Netflix’s $72B WB acquisition confounds the future of movie theaters, streaming
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To face regulator scrutiny, in that depending on what gift they give trump determines how well the merger goes
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also Biden wasted like 2 years before putting a quorum on the FCC even though Pai was one of the most insufferable people of the last trump admin.
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I really and honestly struggle with my feelings about this stuff.
I believe in paying and supporting content creators. I'm really grateful for all the subscribers we have, you make a difference in our existence. We are not Too Big Too Fail, that's for sure.
What we do depends on the support of our readers. It doesn't exist otherwise.
And yet when I see people postingetc I not only get where they're coming from, but I also wonder at what point is it almost an ethical response?
3 companies owning every major piece of media is bad. Encouraging the failure of that model almost feels like it might be the best course at this point, since it's clear nobody with any power is going to be on our side.
When they cancel Jimmy Kimmel for speaking some really basic truth to power and the only response available is "cancel Disney+" that's incredibly unhealthy, we shouldn't even be in that position in the first place.
Specifically on this one, I ain't giving a penny to JKR. If flix sprouts hog warts, I'm walking. And that's part of the whole "too big too fail" thing. Nope.
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Alternatively Netflix could return HBO as an exclusively prestige brand. No body currently associates Netflix with quality, I don’t see how they benefit from having 2 schlock brands when they’re acquiring a brand that defined prestige TV.
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I guess at that point I don't see why you would ever pay for any media. If your goal is to boycott something because of foul play, IMO you shouldn't experience the media. If your goal is to just get the media you want, then I don't see why you'd bother to pay for any of it. I'm not falling on the sword for billion dollar media conglomerates, but like i had mentioned, they might be pushing the boundaries of what's considered legal, but at the end of the day there's basically no chance the cops are going to kick down your door for burning your Blu Rays you bought to your own hard drive. Stuff like that gets hard when Netflix doesn't want to release physical media for their shows and they're trapped in an endless subscription service, so that begs the question of what your goal is.
If there's no way to buy something because they're not selling it to you, as sucky as that is, there's a million other things to watch, so support those companies that are giving you that option to buy the stuff, or hell just buy it used like I do for most of my movies. If your goal isn't to buy things to show support in ownership (as far as you're "allowed" to own things by dumb laws created from their bribe/lobbying), then I don't see what's the difference between pirating a show there's no option to by a disc for and another show they did release a box set for since you don't care about that aspect and you just want to watch your show.
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A visit to the White House bearing cheap gold-plated tchotchkes is all the work approval needs nowadays.
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It's possible... like it's possible that you can walk through solid wall - quantum physics allows it, but the probability is so low...
Do you really believe the Netflix of today would have created GoT? The Wire? The Sopranos?
And if they did... they'd have run for two, maybe three seasons and be cancelled in favour of the next new "shiny".
It's an interesting concept, but I suspect – like all enshittification – they're going to ride the HBO cachet until it's a dead horse.
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Remember when many of us thought Netflix was the most execrable company in the world because of their most-obnoxious pop-up ads?
Good times, good times.
Good times, good times.
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"urging that any WB deal “is grounded in the law, not President Trump’s political favoritism.”"
Yeah and who's gonna enforce the law?
Yeah and who's gonna enforce the law?
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''the world’s largest streaming service by subscribers (301.63 million as of January)''
... uh. I mean, I loved Netflix around 2015. But then they started pulling seasons (everyone loves starting a show at season 4, of course). And that was the last straw for me, after stereo audio (while the show was made in 7.1), edited sub tracks that suddenly didn't show the actual captions, and the overall lower quality due to streaming.
Why should I pay Netflix to watch Futurama season 4 to 8 in compressed 720p with half the captions missing, in stereo instead of 7.1, when I can just go download the entirety of the show at native res, uncompressed with full captions and surround sound for free ?
Blows my mind that Netflix still has 300 million customers.
... uh. I mean, I loved Netflix around 2015. But then they started pulling seasons (everyone loves starting a show at season 4, of course). And that was the last straw for me, after stereo audio (while the show was made in 7.1), edited sub tracks that suddenly didn't show the actual captions, and the overall lower quality due to streaming.
Why should I pay Netflix to watch Futurama season 4 to 8 in compressed 720p with half the captions missing, in stereo instead of 7.1, when I can just go download the entirety of the show at native res, uncompressed with full captions and surround sound for free ?
Blows my mind that Netflix still has 300 million customers.
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I'll brace for impact here, but I honestly don't see what the outrage is about. At least - not from the point of view of a US-based viewer.
About the buyout - yes, consolidation is an issue. It's always risky. But here's what I saw happening to HBO without consolidation:
- I have been with HBO from as early as I could afford them. They are what they are. The world is way better off with them than without.
- I have been with Netflix since the beginning. I know of at least one elevator shaft in NYC where a Netflix DVD (The White River Kid with Bob Hoskins) sits calmly at the bottom of the shaft, where it slid as I dropped my mail - probably to this day. The world is a better place with Netflix than without.
- I am probably an outlier here, but in the US, I go to the movies once per year, at most - if that. This was the case before streaming existed. Streaming has not changed anything to that. VHS has not, DVDs have not. Going to the movies is going to the movies. Different experience. There is no scenario where I would not go to the movies because I would wait for the movie to come to streaming. There are however times when a movie that I stumbled on on a streaming service will impact me enough to go and see the sequel at the theaters.
About the buyout - yes, consolidation is an issue. It's always risky. But here's what I saw happening to HBO without consolidation:
- Idiotic name changes.
- HBO native content getting delisted and sent elsewhere. Then becoming completely unavailable.
- TCM getting diluted to a point where it's difficult to track what fell through the cracks and if it exists at all.
