9 ms·

Netflix to get its own ‘cable channel’ next week

34 points by 3minus1 12y ago

tantalor 12y ago
Title could not be worse. Netflix will not be a channel. You need a Netflix subscription and a TiVo. This deal is only working around some bizarre business constraints around streaming video. The only interesting part here is watching Netflix "without switching remotes or inputs", which frankly is a sign of how desperate cable providers are to keep subscribers locked in to their STB model.
- corylehey 12y ago
  I never thought I'd read Netflix and TiVo in the same sentence again.
- tzakrajs 12y ago
  It shows more of how Netflix's approach to winning the "moment of truth" is changing. The moment of truth used to be about which remote the customer picked up. For example the cable remote or the appletv/roku/xbox/ps controller to play Netfix. Now it seems they are finding success in the second moment of truth, which is when the customer picks up the cable remote, do they go to AMC, HBO, Showtime, or Netflix?
  - jebblue 12y ago
    I have to admit, when NetFlix got into the business of making content I was highly skeptical, with series like House Of Cards I'm sold. Now if only I could watch NetFlix in Chrome on Ubuntu Linux.
    - trouserpants 12y ago
      Netflix, Chrome, and Ubuntu? If you're gonna be that proprietary you might as well be on Windows or OSX in the first place. "Man I really like these tungsten circular saw blades! If only I could use them with my hammer."
    - Sn1PeR 12y ago
      Pipelight?
- donpdonp 12y ago
  The article describes a regular cable channel. I can image Netflix taking its content, and 'scheduling' a 24/7 video stream that plays over a cable TV channel. Its funny to think of Netflix content as "appointment TV" since it was Netflix that went so far with "anytime TV".
  - omh 12y ago
    It sounds like it's only a channel in the sense that "tuning" to channel 450 will launch the app. You'd then have to search for the show you want to watch. A TiVo box already has lots of options for browsing through a database of shows/series/actors, so it makes a lot more sense to link Netflix into that.
  - SifJar 12y ago
    From my reading of the article, there will be a specific channel (450), but tuning to that channel will simply launch the Netflix app. Rather than navigating some seperate interface for launching the app, you just switch to channel to launch it. It's still on-demand content, just the app appears as a "normal" channel.
    - ctdonath 12y ago
      That's important for the many millions who haven't ventured beyond the "TV model". They don't grasp (and don't want to) anything other than "turn on TV, change to channel X". The "watch what you want when you want" then becomes an extension of the standard model, instead of something fearfully (to them) different.
      - omh 12y ago
        I'm sure that's part of their thinking. But note that this is only on TiVos, so many (most?) of the consumers will already be used to the idea of HDD recording and series links. Once I got a TiVo it wasn't long before I got into the habit of hitting "My Shows" rather than channel hopping.
    - dragonwriter 12y ago
- colechristensen 12y ago
  One of the most (sadly) awe inspiring moments in my recent past was the realization that the standard remote on my Panasonic TV controlled the menus (including Netflix) on my PS3 almost perfectly.
  - pdaddyo 12y ago
    For those interested, this is achieved using a standard called CEC that works over the HDMI connection. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#CEC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#CEC
- flinty 12y ago
  Wouldn't this be part of netflix's overall strategy to be as accessible as possible to all their subscribers by being available on all platforms?
omh 12y ago
This has been available in the UK for a while (on Virgin Media TiVo boxes, the only cable supplier here). I don't have a Netflix subscription so I haven't tried it properly, but the integration with TiVo is good. If you're browsing an actor and find a film, as well as any upcoming TV showings it will give you the option to launch it from Netflix. It's obviously a big move away from the major TV channels, but (in the UK at least) I think the big money is in the sports channels and Netflix isn't competing with them there.
jcampbell1 12y ago
Here is what I think happened. Netflix has "new media" rights to the content. They can't play the content over cable. Some cable companies provide a TiVo as a cable box, and Netflix works on TiVos. This presents a legal problem: is playing netflix on a cable company's tivo box "cable"? Well no, but they probably had to get the content providers to agree. Now that the content providers agree, the Netflix app can be installed on these cable company provided Tivos. I am speculating, but the article makes no sense otherwise.
gagege 12y ago
"...you would pick up your remote control, you would tune to Channel 450, and there you'd find Netflix. You'd select it and that'll launch the Netflix app. Literally, watching Netflix is as easy as changing the channel." facepalm That's some bad old-fashioned UI right there.
- sanderjd 12y ago
  It may seem a bit crazy to us, but I think it is a brilliant stepping-stone into a (really big) market of people who 1) watch a lot of TV and 2) have shown that they don't really grok Netflix's new-fangled user experience. My parents still switch back and forth between three shows to avoid commercials. They often do this for hours a night. They have a fully configured Roku and Chromecast boxes, and they use their smart phones more than I do, but they still reach for the cable remote instead of the Roku remote or Netflix app on their phone. It's a good lesson to learn: good user experience has a lot to do with understanding what users you're targeting and how best to do so.
e28eta 12y ago
This seems like just an extension of Netflix's desire to be on every device hooked up to a TV. They've been building apps for TVs, BluRay, Roku, AppleTV, etc for years. The cable box is another device, so they want to be on it. I think this is a little interesting because Netflix and Cable companies are seen as competition today, so I imagine there's been some resistance. I don't know if the streaming rights modification is that relevant, except as a reminder of how convoluted those agreements must be.
- stcredzero 12y ago
  Cable should stop seeing themselves as being "competitors in a different industry." They are in the same industry, just with new mediums appearing. Watching what you want when you want is clearly the future. Carrying forward the technical restrictions of analog broadcast is simply insane, if you step back and look at it.
ForHackernews 12y ago
Good news! RCN is actually a tiny, upstart cable company that competes directly against Comcast (in certain markets, anyway): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCN_Corporation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCN_Corporation And they're pretty fast: http://ispspeedindex.netflix.com/usa http://ispspeedindex.netflix.com/usa (click "INCLUDE SMALLER ISPS")
maccard 12y ago
A lot of people in here comment on how this is not tghat big. I have a netflix sub, and every time I visit my parents, they want to watch it, and use it. They don't use it when I'm not there because they can't figure it out. It's an app on a new TV, and is literally 2 or 3 button clicks away. If netflix was channel 500 or something on our TV box they would happily pay for it.remember that not everyone is as technically inclined as we are.

