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What if consumers get bored by such "exclusive content" deals, where they need 7 subscriptions to watch the 7 things they like, and they go back to DVDs and bit

What if consumers get bored by such "exclusive content" deals, where they need 7 subscriptions to watch the 7 things they like, and they go back to DVDs and bittorrent?

sdwisely 7y ago
I feel like that's starting to happen in Australia, we got streaming services a decade after most other places so it's not as ingrained and piracy is starting to look like a superior service again.
elicash 7y ago
There's zero commitment to these apps. Just choose one for a couple months and watch everything new in the library and rewatch some old stuff you missed or want to watch again, then cancel it and go on to the next subscription for another two months or so. I don't understand why people think it's a problem to need 6 different subscriptions -- there's literally no reason to have all 6 at the EXACT SAME MOMENT.
- dominicr 7y ago
  People are forgetful & passive, so they tend to subscribe and forget. There are lots of people paying for things they don't need or could save money by switching subscriptions on & off as needed. This is one of the reasons why the subscription model is so popular with companies, not consumers.
  - lsc 7y ago
    relevant experience: So I've started to subscribe/unsubscribe to channels through prime. It's really easy to subscribe/unsub. I unsubscribed from HBO when game of thrones finished. But... lots of things? lots of things unsubscribing is horribly painful. A lot of things you have to call someone, listen to the sales pitch, look up a bunch of customer data you might not have anymore, and then listen to another sales pitch and then cancel. I have started dealing with this by just canceling the credit card. (I've got one of those cards that lets me generate throw away numbers, so I don't have to cancel everything) way easier. So, uh, my guess? my guess is that the 'subscribe to movie through amazon' is a lot less sticky than 'subscribe to channel through cable' just 'cause it's three clicks. And then another three clicks if you want to re-subscribe.
- usrusr 7y ago
  This changes as soon as you have more than one person in the household. Unless of course you actually like that kind of discussion. Might even be something the providers know and carefully weigh against going after fake households. Also, I'm not convinced that per month subscriptions are the envisioned end-game. I would not be surprised if we saw a slow-boil move towards 24 months subscription blocks once the growth curve levels off. Cancelable on the third-last Tuesday before the beginning of the next block, via fax, between twelve and noon, we all know the drill. The current ease of switching a Netflix subscription on and off might be all courtship phase.

What if consumers get bored by such "exclusive content" deals, where they need 7 subscriptions to watch the 7 things they like, and they go back to DVDs and bittorrent?

sdwisely 7y ago

I feel like that's starting to happen in Australia, we got streaming services a decade after most other places so it's not as ingrained and piracy is starting to look like a superior service again.

elicash 7y ago

There's zero commitment to these apps. Just choose one for a couple months and watch everything new in the library and rewatch some old stuff you missed or want to watch again, then cancel it and go on to the next subscription for another two months or so. I don't understand why people think it's a problem to need 6 different subscriptions -- there's literally no reason to have all 6 at the EXACT SAME MOMENT.

dominicr 7y ago
People are forgetful & passive, so they tend to subscribe and forget. There are lots of people paying for things they don't need or could save money by switching subscriptions on & off as needed. This is one of the reasons why the subscription model is so popular with companies, not consumers.
- lsc 7y ago
  relevant experience: So I've started to subscribe/unsubscribe to channels through prime. It's really easy to subscribe/unsub. I unsubscribed from HBO when game of thrones finished. But... lots of things? lots of things unsubscribing is horribly painful. A lot of things you have to call someone, listen to the sales pitch, look up a bunch of customer data you might not have anymore, and then listen to another sales pitch and then cancel. I have started dealing with this by just canceling the credit card. (I've got one of those cards that lets me generate throw away numbers, so I don't have to cancel everything) way easier. So, uh, my guess? my guess is that the 'subscribe to movie through amazon' is a lot less sticky than 'subscribe to channel through cable' just 'cause it's three clicks. And then another three clicks if you want to re-subscribe.
usrusr 7y ago
This changes as soon as you have more than one person in the household. Unless of course you actually like that kind of discussion. Might even be something the providers know and carefully weigh against going after fake households. Also, I'm not convinced that per month subscriptions are the envisioned end-game. I would not be surprised if we saw a slow-boil move towards 24 months subscription blocks once the growth curve levels off. Cancelable on the third-last Tuesday before the beginning of the next block, via fax, between twelve and noon, we all know the drill. The current ease of switching a Netflix subscription on and off might be all courtship phase.