6 ms·

Netflix shares drop 26% after it loses 200K subscribers

51 points by kaycebasques 5y ago

greenyoda 5y ago
Ongoing discussion, currently on the front page: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31088353 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31088353
ejb999 5y ago
they didn't just 'lose 200K subscribers', its much worse than that - they said they were going to gain 2.5 million, so a losing 200K means they missed the target by closer to 2.7 million.... epic miss.
- ineedasername 5y ago
  To be fair, while they would have missed targets, they would not have broken their streak for subscriber growth if they hadn't kicked Russia out of the service. It would still have been a big drop from their expectations, but not quite the same magnitude of a set back.
arrakis2021 5y ago
Netflix content is only slightly above CBS/ABC primetime tv. The big bet on content hasn’t paid off as the crap they put out has been background noise at best.
legitster 5y ago
We're pulling the plug this month! At this point, there are enough shows that we spend most of our evenings catching up on past shows that have withstood some sense of time. I think the constant barrage of new and low-quality content is a problem for all the streaming platforms, but Netflix is the worst offender. Just a non-stop endless shotgun of content that Netflix can't even bother to care about.
- xhkkffbf 5y ago
  I've got to agree. I used to like seeing some old favorites and some big screen classics. The made-for-streaming shows take so long to binge watch and they're often turning up the dial on creepiness just to get attention. I start tuning out when I feel icky and that's often pretty early.
bcrl 5y ago
Compared to 6+ years ago, it's getting harder and harder to find specific content on services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+. There comes a point when the content pie is split up into so many pieces that there just isn't enough content that interests me. And good luck trying to find a lot of movies from the 1980s and 1990s! At least my local video store kept a variety of older movies around. Now content becomes unobtainium after a few years because content creators don't understand the value in sharing over exclusivity. <sigh> I don't see this getting better any time soon. Consolidation in this market can't come soon enough.
- derbOac 5y ago
  I don't really want consolidation, I want to be able to pay to play each work once or for a certain period of time, or indefinitely. I don't want to subscribe to a whole streaming service just for one movie, or one live event, or whatever it is. I feel like we've swapped manipulated unnecessary cable bundling with manipulated unnecessary streaming service bundling. Give people a discount for subscribing to the service as a whole, but let people just buy or rent one content item. I'm so sick of tech and media companies adversarially trying to get money from you through monopolies, network effects, and rent seeking. You want to get your customers to hate you, and to start agitating for government intervention? This is how. To me it's absurd. Imagine if, in the 1980s, you couldn't just go to a theater and pay to see a movie, that you had to buy a monthly membership to a theater chain that produced the movie. Same thing.
  - bcrl 5y ago
    My (sadly passed now) brother in law ran a convenience store in a small town that also rented out videos. The big difference between a video store and a streaming service is that the video store doesn't have its content clawed back by the content producer "just because they feel like it". Sure, they had to buy video cassettes or DVDs at a somewhat higher price than those available to consumers to compensate the content producer for the increased distribution usage, but that was fundamentally a one time cost for an otherwise perpetual license. And I have the same problem with Apple's streaming music service. Content I previously paid for has been revoked as no longer being available in my region. It sucks! I think there's a clear need for better consumer protection laws or copyright reform. Loss of the first sale doctrine has been a net negative for consumers in my opinion.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
cinntaile 5y ago
I can't say I'm surprised when their content catalogue keeps shrinking because every company has its own streaming service nowadays. I cancelled my subscription a few weeks ago, I have started cycling between the different streaming services instead. I might cancel them all eventually because it's a hassle to switch. The whole experience has become very anti-consumer.
PebblesHD 5y ago
Cancelled my subscription after the last price increase. $17.99 (AUD) for HD with their already reduced library because we’re an island noone has content rights for just wasn’t worth it. I still have my Amazon subscription because it has other utility, free shipping etc. and it’s already cheaper to start with. Prior to Netflix launching here, Australia had some of the highest content piracy rates in the western world because stuff just wasn’t available. With all the different companies now wanting a piece, I’d be surprised if those numbers didn’t start increasing again, and that’s a shame because early Netflix and Spotify showed that people would pay for content if it was easy, convenient, and well priced.
- indemnity 5y ago
  Only reason I have Netflix (New Zealand) is that it comes included with my mobile phone plan. I wouldn’t pay for it. I do, however, pay for Apple TV+, Disney+, Prime Video, and would pay for HBO Max if we could get it also, but I imagine it hasn’t launched for the same reason it’s not in Australia. So, “alternate sources” it is.
tough 5y ago
I once run a pirate streaming site in another life. It got big like 5M registered accounts. 2M Uniques a day. I got sued by hollywood, I won. Then I got the site stolen by trusting the keys to the wrong person, and decided to move on and learned to code so I can build my own things again. Might re-do a global nicer version of this with a web3/DAO project that archives video content like the web archive. Only members can watch. Maybe hollywood doesn't care until we get too big and pay them royalties (in our crypto) end of random rant/?>
- Linkd 5y ago
  I dont think this makes much sense. Where would you be serving media from?
- maneesh 5y ago
  Check out fmovies.to (definitely use ublock you’ve been warned)
softwarebeware 5y ago
Imagine you joined a year ago and your RSUs vest next week
- myarr 5y ago
  Netflix has no RSUs
diebeforei485 5y ago
I'm one of them! I'm watching HBO Max and Apple TV+ content now. In a few months I'll switch back to Netflix (maybe).
Rapzid 5y ago
Considering cancelling. Been burned too many times by big splashy first seasons followed by slashed budget followups and then cancellations. Not sure WTF happened with The Witcher, but the writing, cinematography, and etc are not on par with season 1. Hasn't kept me engaged past 2 episodes. I find it hard to invest time on their content these days when it's a crap shoot if they cripple or cancel it. Finding WAY better value in HBO and Disney these days TBH.
captainbland 5y ago
It's interesting how the story seems to repeat itself over and over. There's a start up, they use VC capital to generate a fantasy version of their end product that can seem amazing because, for a time, it is free from the constraints of profit maximisation. But inevitably the screws have to turn, and even after reaching profitability they keep turning. Google starts putting lengthy ads all over YouTube, Amazon mistreats its staff and turns a blind eye to unscrupulous sellers, Facebook promotes anything which drives engagement even if it enables political extremism... And here Netflix is, driving away subscribers with rapidly increasing fees and declining content quality. Of course these are just some examples and there are many more even within those same companies. I think maybe people are slowly but surely becoming more skeptical to this sort of behaviour. Whereas in the past maybe users would have stuck it out during these changes, they realise now that this is the turning point where the organisation is going to get worse for them rather than better so are jumping ship instead.
wdb 5y ago
Netflix is getting expensive and it adds things I don’t care about and don’t want to pay for, such as the games. I am reconsidering my Netflix subscription.