34 points by 3minus1 12y ago

Title could not be worse. Netflix will not be a channel. You need a Netflix subscription and a TiVo. This deal is only working around some bizarre business constraints around streaming video. The only interesting part here is watching Netflix "without switching remotes or inputs", which frankly is a sign of how desperate cable providers are to keep subscribers locked in to their STB model.

corylehey 12y ago
I never thought I'd read Netflix and TiVo in the same sentence again.
tzakrajs 12y ago
It shows more of how Netflix's approach to winning the "moment of truth" is changing. The moment of truth used to be about which remote the customer picked up. For example the cable remote or the appletv/roku/xbox/ps controller to play Netfix. Now it seems they are finding success in the second moment of truth, which is when the customer picks up the cable remote, do they go to AMC, HBO, Showtime, or Netflix?
- jebblue 12y ago
  I have to admit, when NetFlix got into the business of making content I was highly skeptical, with series like House Of Cards I'm sold. Now if only I could watch NetFlix in Chrome on Ubuntu Linux.
  - trouserpants 12y ago
    Netflix, Chrome, and Ubuntu? If you're gonna be that proprietary you might as well be on Windows or OSX in the first place. "Man I really like these tungsten circular saw blades! If only I could use them with my hammer."
  - Sn1PeR 12y ago
    Pipelight?
donpdonp 12y ago
The article describes a regular cable channel. I can image Netflix taking its content, and 'scheduling' a 24/7 video stream that plays over a cable TV channel. Its funny to think of Netflix content as "appointment TV" since it was Netflix that went so far with "anytime TV".
- omh 12y ago
  It sounds like it's only a channel in the sense that "tuning" to channel 450 will launch the app. You'd then have to search for the show you want to watch. A TiVo box already has lots of options for browsing through a database of shows/series/actors, so it makes a lot more sense to link Netflix into that.
- SifJar 12y ago
  From my reading of the article, there will be a specific channel (450), but tuning to that channel will simply launch the Netflix app. Rather than navigating some seperate interface for launching the app, you just switch to channel to launch it. It's still on-demand content, just the app appears as a "normal" channel.
  - ctdonath 12y ago
    That's important for the many millions who haven't ventured beyond the "TV model". They don't grasp (and don't want to) anything other than "turn on TV, change to channel X". The "watch what you want when you want" then becomes an extension of the standard model, instead of something fearfully (to them) different.
    - omh 12y ago
      I'm sure that's part of their thinking. But note that this is only on TiVos, so many (most?) of the consumers will already be used to the idea of HDD recording and series links. Once I got a TiVo it wasn't long before I got into the habit of hitting "My Shows" rather than channel hopping.
  - dragonwriter 12y ago
colechristensen 12y ago
One of the most (sadly) awe inspiring moments in my recent past was the realization that the standard remote on my Panasonic TV controlled the menus (including Netflix) on my PS3 almost perfectly.
- pdaddyo 12y ago
  For those interested, this is achieved using a standard called CEC that works over the HDMI connection. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#CEC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#CEC
flinty 12y ago
Wouldn't this be part of netflix's overall strategy to be as accessible as possible to all their subscribers by being available on all platforms?

