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Netflix takes the shotgun approach, put out as much programming as possible and something will stick. Amazon has yet to provide anything but a bad UI/UX on top

by wil421 8y ago

Netflix takes the shotgun approach, put out as much programming as possible and something will stick. Amazon has yet to provide anything but a bad UI/UX on top of tv or music I can find from a much better competitor. Silicon Valley, Westworld, Vice, and Game of Thrones are worth it plus a steady stream of new movies. Not to mention their older shows. HBO’s quality is much higher than Netflix and Amazon doesn’t even compare.

danso 8y ago
I do agree that HBO's original series are yet unmatched, and that Netflix's and Prime's efforts have not yet reached the same level (I'm personally not a huge fan of "House of Cards"). But HBO as a paid service isn't just competing with exclusives, but with 3rd-party content that Netflix/Prime can license. On Prime, not only is there the soon-to-be exclusive "The Expanse", but they have USA Network's "Mr. Robot", SyFy's "BSG", all the Star Treks (sans "Discovery"), BBC's "Downton Abbey" and "Peep Show". They even have the best of HBO's classics, e.g. Sopranos, Deadwood, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and the remastered version of The Wire. I used to subscribe to HBO but now only do so when their big drama exclusives are in season (GoT and WW).
- Apocryphon 8y ago
  GP also forgets that Amazon has "The Man in the High Castle", which might be their one big prestige drama.
- c22 8y ago
  If you're only interested in serialized content I can see how it might be easy to exhaust HBO's offerings. But any time I just want to grab some popcorn and watch a nice old fashioned 110-minute-contained narrative HBO Now has my back with 100+ movies, almost all of which I want to watch. Sometimes I spend several minutes deciding which movie to watch cause they all sound so good. If I do this 3 times a month it's easily worth the $15 to me. I also spend a long time picking movies to watch on Netflix and Amazon, but that's because even the stuff that sounds good has a non-negligible chance of being bad to mediocre and there is such a huge swath of options that just sound (and are) terrible. When it comes to in house content Netflix's best attempt so far (House of Cards) barely reaches the quality level of HBO's B-roll. I could probably lose Netflix or Prime without missing a beat, but I will be chagrined if ATT fucks with the format of HBO Now/Go.

by wil421 8y ago

danso 8y ago

I do agree that HBO's original series are yet unmatched, and that Netflix's and Prime's efforts have not yet reached the same level (I'm personally not a huge fan of "House of Cards"). But HBO as a paid service isn't just competing with exclusives, but with 3rd-party content that Netflix/Prime can license. On Prime, not only is there the soon-to-be exclusive "The Expanse", but they have USA Network's "Mr. Robot", SyFy's "BSG", all the Star Treks (sans "Discovery"), BBC's "Downton Abbey" and "Peep Show". They even have the best of HBO's classics, e.g. Sopranos, Deadwood, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and the remastered version of The Wire. I used to subscribe to HBO but now only do so when their big drama exclusives are in season (GoT and WW).

Apocryphon 8y ago
GP also forgets that Amazon has "The Man in the High Castle", which might be their one big prestige drama.
c22 8y ago
If you're only interested in serialized content I can see how it might be easy to exhaust HBO's offerings. But any time I just want to grab some popcorn and watch a nice old fashioned 110-minute-contained narrative HBO Now has my back with 100+ movies, almost all of which I want to watch. Sometimes I spend several minutes deciding which movie to watch cause they all sound so good. If I do this 3 times a month it's easily worth the $15 to me. I also spend a long time picking movies to watch on Netflix and Amazon, but that's because even the stuff that sounds good has a non-negligible chance of being bad to mediocre and there is such a huge swath of options that just sound (and are) terrible. When it comes to in house content Netflix's best attempt so far (House of Cards) barely reaches the quality level of HBO's B-roll. I could probably lose Netflix or Prime without missing a beat, but I will be chagrined if ATT fucks with the format of HBO Now/Go.