors and writers to figure out how the characters work. The problem is less pronounced now that most shows are serials planned out years in advance, but it still happens.
      - icebraining 8y ago
        Can't say I felt that with the shows I've watched in the last few years, like Dexter, The Wire, Six Feet Under. Some didn't even last more than three seasons, yet became classics, like Twin Peaks.
        rainbowmverse 8y ago
        I've only seen Dexter from that list. To me, it took a few seasons to warm up. That said, it started out better than a lot of shows.
    - rmc 8y ago
      It's called "Growing the Beard", with Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine getting better around season 3. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GrowingTheBeard https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GrowingTheBeard
- the_watcher 8y ago
  This isn't unique to Netflix. It's the most common trajectory of a successful show.
  - Bahamut 8y ago
    Truth. This always struck me about most American TV shows, they always drag on to milk every cent instead of formulating strong coherent stories and always end up very shallow as a result.
    - greggarious 8y ago
      >This always struck me about most American TV shows Let me guess: UK/EU based? It's easy to make a good season when you only have to write six episodes :)
      - M2Ys4U 8y ago
        Maybe American productions should do the same thing. Though, I guess they're already edging towards it with the ridiculous half-season break...
      - michaelbuckbee 8y ago
        What I like about the UK/EU model is that: 1. Yes - fewer episodes. In particular one of the main criticisms of things like the Netflix produced Marvel shows (Daredevil, IronFirst, Defenders, etc.) is that they would be much more effective if there were less episodes / season. 2. Actually having endings. If you skip the need to leave things open ended so you can have a 10 season run, you can actually tell a story arc with a beginning middle and end. 3. The UK TV model seem to allow more creativity. If a good producer/director/writer/actor team puts out a good series, they then move ahead and build out a new series with maybe some of the same "bones". Good and bad with both systems.
      - mixmastamyk 8y ago
        On that subject, I've noticed that shows with a 10-13 episode season are a cut above those with the 22-26 episode season. The later ultimately must be padded with ten more garbage episodes even after the writers are spent.
- jtreminio 8y ago
  I stopped watching both of those shows deep into the later seasons. However, Netflix has raw, unfiltered data directly from their customers. Keeping both of those shows running must make sense to them when taking the data into account.
  - greggarious 8y ago
    >Netflix has raw, unfiltered data directly from their customers. Keeping both of those shows running must make sense to them when taking the data into account. I mean, yes there is probably a long tail of fans that will follow a show til it's dying breath. I guess I just feel there's an intangible effect on a property when it's run into the ground. For example, the second and third matrix movies should have no effect on my enjoyment of the first, but they do - it makes the entire property feel cheapened.
  - shanghaiaway 8y ago
    I don't think that's it. I think Netflix keep these headline shows running regardless of data, so they can advertise that show as a benefit of the platform and grow subscriptions. I think they're afraid they won't be able to produce another hit like HOC again.
    - jtreminio 8y ago
      Have you heard of Stranger Things?
- exclusiv 8y ago
  Dexter was an unbelievable show but that final episode was the worst one I've ever seen. Visually it looked like Sharknado too haha.
rainbowmverse 8y ago
There's just enough content I like on Netflix now that I'd consider it worth it without any non-Netflix produced/branded shows and movies. Unfortunately, it's next to impossible to find what I want through Netflix's interface. Somehow they have all this data on my watching habits and can't even get close to showing me things I want to watch. I depend entirely on review sites and recommendations from others.
- zajd 8y ago
  It's a dark pattern and what led me to unsubscribe. See also: getting rid of the five star rating system (I realize this wasn't ideal in terms of figuring out what people want but it was invaluable for cataloging your own preferences)
  - Waterluvian 8y ago
    Personally I like it better. There's so many crappy movies my wife and I love to watch, often as the secondary focus, that otherwise get buried. Basically Netflix says, "hey I see you like crap so here's some more Adam Sandler!"
    - jessaustin 8y ago
      One would have expected, à la Anna Karenina, for every crappy movie to be crappy in its own way? I certainly wouldn't want my enthusiasm for e.g. "Mohawk" to inspire any Sandlerian recommendations...
  - dazc 8y ago
    I initially thought getting rid of the 5 star ratings was a good move since, for me, a movie is either good or bad. However, the percentage rating alternative seems to tell me nothing other than a movie I haven't watched yet is a similar genre to movies I have? Then there are the 'New' movies which don't have any rating at all yet. The 'suggestions' also seem only to suggest stuff I've already decided not to watch.
- pembrook 8y ago
icebraining 8y ago
*cojones Cajones are either drawers or Peruvian musical instruments :)
duxup 8y ago
>Hollywood snickered and took the easy money It kinda still is the case where I see so much missing from streaming services.... put it on there damn it!

greggarious 8y ago

>Netflix knew that they couldn't remain at the mercy of the content owners. So they leveraged their head start on content delivery by producing their OWN content only available through themselves. My only concern is they don't seem capable of letting things die. House of Card and Orange is the New Black both went from very good to terrible. If every hit series they make turns into the final season of "Dexter", it will cause issues.

