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I'm from Btown. With its latest Indian content, Netflix has really made a statement about what it can do with original content made for this market. Consciously

I'm from Btown. With its latest Indian content, Netflix has really made a statement about what it can do with original content made for this market. Consciously working with the best in Bollywood and giving them creative freedom that the internet provides (traditionally censor board in India is conservative and absurd). Amazon Prime too has made strides in acquiring and producing content for the Indian market. But both have clearly taken a different stance in doing so. Amazon is quick to acquire bollywood movies for Prime and from Netflix's latest content, it appears that they have potential to replace bollywood bangers.

achow 8y ago
I think if Netflix is smart and continues on this path then they can really cause a disruption in movie production houses in India. The current Indian movie production houses are family or driven by an individual's vision (whether Karan Johar's, Salman Khan's, Yash Chopra's..). The new age creatives don't have sponsors who can relate to the way they want to a tell story or the theme of the stories that they want to tell. It is not very unlike tech funding situation. The Indian movie industry is perhaps where tech industry and funding was half century ago. The VCs of that era probably had very specific non-risky areas that they wanted to invest in and there was no way to get funding if you had an idea which was way beyond their comprehension or comfort zone. Netflix with their war-chest, openness and brand equity has a true opportunity to steamroll the existing archaic business practices which probably hasn't evolved over last 100 years.
- r_singh 8y ago
  You're right about the possibility of causing disruption (most likely will). However, the reason isn't because old production houses don't want to or cannot make content like Netflix (because it's going to be the same people working on Netflix's content). It's because traditional cinema and Netflix have a different audience and Netflix gives the same film makers access to an audience whose critical appreciation for content is different from that of the masses.
  - achow 8y ago
    Very valid point about looking at this through audience segmentation lens. But on that, what is true of today (Netflix catering to 'non-mass' discerning audience), may not be true tomorrow. Netflix is talking to Jio for reaching to masses [1]. Also if YouTube is any indication [2] - mobile phone and reaching to mass is the real key, which as above shows Netflix is already cognizant of. Netflix has to and will enter 'mass' segment. And they can show 'mass' segment is not as dumb as Salman Khan, or Karan Johar thinks (which Aamir Khan productions has proven time and again that good story telling with good content cuts across audience segment). [1] https://factordaily.com/netflix-jio-partnership-in-india/ https://factordaily.com/netflix-jio-partnership-in-india/ [2] ..mobile devices contribute to 80 per cent of YouTube’s total watch time in India. That watch time is growing at a staggering 400 per cent year on year. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/youtube-mobile-viewership-hits-180-m-in-india/article9598547.ece https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/youtube-mobil...
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
    - codeisawesome 8y ago
      Would a Netflix deal to deliver content over Jio at reduced prices / free adhere to the spirit of Net Neutrality?
      - r_singh 8y ago
        Depends on how it's done. Vodafone India is an affiliate for Amazon Prime and is offering 1 year of free prime to its subscribers. Offering a year free or something similar definitely adheres to the spirit of net neutrality IMO.
        l39 8y ago
        Agreed.The way I see it is, if Jio monitors your contents and selectively provides higher bandwith for Netflix contents putting others at risk or Netflix selectively providing preferences to Jio subscribers, I think that would go against the spirit of net neutrality. Providing reduced rates for certain subscribers is kind of providing premium membership, which is a way to attract consumers.
richforrester 8y ago
Total tangent. Amazon Prime's video library here in Australia disapointed me to such an extend that I unsubscribed within minutes of subscribing. The dashboard has recommendations. In those recommendations, on this single page, Twilight appeared 26 (TWENTY SIX) times. Any other page I'd go to would also have several instances of it recommending me a Twilight movie. I literally couldn't find enough decent movies because almost every other movie was from that series. It was the shortest lived account I've ever owned. Apologies for the rant. Am disappointed.
- r_singh 8y ago
  You may be surprised to know that early prime adopters in India paid as less as $4 yearly (I renew at that amount, this includes prime shipping and music as well). So interestingly, India is a place where acquiring content is relatively easy because the money made from licensing movies for TV (after it is out of cinemas) in India is a lot lesser than the rest of the world. So it's a new income source for production houses with tons of old content and Amazon has jumped at that, making their content appeal to masses in India. Along with that they've also invested money in creating content specifically for India which isn't comparable to Netflix but good quality sincere efforts nonetheless. The Indian film industry is ready for online and has welcomed all players. A lot of Indian media houses and production houses are rolling out their own online platforms with subscriptions as well.
dhruvarora013 8y ago
I think Amazon has also been investing heavily in comedy and standup in India similar to what Netflix is doing in the U.S. Overall I think with 2-day shipping, Amazon Music and Video for little under $20/yr, Amazon is doing a great job in acquiring users so far.
- r_singh 8y ago
  True that. I subscribed to Prime before Prime Video was a thing and it still costs me only Rs. 499 a year, which is a joke tbh.
  - _jgdh 8y ago
    ₹499 = $7.23. Not bad for a year of Prime.
    - febin 8y ago
      It's actually ₹999
      - xkcdefgh 8y ago
        they hiked the prices recently
asenna 8y ago
I hate consuming movies on Amazon Prime Video in India. Their self-censorship is worse than the Censor board. Just one of my recent experiences - A well made movie "Shahid" - There's a scene where the two guys are in jail having a chat. An entire line just gets censored and Shahid's shocked reaction means the scene was important. I then found the movie on Netflix. The line they censored was - "This country doesn't give a shit about it's minority". Wtf?! Are we that insecure that we need to Censor stuff like that. That's just one example, it's almost impossible to watch Shahid and other similar movies on Amazon. Which is weird because they are on the Internet, they don't have a Censor body governing their content!
- r_singh 8y ago
  Interesting, I think it could be because Amazon chose to be conservative and selected the version of the movie that's played on national TV.
- _jgdh 8y ago
  Other examples of Amazon self-censoring despite the govt saying they are not considering censoring online content. * Pixelated nudity in shows like Californication and The Man In The High Castle and films like Watchmen and The Godfather * The Grand Tour had an episode which involved animal carcasses. All of it was removed. My $0.02 on this difference between Amazon and Netflix. This is Netflix's primary business, while Video is an afterthought for Amazon compared to the retail business. A boycott of their retail business would be catastrophic, whereas a few people canceling their subscription over self-censorship is a non-issue. Amazon can also potentially be shaken down for protection money. It would work like this. "Hi, we're from this political party and we're considering making these videos a major issue. Meanwhile, would you consider making a donation to our election campaign?"
  - blocked_again 8y ago
    Let me get this straight. It's not catastrophic for Netflix if people boycott them for showing nudity but it's catastrophic for Amazon if people stopped watchiny Amazon prime video?
otakucode 8y ago
Given the whole thing where Richard Gere kissing an actress resulted in an entire city shut down with riots for a couple days... how exactly is this going to work out?

