Netflix claims subscribers will get “more content for less” if it buys HBO Max
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Basically we're at the point where you're picking the least evil thing that can happen. Because all outcomes will be bad. There is no good ending and can never be one at this point. This is like when Sprint got passed by with T-mobile. The least of the evil was T-mobile because it would at minimum guarantee there still be 3 players in the game.
The choice is either Netflix and Warner/Discovery merge. Or Skydance or Amazon will own them.
In the case of Skydance I don't think they have the money survive if it screws up badly as they recently ate Paramount and have "Budget Issues" or so they claim. Other then a guaranteed corporate golden parachute. Any investor port of this deal will end up with nothing. And the way Amazon will own them is when Skydance screws up as they can out muscle Netflix in a two for one special. They just aren't because they already ate MGM/UA and the long game now is wait for the bloodbath. Disney Is still digesting Fox and don't think it is in a position to play in this game.
The choice is either Netflix and Warner/Discovery merge. Or Skydance or Amazon will own them.
In the case of Skydance I don't think they have the money survive if it screws up badly as they recently ate Paramount and have "Budget Issues" or so they claim. Other then a guaranteed corporate golden parachute. Any investor port of this deal will end up with nothing. And the way Amazon will own them is when Skydance screws up as they can out muscle Netflix in a two for one special. They just aren't because they already ate MGM/UA and the long game now is wait for the bloodbath. Disney Is still digesting Fox and don't think it is in a position to play in this game.
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It's already too expensive.
What's more, it's an American company, and I feel absolutely no inclination to provide more money to a representative of a rotten dying regime than I absolutely have to.
My Netflix sub ends in 2 weeks and I'm not renewing it.
What's more, it's an American company, and I feel absolutely no inclination to provide more money to a representative of a rotten dying regime than I absolutely have to.
My Netflix sub ends in 2 weeks and I'm not renewing it.
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The tricorner hat used to be the way, and it can be again if they keep this nonsense up.
Three streaming services cost you 2 hours of minimum wage a month.
Building a HTPC costs you about 10 hours of minimum wage, ONCE.
So in less than half a year it starts paying back.
These streaming services need to be reminded that the only reason we aren't massively pirating all their content, is because paying for their services is only mildly more convenient. Don't push it.
Three streaming services cost you 2 hours of minimum wage a month.
Building a HTPC costs you about 10 hours of minimum wage, ONCE.
So in less than half a year it starts paying back.
These streaming services need to be reminded that the only reason we aren't massively pirating all their content, is because paying for their services is only mildly more convenient. Don't push it.
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jokes on them i already canceled when they removed star trek while hiking the prices up, yarrr
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so you also stopped using Amazon after they paid the first whore a 28m$ bribe right?
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How is monopoly talk even relevant anymore? Every streaming service already is a monopoly by gating all their content as exclusive.
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Going back a few years, Netflix was a one-stop shop for video content, for way less than 10$/month.
Then content-providers started pulling their stuff from Netflix, to charge 10$+ for their content. Netflix got the message and raised prices.
Now they they merge their content - and their subscription prices?
Where does all the money go? Is someone getting rich, or did inefficiencies grow with scale? Do antitrust-authorities have the answer? And a recipe to bring prices down?
Then content-providers started pulling their stuff from Netflix, to charge 10$+ for their content. Netflix got the message and raised prices.
Now they they merge their content - and their subscription prices?
Where does all the money go? Is someone getting rich, or did inefficiencies grow with scale? Do antitrust-authorities have the answer? And a recipe to bring prices down?
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I am trying to minimise my use of them, yes.
Argos sells a lot of the stuff I'd want to buy from them, are UK based, and will do same-day delivery for a lot of items in their catalogue.
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abeinspace
Smack-Fu Master, in training
Yes. In fact, as someone who opposes that proposal, it would be a great disservice to the American people if lawmakers wasted time on it in a hearing about a Netflix acquisition that is actually underway. This Netflix acquisition is essentially guaranteed to negatively impact consumers, and it's the responsibility of lawmakers to question that. The ideal situation in the merger wouldn't be for Netflix, the "lesser of two evils," to buy WB so Paramount wouldn't get it. The ideal situation would be for AT&T, whose leveraged buyout in 2018 saddled it with massive debts, to bear responsiblity for the situation that it caused, instead of being allowed to ruin another company and get off scott-free as they did.
