4 ms·

I'm not sure I understand how you think this is an "industry self-own", or why you find it hilarious. Presumably, these companies are taking this approach becau

I'm not sure I understand how you think this is an "industry self-own", or why you find it hilarious. Presumably, these companies are taking this approach because they realized they stand to make more money by creating their own streaming service and leveraging their catalogs than outsourcing them. Those that stay in business are presumably making quite a lot of money. The only people getting "owned" here are consumers.

zinekeller 5y ago
As you pointed out, consumers will feel the brunt at first, but when there's another economic event that tighten everyone's wallet, then some of those consumers, little-by-little, will return to piracy permanently, unless there's a single service to go to (basically music streaming now).
Freak_NL 5y ago
It's clever too. There are some more tech-minded and risk-aware folk who can turn to copyright infringement via torrents, but those are a negligible minority. The days of widespread 'piracy' practices by every next household are long gone. There are some who can manage cleverly hopping from subscription to subscription to get varying content (three months Netflix, then three months Disney+, etc.), but those too are too few for the streaming companies to care about. For now the bulk of their customers will pick one or more services, and subscribe for longer periods (years often). And unlike cable, people don't pay a huge lump sum each month, but an increasing number of small-ish fees each small enough not to be too critically evaluated by subscribers when reviewing their home finances. It will probably stay like this for quite a while. A shame. I really would have liked a way to fairly pay for any content at all via a single subscription.
- ghaff 5y ago
  Pretty much describes me. I get a handful of services. It's more content than I remotely have time to watch. I can't really be bothered spending more or chasing down torrents for some other random show; it's just not really something I care enough about. Would a single streaming service be better? Probably. But I wouldn't pay a premium for it. After all, I dropped cable entirely and while I'd like real-time TV now and then, that like isn't enough for me to pay for it.
- soneil 5y ago
  I'm not sure I agree on the piracy front. Everyone I know who's young enough to have been college aged since about 1998, knows exactly how and where to turn. This is an age bracket running into early-40s now. I think what's stopped more and more people from piracy has been all-you-can-eat subscriptions. Not that they can't, or won't, but that spotify + netflix took care of a huge portion of consumption. From this perspective, taking more and more things off the menu has a huge potential to turn the tide. This show's only on Disney, that show's only on HBO - and HBO isn't available here. This season's on netflix but next season's on prime ..
parkingrift 5y ago
>I'm not sure I understand how you think this is an "industry self-own", or why you find it hilarious. It's hilarious because it's a retreat to the model we had before Netflix disrupted television with streaming. Now we're back to disparate channels and bundles. And it's a self-own because consumers don't want this, and will take the path of least resistance. There is no reality where consumers will pay for a dozen streaming services. Pirating will pick up again and then someone will come along to try and consolidate or disrupt and the cycle will continue.

zinekeller 5y ago

As you pointed out, consumers will feel the brunt at first, but when there's another economic event that tighten everyone's wallet, then some of those consumers, little-by-little, will return to piracy permanently, unless there's a single service to go to (basically music streaming now).

Freak_NL 5y ago

It's clever too. There are some more tech-minded and risk-aware folk who can turn to copyright infringement via torrents, but those are a negligible minority. The days of widespread 'piracy' practices by every next household are long gone. There are some who can manage cleverly hopping from subscription to subscription to get varying content (three months Netflix, then three months Disney+, etc.), but those too are too few for the streaming companies to care about. For now the bulk of their customers will pick one or more services, and subscribe for longer periods (years often). And unlike cable, people don't pay a huge lump sum each month, but an increasing number of small-ish fees each small enough not to be too critically evaluated by subscribers when reviewing their home finances. It will probably stay like this for quite a while. A shame. I really would have liked a way to fairly pay for any content at all via a single subscription.

ghaff 5y ago
Pretty much describes me. I get a handful of services. It's more content than I remotely have time to watch. I can't really be bothered spending more or chasing down torrents for some other random show; it's just not really something I care enough about. Would a single streaming service be better? Probably. But I wouldn't pay a premium for it. After all, I dropped cable entirely and while I'd like real-time TV now and then, that like isn't enough for me to pay for it.
soneil 5y ago
I'm not sure I agree on the piracy front. Everyone I know who's young enough to have been college aged since about 1998, knows exactly how and where to turn. This is an age bracket running into early-40s now. I think what's stopped more and more people from piracy has been all-you-can-eat subscriptions. Not that they can't, or won't, but that spotify + netflix took care of a huge portion of consumption. From this perspective, taking more and more things off the menu has a huge potential to turn the tide. This show's only on Disney, that show's only on HBO - and HBO isn't available here. This season's on netflix but next season's on prime ..

parkingrift 5y ago

>I'm not sure I understand how you think this is an "industry self-own", or why you find it hilarious. It's hilarious because it's a retreat to the model we had before Netflix disrupted television with streaming. Now we're back to disparate channels and bundles. And it's a self-own because consumers don't want this, and will take the path of least resistance. There is no reality where consumers will pay for a dozen streaming services. Pirating will pick up again and then someone will come along to try and consolidate or disrupt and the cycle will continue.