Netflix kills Basic plan, making its cheapest ad-free tier $15.49
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It’s hilarious to me that ad companies are buying into this model. Do they think people actually sit there and watch these ads?
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It seems like this is the history of television writ large: New format, no or fewer ads, eventually supplanted by new competition with fewer/no ads, wash, rinse repeat. First, original broadcast TV with sponsors, then cable TV started adding ads until it was even worse. Then Netflix had no ads - for a while. In Europe you can still see racing and football without ads or only with banners, but not here. And for what? Most ads are sold at great expense to gullible clients who are buying prestige, not actual branding. Tesla famously had no ads and built a business from scratch without it. Most video ads are viewed by no one online now, completely ignored by readers, not viewers. Advertising is sooo effective that Amazon uses affiliate links instead of inserting ad into their own platform.
There's a lot of dumb money in advertising, and it's quite obvious if you look for the discrepancies, which abound now. It's like health care in the sense that the middlemen have driven up prices with no regard for actual costs or effectiveness, and the undiscerning clients just keep spending.
There's a lot of dumb money in advertising, and it's quite obvious if you look for the discrepancies, which abound now. It's like health care in the sense that the middlemen have driven up prices with no regard for actual costs or effectiveness, and the undiscerning clients just keep spending.
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Uhmm, I can't agree with "exact same path as cable TV". I'm visiting my parents, tried out their Xfinity cable TV box thing. It does have some nice features like limited rewinding/ff-ing, pausing, speaking into the remote to jump to the channel you want, some on-demand movies for free (e.g. Searching), but I still much prefer ss (streaming services). I can opt for ad-free, jump to any point in the programming I'd like to, or rewind/ff in 5 to 15s increments. I think they're paying $100/mo to also get internet and landline, but that's a promo rate that'll expire at some point. I still much prefer $7 to $16/mo for ad-free streaming.
I was thinking the same thing. It's like they read my mind.
Whenever I get into NF, I was just going to do that $10/mo tier. 720p vs. 1080p is arbitrary on a 26" PC monitor. I also don't need the extra simultaneous screens. While an extra $5.50/mo does add up, I wasn't going to sub for more than a few months at a time anyways (made worse since NF either axed their annual plan, or they never had it in the first place)
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What, you don’t enjoy getting hooked on a new Netflix drama, only to see it canceled before you’ve even reached the end of its first season?
I’m sure there’s plenty of knock off Netflix reality programming you can fill that time with!
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AmanoJyaku
Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
Max (stupid name) just became profitable at the beginning of the year. Whether it continues to be profitable, and why, remains to be seen.
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Zibplippperman
Ars Centurion
I tried the ad supported tier when it became available and the pre-roll ads caused the audio to get out of sync and there was no way to fix it. I immediately switched to the $9.99 plan and I see no difference in quality between it and other streamers, such as Amazon Prime. Maybe my Fire TV 4K stick is upconverting it to 1080p.
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You also get to cancel at any time without ridiculous cancellation fees and or activation fees if you want to get the service again. There was no “let’s get HBO for a month”. You were either in or out. The fees were very prohibitively expensive.
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But can I actually view at 1080p or higher on desktop? I HATE how difficult it is to find an answer to this question on most streaming services. I actually paid for 4k netflix until I soon realized it wasn't supported on my PC. Borderline scam.
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1080p used to only work in MS Edge. It uses some DRM system that only Microsoft seems to support on desktop. I'm not sure if they ever bothered to support 4k, either.
For a company that is nickel-and-diming everyone for their 4k plan, Netflix sure doesn't want to disclose when you'll actually be able to use it.
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From the looks of things, they're jumping on the true crime train now, since reality TV is so 2020.
But honestly, if one is a fan of anime, then Netflix has been steadily improving over the years. Plenty of variety in the newer content and a decent amount of older shows to boot. Maybe not as broad in scope as Crunchyroll or RetroCrush, but certainly not starving for shows/films.