rainbowmverse 8y ago
They inverted the typical network TV situation. Instead of shows taking three seasons to warm up, they fall apart within three.
- icebraining 8y ago
  What shows took three seasons to warm up?
  - kevin_thibedeau 8y ago
    Seinfeld started out with poor ratings.
    - scarface74 8y ago
      As did Cheers....
  - rainbowmverse 8y ago
    I'd be hard pressed to think of a show that didn't take a few seasons to warm up. That's not to say they were bad, but it took some time for the actors and writers to figure out how the characters work. The problem is less pronounced now that most shows are serials planned out years in advance, but it still happens.
    - icebraining 8y ago
      Can't say I felt that with the shows I've watched in the last few years, like Dexter, The Wire, Six Feet Under. Some didn't even last more than three seasons, yet became classics, like Twin Peaks.
      - rainbowmverse 8y ago
        I've only seen Dexter from that list. To me, it took a few seasons to warm up. That said, it started out better than a lot of shows.
  - rmc 8y ago
    It's called "Growing the Beard", with Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine getting better around season 3. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GrowingTheBeard https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GrowingTheBeard
the_watcher 8y ago
This isn't unique to Netflix. It's the most common trajectory of a successful show.
- Bahamut 8y ago
  Truth. This always struck me about most American TV shows, they always drag on to milk every cent instead of formulating strong coherent stories and always end up very shallow as a result.
  - greggarious 8y ago
    >This always struck me about most American TV shows Let me guess: UK/EU based? It's easy to make a good season when you only have to write six episodes :)
    - M2Ys4U 8y ago
      Maybe American productions should do the same thing. Though, I guess they're already edging towards it with the ridiculous half-season break...
    - michaelbuckbee 8y ago
      What I like about the UK/EU model is that: 1. Yes - fewer episodes. In particular one of the main criticisms of things like the Netflix produced Marvel shows (Daredevil, IronFirst, Defenders, etc.) is that they would be much more effective if there were less episodes / season. 2. Actually having endings. If you skip the need to leave things open ended so you can have a 10 season run, you can actually tell a story arc with a beginning middle and end. 3. The UK TV model seem to allow more creativity. If a good producer/director/writer/actor team puts out a good series, they then move ahead and build out a new series with maybe some of the same "bones". Good and bad with both systems.
    - mixmastamyk 8y ago
      On that subject, I've noticed that shows with a 10-13 episode season are a cut above those with the 22-26 episode season. The later ultimately must be padded with ten more garbage episodes even after the writers are spent.
jtreminio 8y ago
I stopped watching both of those shows deep into the later seasons. However, Netflix has raw, unfiltered data directly from their customers. Keeping both of those shows running must make sense to them when taking the data into account.
- greggarious 8y ago
  >Netflix has raw, unfiltered data directly from their customers. Keeping both of those shows running must make sense to them when taking the data into account. I mean, yes there is probably a long tail of fans that will follow a show til it's dying breath. I guess I just feel there's an intangible effect on a property when it's run into the ground. For example, the second and third matrix movies should have no effect on my enjoyment of the first, but they do - it makes the entire property feel cheapened.
- shanghaiaway 8y ago
  I don't think that's it. I think Netflix keep these headline shows running regardless of data, so they can advertise that show as a benefit of the platform and grow subscriptions. I think they're afraid they won't be able to produce another hit like HOC again.
  - jtreminio 8y ago
    Have you heard of Stranger Things?
exclusiv 8y ago
Dexter was an unbelievable show but that final episode was the worst one I've ever seen. Visually it looked like Sharknado too haha.

rainbowmverse 8y ago

There's just enough content I like on Netflix now that I'd consider it worth it without any non-Netflix produced/branded shows and movies. Unfortunately, it's next to impossible to find what I want through Netflix's interface. Somehow they have all this data on my watching habits and can't even get close to showing me things I want to watch. I depend entirely on review sites and recommendations from others.

zajd 8y ago
It's a dark pattern and what led me to unsubscribe. See also: getting rid of the five star rating system (I realize this wasn't ideal in terms of figuring out what people want but it was invaluable for cataloging your own preferences)
- Waterluvian 8y ago
  Personally I like it better. There's so many crappy movies my wife and I love to watch, often as the secondary focus, that otherwise get buried. Basically Netflix says, "hey I see you like crap so here's some more Adam Sandler!"
  - jessaustin 8y ago
    One would have expected, à la Anna Karenina, for every crappy movie to be crappy in its own way? I certainly wouldn't want my enthusiasm for e.g. "Mohawk" to inspire any Sandlerian recommendations...
- dazc 8y ago
  I initially thought getting rid of the 5 star ratings was a good move since, for me, a movie is either good or bad. However, the percentage rating alternative seems to tell me nothing other than a movie I haven't watched yet is a similar genre to movies I have? Then there are the 'New' movies which don't have any rating at all yet. The 'suggestions' also seem only to suggest stuff I've already decided not to watch.
pembrook 8y ago

icebraining 8y ago

*cojones Cajones are either drawers or Peruvian musical instruments :)

duxup 8y ago

>Hollywood snickered and took the easy money It kinda still is the case where I see so much missing from streaming services.... put it on there damn it!