51 points by kaycebasques 5y ago

Ongoing discussion, currently on the front page: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31088353 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31088353

ejb999 5y ago

they didn't just 'lose 200K subscribers', its much worse than that - they said they were going to gain 2.5 million, so a losing 200K means they missed the target by closer to 2.7 million.... epic miss.

ineedasername 5y ago
To be fair, while they would have missed targets, they would not have broken their streak for subscriber growth if they hadn't kicked Russia out of the service. It would still have been a big drop from their expectations, but not quite the same magnitude of a set back.

arrakis2021 5y ago

Netflix content is only slightly above CBS/ABC primetime tv. The big bet on content hasn’t paid off as the crap they put out has been background noise at best.

legitster 5y ago

We're pulling the plug this month! At this point, there are enough shows that we spend most of our evenings catching up on past shows that have withstood some sense of time. I think the constant barrage of new and low-quality content is a problem for all the streaming platforms, but Netflix is the worst offender. Just a non-stop endless shotgun of content that Netflix can't even bother to care about.

xhkkffbf 5y ago
I've got to agree. I used to like seeing some old favorites and some big screen classics. The made-for-streaming shows take so long to binge watch and they're often turning up the dial on creepiness just to get attention. I start tuning out when I feel icky and that's often pretty early.

bcrl 5y ago

Compared to 6+ years ago, it's getting harder and harder to find specific content on services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+. There comes a point when the content pie is split up into so many pieces that there just isn't enough content that interests me. And good luck trying to find a lot of movies from the 1980s and 1990s! At least my local video store kept a variety of older movies around. Now content becomes unobtainium after a few years because content creators don't understand the value in sharing over exclusivity. <sigh> I don't see this getting better any time soon. Consolidation in this market can't come soon enough.