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So, you are saying that companies spend $60B+ on TV advertising per year, in the US, without doing any A-B testing or the like to ballpark efficacy?
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Of course not. Otherwise they'd realize that most places are pressing the Easy button with respect to targeting ads, and just showing the same user the same ad basically on loop.
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I kinda doubt that there's enough people with this inclination to make a huge difference to their bottom line, but they're really tip toeing around the line where the mild inconvenience of piracy is a better option than their offerings.
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faustshausuk
Ars Scholae Palatinae
Unfortunately, they have gained subscribers since they cracked down on password sharing: https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/netflix-subscribers-up-q2-earnings-1235673960/
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I am sure ads have some effect even when people skip them because of the first 1-2 seconds they still hear/see with subliminal messaging but also:
and
https://hbr.org/2021/02/what-digital-advertising-gets-wrong
So yes, while there are some impacts of ads - companies do not truly know how effective their marketing ad campaigns really are, and tend to attribute things to campaigns that aren't actually there. In fact, in the P&G case, their "old way" is similar to the TV ad way which basically bombards you with the exact same 3 ads all day, which is not effective.
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Meh, I gave up on Netflix a while ago with them pulling shows and other shenanigans. Now I'll see the stuff I want to see by...other means.
Yar.
Yar.
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Yeah the pw sharing thing was what caused me to realize I don't need the service esp if it didnt benefit my family too. I can do other things.
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Instead of finding new ways to innovate to add more customers
easiest solution always is to keep adding more charges.
Congress can easily solve the issue
By having company taxes based on Salary + benefits + bonuses difference between highest paid employee \ shareholder and lowest paid contractor \ employee ( that way there is no loop hole )
That way profits can't go to Executives or shareholders they will just be taxed. Only way for executives and shareholders to get more money is to first increase salary of lowest paid employees.
easiest solution always is to keep adding more charges.
Congress can easily solve the issue
By having company taxes based on Salary + benefits + bonuses difference between highest paid employee \ shareholder and lowest paid contractor \ employee ( that way there is no loop hole )
That way profits can't go to Executives or shareholders they will just be taxed. Only way for executives and shareholders to get more money is to first increase salary of lowest paid employees.
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Netflix’s “password sharing” restrictions made me cancel my subscription after being a customer non-stop from ~2005.
Let’s say you go on a trip and want to use a device to stream Netflix. There are now a few factors that force legit customers to have to pay to use the service away from home.
* I’ve been to a few BnB’s where the TV has a Guest Mode and allows me to sign into my services and use them without having to AirPlay or otherwise find a way to connect my own device. You will now need to pay $7.99 to make that BnB a “member” to watch the content you already pay for.
* I don’t always realize ahead of time that I’ll have time to watch content while away from home. I often have to login again because it’s so far between times where I need to use my phone/tablet for Netflix. If you do not plan ahead and login once every 30 days on every possible device you might use, then when you are away from home and haven’t checked in that device, you will have to pay $7.99 for a new “member” to use the service you already pay for.
I also have a huge gripe in that Netflix has always limited the number of simultaneous streams. The highest tier allows 4 devices to play content from the same account at the same time. There’s the limiter. That’s how you control sharing. Adding all the location bullshit was completely unnecessary.
Let’s pretend they care about your security and are concerned about people sharing passwords… Okay. Why not just let each profile have their own login that goes to the shared account? That makes a lot more sense and they essentially did this but through the $7.99/mth per member fee.
It shouldn’t matter where the streams come from as long as you’re within that limit. Why does that limit even exist any more? Maybe they’re trying to phase it out, but it’s still in their features list so…
Netflix wants to treat me like a pirate because I want to save my young adult children money by allowing them to use 1 or 2 of my available streams. So I decided that’s what I’ll be. I cancelled my subscription and I’ll find other ways to watch their content.