omh 12y ago

This has been available in the UK for a while (on Virgin Media TiVo boxes, the only cable supplier here). I don't have a Netflix subscription so I haven't tried it properly, but the integration with TiVo is good. If you're browsing an actor and find a film, as well as any upcoming TV showings it will give you the option to launch it from Netflix. It's obviously a big move away from the major TV channels, but (in the UK at least) I think the big money is in the sports channels and Netflix isn't competing with them there.

jcampbell1 12y ago

Here is what I think happened. Netflix has "new media" rights to the content. They can't play the content over cable. Some cable companies provide a TiVo as a cable box, and Netflix works on TiVos. This presents a legal problem: is playing netflix on a cable company's tivo box "cable"? Well no, but they probably had to get the content providers to agree. Now that the content providers agree, the Netflix app can be installed on these cable company provided Tivos. I am speculating, but the article makes no sense otherwise.

gagege 12y ago

"...you would pick up your remote control, you would tune to Channel 450, and there you'd find Netflix. You'd select it and that'll launch the Netflix app. Literally, watching Netflix is as easy as changing the channel." facepalm That's some bad old-fashioned UI right there.

sanderjd 12y ago
It may seem a bit crazy to us, but I think it is a brilliant stepping-stone into a (really big) market of people who 1) watch a lot of TV and 2) have shown that they don't really grok Netflix's new-fangled user experience. My parents still switch back and forth between three shows to avoid commercials. They often do this for hours a night. They have a fully configured Roku and Chromecast boxes, and they use their smart phones more than I do, but they still reach for the cable remote instead of the Roku remote or Netflix app on their phone. It's a good lesson to learn: good user experience has a lot to do with understanding what users you're targeting and how best to do so.

e28eta 12y ago

This seems like just an extension of Netflix's desire to be on every device hooked up to a TV. They've been building apps for TVs, BluRay, Roku, AppleTV, etc for years. The cable box is another device, so they want to be on it. I think this is a little interesting because Netflix and Cable companies are seen as competition today, so I imagine there's been some resistance. I don't know if the streaming rights modification is that relevant, except as a reminder of how convoluted those agreements must be.

stcredzero 12y ago
Cable should stop seeing themselves as being "competitors in a different industry." They are in the same industry, just with new mediums appearing. Watching what you want when you want is clearly the future. Carrying forward the technical restrictions of analog broadcast is simply insane, if you step back and look at it.

ForHackernews 12y ago

Good news! RCN is actually a tiny, upstart cable company that competes directly against Comcast (in certain markets, anyway): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCN_Corporation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCN_Corporation And they're pretty fast: http://ispspeedindex.netflix.com/usa http://ispspeedindex.netflix.com/usa (click "INCLUDE SMALLER ISPS")

maccard 12y ago

A lot of people in here comment on how this is not tghat big. I have a netflix sub, and every time I visit my parents, they want to watch it, and use it. They don't use it when I'm not there because they can't figure it out. It's an app on a new TV, and is literally 2 or 3 button clicks away. If netflix was channel 500 or something on our TV box they would happily pay for it.remember that not everyone is as technically inclined as we are.