- An all-around murkiness of what became with content. What disappeared, what got moved.
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It's pretty interesting to watch the increasing drive to become a full cyberpunk oligarchy come into being. Arasaka or Militech?
Interesting in a bad way.
Interesting in a bad way.
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That sounds good in theory, but somehow it's inevitably going to raise costs. I can see it raising costs whether they offer current Netflix standalone as an option or not.
On the following, I only mention this as a second option to the current billing model. Since I don't enjoy canceling services round-robin, and I'm not a very heavy user of streaming, I wish some company would use their influence to establish the Apple iTunes type model for rentals. Again, as an option - not trying to affect everyone else. Charging by the hour watched, per month, for example. I feel like I've been subsidizing the heavy streamers for years and I wouldn't mind this option. I can't sustain the steaming price increases forever and eventually I'll probably just drop the service entirely. Main reason is I'm between jobs (I'm an old dude, and this year hasn't been kind to me) and having to start making tough decisions. You'd think they'd be happier with 'some' income, since I don't utilize it much, than none at all.
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Nora Lenderbee
Ars Tribunus Militum
NetFlix could simply promise Trump to make a really nice documentary movie, with a couple of leading stars in it, extolling the bigly bestest president of all times. The deal would sail through the regulatory exam without effort.
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Because monopoly has a specific definition, and it isn’t “BIG AND BAD!!!”
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the worst part is that HBO actually made great shows and usually followed with the story while netflix is just about viewership and cancellations are ripe left and right...
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The costs were going to go up regardless as they do for everything.
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psst don't go look at how many HBO shows were cancelled after just one season lol.
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"Physical media is basically dead." No it isn't. You can buy a cheap, good (or: good enough) CD+DVD R/W which plugs into your computer by USB for like, 30 bucks. I like owning my media and I loathe streaming, so I still buy CDs and DVDs.
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I'm pretty sure it's implicit that the people asking for that also want it to be $10/month with no ads like it used to be. Though, I'd probably be willing to pay $30 if it actually had everything. That's what I was paying for just Netflix and Disney before I cancelled them.
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DVD hasn't been a relevant movie format for almost 20 years. Physical media is, if not dead, on life support. I love 4K Blu-rays, and have a 100+ collection of Blu-rays, but that's not common and I have no intention of building a large 4K collection. Even if I wanted to, lots of stuff isn't available physically or only comes out way after it's available digitally.
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I currently pay $25 a month for ad-free 4K Netflix, while AMC A-List is $25.99 a month to watch up to 4 movies a week in the theater.
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I find it really interesting how the general tone on Microsoft- Activision was "this is great, Microsoft can save Activision"
And now, the vibe is this.
Personally, I'm much more optimistic on this. Netflix is a great globaliser, and investor in genuinely new media. People complain about them, but their Marvel TV universe was absolutely peak, which came to an end thanks to Disney.
What would a competent DC TV universe be like? Actual budget behind the DC cartoons? And i can finally access HBO internationally?!
Mark my words, this one will result in improvements for everyday consumers over the current status quo.
And now, the vibe is this.
Personally, I'm much more optimistic on this. Netflix is a great globaliser, and investor in genuinely new media. People complain about them, but their Marvel TV universe was absolutely peak, which came to an end thanks to Disney.
What would a competent DC TV universe be like? Actual budget behind the DC cartoons? And i can finally access HBO internationally?!
Mark my words, this one will result in improvements for everyday consumers over the current status quo.
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Those days never went away for most series. They are available on iTunes and Amazon Prime at least, and often on DVD still.
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You're not "buying" on iTunes or Prime or any other digital platform. You're paying for a licence to view - and that licence can be (and has been) ripped away with no notice.
https://law.vanderbilt.edu/gone-but-not-forgotten/
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That's been true for every digital store front for video since day one.
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Right, so to equate "buying" via a digital storefront to owning a physical copy is flawed.
Of course, even physical copies aren't forever. Players break down and, whilst they are still making players - how long until that goes by the wayside?
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Has Netflix actually taken a good look at HBO numbers? Currently, we get HBO Max for free with AT&T Internet. That probably disappears if this happens - and it's not like we'd sign up to pay for it. If Netflix raises prices too much, to cover it, we'll just drop Netflix. I've already tried to cut it a few times - if it approaches $40/month, I may be able to convince the wife..
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We need to do to film and television what steam and gog or even Kaz Hirai's Sony did for independents in the video game industry.
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That's why you rip it off the media and keep a DRM-free copy on your computer..
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yeah, no it's absolutely not. It wouldn't make any sense whatsoever for this to have any regulatory scrutiny given how much Disney and Amazon have already been able to acquire. To argue Netlfix cannot make the acquisition is nonsense
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Why? Disney and even Amazon have been given a pass to acquire several times over. Saying Netflix can't do this acquisition is silly given those facts
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Closer to home, Sony buying Crunchyroll and then installing Funimation's leadership is why subtitle quality has been going down the toilet in recent months, as they've scrapped CR's more-capable in-house tooling.
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Looking at it from the narrow viewpoint of Last Week Tonight fans (of which I am one), Netflix purchasing WB/HBO Max seems much more preferable than having the other likely buyer, Paramount/Skydance, getting HBO.
The latter is owned by The Ellisons, and are hand in pocket with the Trump administration; and everything I've read about them made a LWT cancellation seem extremely likely if Paramount got HBO Max.
Netflix has many downsides (particularly if you're a content creator), but I haven't heard about them having much interaction with, much less kowtowing to, the Turd Reich.
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Sorry that's your experience, but it's definitely not mine. I can't remember ever hearing screaming kids and I go to the movies at least a few times a month. Even people on their phones or talking is pretty rare. Maybe because I usually see them on the premium format screens.
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