Let’s say you go on a trip and want to use a device to stream Netflix. There are now a few factors that force legit customers to have to pay to use the service away from home.
* I’ve been to a few BnB’s where the TV has a Guest Mode and allows me to sign into my services and use them without having to AirPlay or otherwise find a way to connect my own device. You will now need to pay $7.99 to make that BnB a “member” to watch the content you already pay for.
* I don’t always realize ahead of time that I’ll have time to watch content while away from home. I often have to login again because it’s so far between times where I need to use my phone/tablet for Netflix. If you do not plan ahead and login once every 30 days on every possible device you might use, then when you are away from home and haven’t checked in that device, you will have to pay $7.99 for a new “member” to use the service you already pay for.
I also have a huge gripe in that Netflix has always limited the number of simultaneous streams. The highest tier allows 4 devices to play content from the same account at the same time. There’s the limiter. That’s how you control sharing. Adding all the location bullshit was completely unnecessary.
Let’s pretend they care about your security and are concerned about people sharing passwords… Okay. Why not just let each profile have their own login that goes to the shared account? That makes a lot more sense and they essentially did this but through the $7.99/mth per member fee.
It shouldn’t matter where the streams come from as long as you’re within that limit. Why does that limit even exist any more? Maybe they’re trying to phase it out, but it’s still in their features list so…
Netflix wants to treat me like a pirate because I want to save my young adult children money by allowing them to use 1 or 2 of my available streams. So I decided that’s what I’ll be. I cancelled my subscription and I’ll find other ways to watch their content.
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Lmao it always makes me laugh how the online circle jerk is always far out and away from reality.
They just added 5.9 million new users this past quarter, way above analyst prediction of about 2 million. They are guiding the same increase in the next quarter. They are upping their cash flow by $1.5 billion to $5 billion for this year due to the strike, they are spending less.
They'd be in a position to buy Paramount in the next 1-2 quarters, and they should go for it imo.
They just added 5.9 million new users this past quarter, way above analyst prediction of about 2 million. They are guiding the same increase in the next quarter. They are upping their cash flow by $1.5 billion to $5 billion for this year due to the strike, they are spending less.
They'd be in a position to buy Paramount in the next 1-2 quarters, and they should go for it imo.
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It's interesting to me how game storefronts like Steam and GOG have done a lot to make me buy instead of pirate games. Meanwhile, Netflix and other streaming services seem to be hellbent on keeping me away from them.
Yar-har-fiddle-dee-dee, I guess.
Yar-har-fiddle-dee-dee, I guess.
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Our local library has movies you can borrow for free. We saw "Cocaine Bear" (I found it a bit grizzly ) and the new Shazam recently. Why would I pay for Netflix or their competition?
The best streaming service was PSVue. When Sony killed that (a few months after we switched over ), we tried YouTube+, but YT+ had unskippable ads (at least on SNL which was our favorite show) so we canceled after a month.
With so many streaming options, you end up paying through the nose if you like a bunch of shows across the various options. Better off not getting hooked at all, kinda like crack or heroin.
Edit: Maybe it was GoogleTV, not YouTube+, sorry been a while.
) and the new Shazam recently. Why would I pay for Netflix or their competition?The best streaming service was PSVue. When Sony killed that (a few months after we switched over
), we tried YouTube+, but YT+ had unskippable ads (at least on SNL which was our favorite show) so we canceled after a month.With so many streaming options, you end up paying through the nose if you like a bunch of shows across the various options. Better off not getting hooked at all, kinda like crack or heroin.
Edit: Maybe it was GoogleTV, not YouTube+, sorry been a while.
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They also delete inactive accounts after 10 months now, so their new accounts statistic is likely to be inflated. I returned for the conclusion of Better Call Saul after not subscribing for a year only to find my account was gone. So I probably counted as a new account for Q2 even though I’m not really a new customer, I’ve had Netflix off and on since 2009.