achow 8y ago

I think if Netflix is smart and continues on this path then they can really cause a disruption in movie production houses in India. The current Indian movie production houses are family or driven by an individual's vision (whether Karan Johar's, Salman Khan's, Yash Chopra's..). The new age creatives don't have sponsors who can relate to the way they want to a tell story or the theme of the stories that they want to tell. It is not very unlike tech funding situation. The Indian movie industry is perhaps where tech industry and funding was half century ago. The VCs of that era probably had very specific non-risky areas that they wanted to invest in and there was no way to get funding if you had an idea which was way beyond their comprehension or comfort zone. Netflix with their war-chest, openness and brand equity has a true opportunity to steamroll the existing archaic business practices which probably hasn't evolved over last 100 years.

r_singh 8y ago
You're right about the possibility of causing disruption (most likely will). However, the reason isn't because old production houses don't want to or cannot make content like Netflix (because it's going to be the same people working on Netflix's content). It's because traditional cinema and Netflix have a different audience and Netflix gives the same film makers access to an audience whose critical appreciation for content is different from that of the masses.
- achow 8y ago
  Very valid point about looking at this through audience segmentation lens. But on that, what is true of today (Netflix catering to 'non-mass' discerning audience), may not be true tomorrow. Netflix is talking to Jio for reaching to masses [1]. Also if YouTube is any indication [2] - mobile phone and reaching to mass is the real key, which as above shows Netflix is already cognizant of. Netflix has to and will enter 'mass' segment. And they can show 'mass' segment is not as dumb as Salman Khan, or Karan Johar thinks (which Aamir Khan productions has proven time and again that good story telling with good content cuts across audience segment). [1] https://factordaily.com/netflix-jio-partnership-in-india/ https://factordaily.com/netflix-jio-partnership-in-india/ [2] ..mobile devices contribute to 80 per cent of YouTube’s total watch time in India. That watch time is growing at a staggering 400 per cent year on year. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/youtube-mobile-viewership-hits-180-m-in-india/article9598547.ece https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/youtube-mobil...
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - codeisawesome 8y ago
    Would a Netflix deal to deliver content over Jio at reduced prices / free adhere to the spirit of Net Neutrality?
    - r_singh 8y ago
      Depends on how it's done. Vodafone India is an affiliate for Amazon Prime and is offering 1 year of free prime to its subscribers. Offering a year free or something similar definitely adheres to the spirit of net neutrality IMO.
      - l39 8y ago
        Agreed.The way I see it is, if Jio monitors your contents and selectively provides higher bandwith for Netflix contents putting others at risk or Netflix selectively providing preferences to Jio subscribers, I think that would go against the spirit of net neutrality. Providing reduced rates for certain subscribers is kind of providing premium membership, which is a way to attract consumers.