derbOac 5y ago
I don't really want consolidation, I want to be able to pay to play each work once or for a certain period of time, or indefinitely. I don't want to subscribe to a whole streaming service just for one movie, or one live event, or whatever it is. I feel like we've swapped manipulated unnecessary cable bundling with manipulated unnecessary streaming service bundling. Give people a discount for subscribing to the service as a whole, but let people just buy or rent one content item. I'm so sick of tech and media companies adversarially trying to get money from you through monopolies, network effects, and rent seeking. You want to get your customers to hate you, and to start agitating for government intervention? This is how. To me it's absurd. Imagine if, in the 1980s, you couldn't just go to a theater and pay to see a movie, that you had to buy a monthly membership to a theater chain that produced the movie. Same thing.
- bcrl 5y ago
  My (sadly passed now) brother in law ran a convenience store in a small town that also rented out videos. The big difference between a video store and a streaming service is that the video store doesn't have its content clawed back by the content producer "just because they feel like it". Sure, they had to buy video cassettes or DVDs at a somewhat higher price than those available to consumers to compensate the content producer for the increased distribution usage, but that was fundamentally a one time cost for an otherwise perpetual license. And I have the same problem with Apple's streaming music service. Content I previously paid for has been revoked as no longer being available in my region. It sucks! I think there's a clear need for better consumer protection laws or copyright reform. Loss of the first sale doctrine has been a net negative for consumers in my opinion.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

cinntaile 5y ago

I can't say I'm surprised when their content catalogue keeps shrinking because every company has its own streaming service nowadays. I cancelled my subscription a few weeks ago, I have started cycling between the different streaming services instead. I might cancel them all eventually because it's a hassle to switch. The whole experience has become very anti-consumer.

PebblesHD 5y ago

Cancelled my subscription after the last price increase. $17.99 (AUD) for HD with their already reduced library because we’re an island noone has content rights for just wasn’t worth it. I still have my Amazon subscription because it has other utility, free shipping etc. and it’s already cheaper to start with. Prior to Netflix launching here, Australia had some of the highest content piracy rates in the western world because stuff just wasn’t available. With all the different companies now wanting a piece, I’d be surprised if those numbers didn’t start increasing again, and that’s a shame because early Netflix and Spotify showed that people would pay for content if it was easy, convenient, and well priced.

indemnity 5y ago
Only reason I have Netflix (New Zealand) is that it comes included with my mobile phone plan. I wouldn’t pay for it. I do, however, pay for Apple TV+, Disney+, Prime Video, and would pay for HBO Max if we could get it also, but I imagine it hasn’t launched for the same reason it’s not in Australia. So, “alternate sources” it is.

tough 5y ago

I once run a pirate streaming site in another life. It got big like 5M registered accounts. 2M Uniques a day. I got sued by hollywood, I won. Then I got the site stolen by trusting the keys to the wrong person, and decided to move on and learned to code so I can build my own things again. Might re-do a global nicer version of this with a web3/DAO project that archives video content like the web archive. Only members can watch. Maybe hollywood doesn't care until we get too big and pay them royalties (in our crypto) end of random rant/?>

Linkd 5y ago
I dont think this makes much sense. Where would you be serving media from?
maneesh 5y ago
Check out fmovies.to (definitely use ublock you’ve been warned)

softwarebeware 5y ago

Imagine you joined a year ago and your RSUs vest next week

myarr 5y ago
Netflix has no RSUs

diebeforei485 5y ago

I'm one of them! I'm watching HBO Max and Apple TV+ content now. In a few months I'll switch back to Netflix (maybe).

Rapzid 5y ago

Considering cancelling. Been burned too many times by big splashy first seasons followed by slashed budget followups and then cancellations. Not sure WTF happened with The Witcher, but the writing, cinematography, and etc are not on par with season 1. Hasn't kept me engaged past 2 episodes. I find it hard to invest time on their content these days when it's a crap shoot if they cripple or cancel it. Finding WAY better value in HBO and Disney these days TBH.

captainbland 5y ago

It's interesting how the story seems to repeat itself over and over. There's a start up, they use VC capital to generate a fantasy version of their end product that can seem amazing because, for a time, it is free from the constraints of profit maximisation. But inevitably the screws have to turn, and even after reaching profitability they keep turning. Google starts putting lengthy ads all over YouTube, Amazon mistreats its staff and turns a blind eye to unscrupulous sellers, Facebook promotes anything which drives engagement even if it enables political extremism... And here Netflix is, driving away subscribers with rapidly increasing fees and declining content quality. Of course these are just some examples and there are many more even within those same companies. I think maybe people are slowly but surely becoming more skeptical to this sort of behaviour. Whereas in the past maybe users would have stuck it out during these changes, they realise now that this is the turning point where the organisation is going to get worse for them rather than better so are jumping ship instead.

wdb 5y ago

Netflix is getting expensive and it adds things I don’t care about and don’t want to pay for, such as the games. I am reconsidering my Netflix subscription.