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You'll still be able to pay for a Netflix account without ads. It will just be more expensive. They're in a very difficult spot, they have rising costs and a di

You'll still be able to pay for a Netflix account without ads. It will just be more expensive. They're in a very difficult spot, they have rising costs and a diminishing offering so they can't raise prices because most people won't pay more and get less. Hence the introduction of ads to reduce the pain.

nottorp 4y ago
> they have rising costs and a diminishing offering Quality has nothing to do with this eh?
- ceejayoz 4y ago
  Sure, but it's not entirely Netflix's fault; their content providers got into the streaming game themselves. Netflix is left desperately trying to build a catalog of first-party offerings before it's too late. Some of it's shit, but you could say the same about Disney's back catalog.
  - rchaud 4y ago
    It is entirely Netflix's fault. They overstepped into broadcasters' turf with House of Cards and other AAA shows created on their own label. That accelerated efforts for broadcasters to pull their shows and build their own platforms. Meanwhile Netflix pretends that it has no choice but to raise prices despite no longer having to pay $500m/yr or whatever for rights to Friends, The Office, Parks and Rec etc.
    - ceejayoz 4y ago
      The broadcasters were always going to get into the game. The Office was Netflix's single most watched show (https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/ct-mov-netflix-the-office-0705-20190703-fjlo4pkt5jb7llpo2aixl7o2pe-story.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/ct-mov-netfl...) at the time. They'd rather have kept paying for the content than lose it; "go to one place for most of your stuff" was their key value prop for a long time.
      - rchaud 4y ago
        > They'd rather have kept paying for the content than lose it; No they wouldn't. They don't own any part of The Office. Leaving their business dependent on third-party inventory suppliers is something every analyst hammered the CEO on during earnings calls. The whole point of creating their own shows was to be able to free themselves off the licensing yoke and sell their own IP. Not just on Netflix, but also to cable TV stations internationally. They have done a terrible job in that respect. Modern Netflix reminds me of British TV in the '80s; extremely stale shows with low budgets.
        ceejayoz 4y ago
        > They don't own any part of The Office. Doesn't matter. Amazon doesn't own a lot of the products they sell, either. It'd be a big hit to them to lose the third-party sellers. Same for Netflix. > The whole point of creating their own shows was to be able to free themselves off the licensing yoke and sell their own IP. This is inverting cause/effect. "We're losing the licensed content" was the motivation for building up their own catalog.
  - freedomben 4y ago
    Totally agree, but Netflix's decisions on what original content to make I think had a big impact. They dumped truckloads of money into many things that could have been done much cheaper, but they wanted to be a AAA hollywood producer so have perfect effects and CGI. They also mainly invested in content that is popular within the social bubble inside of Netflix. Whether they are right or wrong in their political positions[1], they are quite unaligned with the market at large and are one of the least diverse companies out there[2]. This I think has led to some poor strategic decisions they've made, and has led to an extreme amount of group-think that leaves them surprised that decisions they made didn't go as well as everybody thought they would. At Netflix's scale, they can't afford to be missing (or even alienating in some respects) large chunks of the possible market. That doesn't mean they can't have a wide range of content targeting at different niches, but it does mean they they shouldn't over-focus on specific niches and neglect others. In the last couple of years they do seem to have been reversing course, but it's trying to turn an aircraft carrier with a lot of forward momentum. [1]: Personally I think they're right in many of them, but I'm not aligned with the market at large either. [2]: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/02/most-liberal-tech-companies-ranked-by-employee-donations.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/02/most-liberal-tech-companies-...
    - nottorp 4y ago
      Meh. No matter if ideology laden or not, their content is low quality and more of the same. I don't really watch series, I prefer standalone films that begin and end. But I saw the missus watch the same high school drama with a high school drama skin, vampire skin, historical skin etc. In case it's not clear, those were different Netflix original series. Don't see how they were different or original.
- freedomben 4y ago
  They've dumped an astronomical amount of investment into original content that isn't very good, sometimes with producers that have little to no experience but are popular for other reasons with the segment of people who make the decisions at Netflix, but can alienate other users.
- cinntaile 4y ago
  Even if the quality of their own series had been better, they would still have rising costs and a diminishing offering so I doubt it would have been enough to turn the tide.
Tor3 4y ago
If it gets more expensive it may be the tipping point. Every month or so my wife asks "Are we using Netflix that much? Do we still need to pay this?" and I answer "Well, it's not that much really.." - so if it increases then maybe I can't argue anymore. I don't think it'll matter much for heavy Netflix users, but I suspect it may drain Netflix from that large pool (I suspect) of users who just find it convenient to have it available just in case, for the occasional use.. because it's not that expensive. Yet. Oh, and there's zero chance that I would ever choose an ad-based option.
- freedomben 4y ago
  Yes, very much agree. The frequent price hikes are pushing it into territory that is just too much to be a throwaway subscription. It's into territory of "is this really a monthly bill we are getting value from?" If they raise prices again, or God forbid put ads on my sub or require me to hike my price to escape them, I'll definitely cancel and look elsewhere for entertainment. And I have had a sub with them since long before they started streaming (I do miss the nostalgia of the DVDs by mail actually).
- taylodl 4y ago
  That's the same dialog in my house. I wonder if Netflix has any idea how close many of us are to cancelling our subscriptions? Wouldn't be surprised if they incurred a 15% to 20% drop in subscribers throughout 2023.
  - prirun 4y ago
    I'm guessing they do know, but think it's just a money thing. It isn't. I didn't cancel because of the price, although that was a factor. The main reason I canceled (actually, I switched to the DVD plan) is that I spent too much time searching for something to watch vs just watching something to relax. With Netflix's DVD recommendation engine back in the early days, I liked most things they recommended. Now, instead of recommending things I will like, it feels like they are just shoving their own content down my throat. It's not just a price issue, it's a time and value issue. More ads do not solve the time and value issues, and in fact make them worse. So I have to agree with you, they're going to see more cancellations.