richforrester 8y ago

Total tangent. Amazon Prime's video library here in Australia disapointed me to such an extend that I unsubscribed within minutes of subscribing. The dashboard has recommendations. In those recommendations, on this single page, Twilight appeared 26 (TWENTY SIX) times. Any other page I'd go to would also have several instances of it recommending me a Twilight movie. I literally couldn't find enough decent movies because almost every other movie was from that series. It was the shortest lived account I've ever owned. Apologies for the rant. Am disappointed.

r_singh 8y ago
You may be surprised to know that early prime adopters in India paid as less as $4 yearly (I renew at that amount, this includes prime shipping and music as well). So interestingly, India is a place where acquiring content is relatively easy because the money made from licensing movies for TV (after it is out of cinemas) in India is a lot lesser than the rest of the world. So it's a new income source for production houses with tons of old content and Amazon has jumped at that, making their content appeal to masses in India. Along with that they've also invested money in creating content specifically for India which isn't comparable to Netflix but good quality sincere efforts nonetheless. The Indian film industry is ready for online and has welcomed all players. A lot of Indian media houses and production houses are rolling out their own online platforms with subscriptions as well.

dhruvarora013 8y ago

I think Amazon has also been investing heavily in comedy and standup in India similar to what Netflix is doing in the U.S. Overall I think with 2-day shipping, Amazon Music and Video for little under $20/yr, Amazon is doing a great job in acquiring users so far.

r_singh 8y ago
True that. I subscribed to Prime before Prime Video was a thing and it still costs me only Rs. 499 a year, which is a joke tbh.
- _jgdh 8y ago
  ₹499 = $7.23. Not bad for a year of Prime.
  - febin 8y ago
    It's actually ₹999
    - xkcdefgh 8y ago
      they hiked the prices recently

asenna 8y ago

I hate consuming movies on Amazon Prime Video in India. Their self-censorship is worse than the Censor board. Just one of my recent experiences - A well made movie "Shahid" - There's a scene where the two guys are in jail having a chat. An entire line just gets censored and Shahid's shocked reaction means the scene was important. I then found the movie on Netflix. The line they censored was - "This country doesn't give a shit about it's minority". Wtf?! Are we that insecure that we need to Censor stuff like that. That's just one example, it's almost impossible to watch Shahid and other similar movies on Amazon. Which is weird because they are on the Internet, they don't have a Censor body governing their content!

r_singh 8y ago
Interesting, I think it could be because Amazon chose to be conservative and selected the version of the movie that's played on national TV.
_jgdh 8y ago
Other examples of Amazon self-censoring despite the govt saying they are not considering censoring online content. * Pixelated nudity in shows like Californication and The Man In The High Castle and films like Watchmen and The Godfather * The Grand Tour had an episode which involved animal carcasses. All of it was removed. My $0.02 on this difference between Amazon and Netflix. This is Netflix's primary business, while Video is an afterthought for Amazon compared to the retail business. A boycott of their retail business would be catastrophic, whereas a few people canceling their subscription over self-censorship is a non-issue. Amazon can also potentially be shaken down for protection money. It would work like this. "Hi, we're from this political party and we're considering making these videos a major issue. Meanwhile, would you consider making a donation to our election campaign?"
- blocked_again 8y ago
  Let me get this straight. It's not catastrophic for Netflix if people boycott them for showing nudity but it's catastrophic for Amazon if people stopped watchiny Amazon prime video?

otakucode 8y ago

Given the whole thing where Richard Gere kissing an actress resulted in an entire city shut down with riots for a couple days... how exactly is this going to work out?