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Good news then! they gained 5.9 million subscribers worldwide in the quarter for 238 million worldwide subscribers! Even the US increased by over 1 million subscribers.
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I’ve wanted to cancel Netflix for a while but every time I’m about to cancel they throw a gem or two on their site (like Beef. What an amazing show). However it really irks me that they charge extra for 4K streaming.
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Netflix's entire model was paying more upfront for shows for lower residuals later. Actors and Writers got pissy because Netflix work turned out to be less than they expected because of shorter seasons less often as Netflix isn't trying to get shows to syndication length (75+ episodes) like old media companies used to.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/netflix-pays-more-tv-shows-164000965.html
Residuals only really work when shows are sold to second and third distributors.
Take The Big Bang Theory it was made by Warner Bros and sold for first airing to CBS then syndication on Fox local stations and TBS so that's your first two residual checks it's streaming rights then got sold first to CBS all access then HBO Max/Max that's two more residual checks.
Netflix for it's own content keeps it on it's own streaming service forever there is no big pay day on a syndication or licencing sale.
When Netflix licences content from NBCUniversal or Sony those companies will pay out residuals that's how it works.
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Sounds like you approve of consumer-unfriendly practices.
If they are counting on people not paying attention to their autopaid charges, then this move makes sense. Last time they raised prices, they lost a significant number of subscribers. There are a lot of options now in the streaming space.
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He was referring to it being unfortunate to my earlier point; we will see what impact these increases will have on their trajectory.
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The way Netflix jerks customers around, you'd think they had the best content in streaming by far but those days are long past. When's the last time they made a real gem like Bojack Horseman?
I've been a customer for 19 years, since the DVD days, and watched my once massive queue shrink to nothing for want of anything worth adding to replace what I finished. So I finally cancelled a couple months back. At the rate Netflix makes good stuff, about 1 month per year is enough for them. That's $15.50/year vs $120/yr if you kept the grandfathered lower cost tier for as long as that lasts. The choice is pretty easy.
I've been roving around the competition. Disney+ has a few good things if you like Marvel and Star Wars (tho the quality varies). Apple, Max and Hulu all have excellent stuff. Why can't Netflix make anything like Dopesick, Severance or For All Mankind? The best they seem capable of now is Wednesday - likable fluff.
I've been a customer for 19 years, since the DVD days, and watched my once massive queue shrink to nothing for want of anything worth adding to replace what I finished. So I finally cancelled a couple months back. At the rate Netflix makes good stuff, about 1 month per year is enough for them. That's $15.50/year vs $120/yr if you kept the grandfathered lower cost tier for as long as that lasts. The choice is pretty easy.
I've been roving around the competition. Disney+ has a few good things if you like Marvel and Star Wars (tho the quality varies). Apple, Max and Hulu all have excellent stuff. Why can't Netflix make anything like Dopesick, Severance or For All Mankind? The best they seem capable of now is Wednesday - likable fluff.
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Ya know what, a long as they offer a monthly rate, I won't pirate their stuff. I can throw them $15.50 per year, I'll just wait till they pile up a month's worth of stuff and give them a month in my churn rotation.
Now if they ever get cute about that and demand a years' subscription to watch anything, they deserve to get pirated up the wazoo.
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There is a big difference. Pirating games means pirating EXECUTABLE FILES, an excelent vector for virii, tojans, worms, roots, et al. Meanwhile, media is orders of magnitude less likely to result in a breach of security (is not completely imposible, but is much harder) ... sooooo ....
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Still on the train that wishes there was a 4K plan with just 1 TV. Have the same problem with car upgrade models, throwing in a bunch of crap you don't need to upcharge on the actual important bit.
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My perennial answer for that kind of question is Amazon.
Apple could buy everyone but they seem far too picky about what they eat.
Google seems content with YouTube and YouTube Live but that could change if something good goes up for sale.
It's hard to see how puny Netflix and the equally puny Hollywood studios can outdo/outlast the tech behemoths.
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