3 ms·

“how many different roles are there to be played in video” Which to me is the core of subscription fatigue in video streaming. I subscribe to three different s

“how many different roles are there to be played in video” Which to me is the core of subscription fatigue in video streaming. I subscribe to three different services because none of them provide the single role I'm interested in. Consumers want a single service providing all the content they are interested in, and the industry as a whole is actively hostile to that desire. So I'm a customer to several services, each providing part of the role I'm interested in, waiting for a competitor to come along and provide the service I want. But the situation won't change, so I just juggle my services switching them off and on as shows come and go. Won't change unless consumer friendly legislation is passed restricting exclusive distribution rights for digital content.

im3w1l 6y ago
> consumer friendly legislation is passed restricting exclusive distribution rights for digital content. Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but how are content producers supposed to negotiate a fair price for their content, if they aren't allowed to withhold it from services paying too little?
- pjc50 6y ago
  That is misunderstanding, yes. What people are arguing for might be something like the old Net Book Agreement: if you sell it to middleman X for price $A, you also have to sell it to middleman Y for price $A, and aren't allowed to gratuitously turn down intermediaries.
  - stubish 6y ago
    Exactly. What producers lose is the ability to create a monopoly. Maybe producers will make less money, since some distributors will pay a huge premium to enable them to price gouge consumers or force consumers to switch to their services. Or maybe producers will make more money, as all distributers will need to purchase content at the price the producer sets if one of them purchases, or they risk losing customers to their competitors. But the consumers win.

im3w1l 6y ago

> consumer friendly legislation is passed restricting exclusive distribution rights for digital content. Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but how are content producers supposed to negotiate a fair price for their content, if they aren't allowed to withhold it from services paying too little?

pjc50 6y ago
That is misunderstanding, yes. What people are arguing for might be something like the old Net Book Agreement: if you sell it to middleman X for price $A, you also have to sell it to middleman Y for price $A, and aren't allowed to gratuitously turn down intermediaries.
- stubish 6y ago
  Exactly. What producers lose is the ability to create a monopoly. Maybe producers will make less money, since some distributors will pay a huge premium to enable them to price gouge consumers or force consumers to switch to their services. Or maybe producers will make more money, as all distributers will need to purchase content at the price the producer sets if one of them purchases, or they risk losing customers to their competitors. But the consumers win.