nottorp 4y ago

> they have rising costs and a diminishing offering Quality has nothing to do with this eh?

ceejayoz 4y ago
Sure, but it's not entirely Netflix's fault; their content providers got into the streaming game themselves. Netflix is left desperately trying to build a catalog of first-party offerings before it's too late. Some of it's shit, but you could say the same about Disney's back catalog.
- rchaud 4y ago
  It is entirely Netflix's fault. They overstepped into broadcasters' turf with House of Cards and other AAA shows created on their own label. That accelerated efforts for broadcasters to pull their shows and build their own platforms. Meanwhile Netflix pretends that it has no choice but to raise prices despite no longer having to pay $500m/yr or whatever for rights to Friends, The Office, Parks and Rec etc.
  - ceejayoz 4y ago
    The broadcasters were always going to get into the game. The Office was Netflix's single most watched show (https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/ct-mov-netflix-the-office-0705-20190703-fjlo4pkt5jb7llpo2aixl7o2pe-story.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/ct-mov-netfl...) at the time. They'd rather have kept paying for the content than lose it; "go to one place for most of your stuff" was their key value prop for a long time.
    - rchaud 4y ago
      > They'd rather have kept paying for the content than lose it; No they wouldn't. They don't own any part of The Office. Leaving their business dependent on third-party inventory suppliers is something every analyst hammered the CEO on during earnings calls. The whole point of creating their own shows was to be able to free themselves off the licensing yoke and sell their own IP. Not just on Netflix, but also to cable TV stations internationally. They have done a terrible job in that respect. Modern Netflix reminds me of British TV in the '80s; extremely stale shows with low budgets.
      - ceejayoz 4y ago
        > They don't own any part of The Office. Doesn't matter. Amazon doesn't own a lot of the products they sell, either. It'd be a big hit to them to lose the third-party sellers. Same for Netflix. > The whole point of creating their own shows was to be able to free themselves off the licensing yoke and sell their own IP. This is inverting cause/effect. "We're losing the licensed content" was the motivation for building up their own catalog.
- freedomben 4y ago
  Totally agree, but Netflix's decisions on what original content to make I think had a big impact. They dumped truckloads of money into many things that could have been done much cheaper, but they wanted to be a AAA hollywood producer so have perfect effects and CGI. They also mainly invested in content that is popular within the social bubble inside of Netflix. Whether they are right or wrong in their political positions[1], they are quite unaligned with the market at large and are one of the least diverse companies out there[2]. This I think has led to some poor strategic decisions they've made, and has led to an extreme amount of group-think that leaves them surprised that decisions they made didn't go as well as everybody thought they would. At Netflix's scale, they can't afford to be missing (or even alienating in some respects) large chunks of the possible market. That doesn't mean they can't have a wide range of content targeting at different niches, but it does mean they they shouldn't over-focus on specific niches and neglect others. In the last couple of years they do seem to have been reversing course, but it's trying to turn an aircraft carrier with a lot of forward momentum. [1]: Personally I think they're right in many of them, but I'm not aligned with the market at large either. [2]: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/02/most-liberal-tech-companies-ranked-by-employee-donations.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/02/most-liberal-tech-companies-...
  - nottorp 4y ago
    Meh. No matter if ideology laden or not, their content is low quality and more of the same. I don't really watch series, I prefer standalone films that begin and end. But I saw the missus watch the same high school drama with a high school drama skin, vampire skin, historical skin etc. In case it's not clear, those were different Netflix original series. Don't see how they were different or original.
freedomben 4y ago
They've dumped an astronomical amount of investment into original content that isn't very good, sometimes with producers that have little to no experience but are popular for other reasons with the segment of people who make the decisions at Netflix, but can alienate other users.
cinntaile 4y ago
Even if the quality of their own series had been better, they would still have rising costs and a diminishing offering so I doubt it would have been enough to turn the tide.

Tor3 4y ago

If it gets more expensive it may be the tipping point. Every month or so my wife asks "Are we using Netflix that much? Do we still need to pay this?" and I answer "Well, it's not that much really.." - so if it increases then maybe I can't argue anymore. I don't think it'll matter much for heavy Netflix users, but I suspect it may drain Netflix from that large pool (I suspect) of users who just find it convenient to have it available just in case, for the occasional use.. because it's not that expensive. Yet. Oh, and there's zero chance that I would ever choose an ad-based option.

freedomben 4y ago
Yes, very much agree. The frequent price hikes are pushing it into territory that is just too much to be a throwaway subscription. It's into territory of "is this really a monthly bill we are getting value from?" If they raise prices again, or God forbid put ads on my sub or require me to hike my price to escape them, I'll definitely cancel and look elsewhere for entertainment. And I have had a sub with them since long before they started streaming (I do miss the nostalgia of the DVDs by mail actually).
taylodl 4y ago
That's the same dialog in my house. I wonder if Netflix has any idea how close many of us are to cancelling our subscriptions? Wouldn't be surprised if they incurred a 15% to 20% drop in subscribers throughout 2023.
- prirun 4y ago
  I'm guessing they do know, but think it's just a money thing. It isn't. I didn't cancel because of the price, although that was a factor. The main reason I canceled (actually, I switched to the DVD plan) is that I spent too much time searching for something to watch vs just watching something to relax. With Netflix's DVD recommendation engine back in the early days, I liked most things they recommended. Now, instead of recommending things I will like, it feels like they are just shoving their own content down my throat. It's not just a price issue, it's a time and value issue. More ads do not solve the time and value issues, and in fact make them worse. So I have to agree with you, they're going to see more cancellations.