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This is still ultimately true with things you subscribe to though. Netflix vies for your attention even though you pay directly with $$, because if another stre

This is still ultimately true with things you subscribe to though. Netflix vies for your attention even though you pay directly with $$, because if another streaming service takes more of your attention, you'll pay for it (potentially instead).

shkkmo 6y ago
Not really, Netflix definitely wants to have you use their platform frequently so you value it enough to keep paying for it. But this is balanced against the cost of making sure you don't run out of content and cancel anyway. They also pay a bit more for bandwidth and servers if you watch a lot. So while Netflix wants all your TV time, they derive no extra benefits if all your time us TV time. This is absolutely not true of advertising supported services that make more from you the more time you spend.
kelnos 6y ago
With Netflix they have to strike a balance, though. Someone who watches Netflix 8 hours a day is going to cost them more in royalties than someone who watches 8 hours a week. The sweet spot is likely a little different for everyone, and is whatever amount of attention keeps them subscribed, but no more. Additionally, I have a customer-vendor relationship with Netflix. With a random ad-supported website or something like Facebook, I'm the product, not the customer. I would much much much rather be a customer than a product.
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  >With Netflix they have to strike a balance, though. Someone who watches Netflix 8 hours a day is going to cost them more in royalties than someone who watches 8 hours a week. Does Netflix license content on a per play basis? All the info over the years I’ve read, although not official, indicate they were paying the content owners a flat amount for a certain time period. For example https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/04/business/media/netflix-friends.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/04/business/media/netflix-fr...
- chmod600 6y ago
  "The sweet spot...is whatever amount of attention keeps them subscribed, but no more." I used to believe that. Nope, they want all your attention all the time. If they lose it, another streaming service might gain some market share, and the stock price will lose billions.
- shalmanese 6y ago
  That's not how Netflix thinks about it internally. The north star metric for Netflix is how many people choose to renew every month and the biggest correlation to this is number of minutes watched per month. All else being equal, given a choice between a change that makes people watch more minutes per month or less, Netflix will always choose more.

shkkmo 6y ago

Not really, Netflix definitely wants to have you use their platform frequently so you value it enough to keep paying for it. But this is balanced against the cost of making sure you don't run out of content and cancel anyway. They also pay a bit more for bandwidth and servers if you watch a lot. So while Netflix wants all your TV time, they derive no extra benefits if all your time us TV time. This is absolutely not true of advertising supported services that make more from you the more time you spend.

kelnos 6y ago

With Netflix they have to strike a balance, though. Someone who watches Netflix 8 hours a day is going to cost them more in royalties than someone who watches 8 hours a week. The sweet spot is likely a little different for everyone, and is whatever amount of attention keeps them subscribed, but no more. Additionally, I have a customer-vendor relationship with Netflix. With a random ad-supported website or something like Facebook, I'm the product, not the customer. I would much much much rather be a customer than a product.

lotsofpulp 6y ago
>With Netflix they have to strike a balance, though. Someone who watches Netflix 8 hours a day is going to cost them more in royalties than someone who watches 8 hours a week. Does Netflix license content on a per play basis? All the info over the years I’ve read, although not official, indicate they were paying the content owners a flat amount for a certain time period. For example https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/04/business/media/netflix-friends.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/04/business/media/netflix-fr...
chmod600 6y ago
"The sweet spot...is whatever amount of attention keeps them subscribed, but no more." I used to believe that. Nope, they want all your attention all the time. If they lose it, another streaming service might gain some market share, and the stock price will lose billions.
shalmanese 6y ago
That's not how Netflix thinks about it internally. The north star metric for Netflix is how many people choose to renew every month and the biggest correlation to this is number of minutes watched per month. All else being equal, given a choice between a change that makes people watch more minutes per month or less, Netflix will always choose more.