And even if that weren't the case, Paramount's desire to vore WB has not materialized into an actual one, and it still wouldn't be worth derailing a congressional hearing about one that actually is happening and will have real consequences. If and when this deal falls through and Paramount's is accepted, I'd want congress to rake them over the absolute coals and do anything they could to end the deal. That's not where we are, though.
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HBO still has monthly commitment in Europe (was via Sky previously) - i commit one month at a time only when there is something of interest, while Netflix is annual. If they merge, I will probably get similar average costs.
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MilanKraft
Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
The Winning Posts. Not much else needs to be said in this case.
(And Ted, you can 100% bet your ass if you hike the price by 50% or more, or if you bump the price by a smaller amount multiple years in a row, I'm gone and will stay gone.
Never go Full Hulu, Ted. Hulu bad... very bad.)
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Do you not remember all the teal and orange films and shows from the last couple of decades.
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Read that headline again. It suggests that Netflix subscribers can cancel only if the merger makes the cost too expensive. They can't cancel otherwise? That is either a bad headline or it is describing the very worst subscription contract ever created..
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Mr Sparrow to the rescue. Any price hikes or declining quality of service that go above my salary increase (-30% since COVID) face the cut. And heck - very often Mr Sparrow will provide video with much higher quality than the overcompressed streamed crap.
A few weeks ago, I needed something done in Photoshop (I am on GIMP now). I got the trial for a week, did what I had to do, cancelled it. Done. Which is more or less what you do when it comes to streaming.
(and I got quite impressed by how bad Photoshop UI/UX has become)
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If you allow us to build out like a monopoly and control a majority of the space, we're not going to act like a monopoly.. pinkie swear. -Netflix.
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SpaghettiYOLOKing
Smack-Fu Master, in training
So basically the streamer equivalent of syndication. It could work, although 2 years before its made available to other streaming platforms is probably more feasible, especially if the much more consumer friendly physical and digital home releases happen after 1 year.
Consumers get to purchase their favorite streaming content one year after it aired or debuted on a streaming platform.
Streaming platforms get to bid for the streaming rights to any series or film previously only available on the streaming platform that produced and distributed it two years after the content debuted on its original streaming platform. The original streaming platform will still be able to stream the series or film, of course, if it's an original series or film that they distributed or acquired through merger and took over production and distribution. The winning streaming platform will be able to stream whatever content they bid to win for two years.
If it's a series or film that a streaming platform bought distribution rights to and had no financial stake in the production of the content, then they lose that content from their platform to whichever streaming platform wins the bid for distribution rights for two years.
I think keeping it to a two year cycle for streaming rights between the platforms and only one other platform can win the streaming rights is a pretty solid way of ensuring content doesn't get hoarded away and lost after major mergers like this. The physical and digital consumer home releases one year after initial streaming debut is also an easy win for consumers that would rather own than subscribe to streaming platforms. Yeah, they'll have to wait a year if they never subscribe to see it as it comes out, but it creates an option for consumers while providing a bit of easy profit for the original streaming platform unless it's content that was made and funded by a film or TV studio and was only distributed through streaming platforms. The original Knives Out film is an example of that.
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These CEOs create churn, then are mad at citizens for availing themselves of the churn they created. When streaming services stay in the single digit fees they proliferate and profit. The moment fees escalate to double digits, people look for free alternatives. How have the CEOs not realized this yet? The figures are publicly available. Even chatGPT can serve up proof of the company-created churn.
Want to keep subs? Drop the price. Doesn't matter if you have all of the content that the entire earth created, price rules our lives. Figure it out, or suffer the heat-death of corporations.
Want to keep subs? Drop the price. Doesn't matter if you have all of the content that the entire earth created, price rules our lives. Figure it out, or suffer the heat-death of corporations.
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chaos215bar2
Ars Praefectus
Is HBO any different at this point?
I unsubscribed from both years ago, because almost none of their new content was actually worth watching.
For Netflix, the last gasp was their Marvel series, which were great, but now gone and fully owned by Disney. HBO's last great effort, in my opinion, was Game of Thrones right up until they ran out of source material and Westworld until they cancelled the fifth season. I also heard Raised by Wolves was pretty good, but again cancelled.
Netflix does actually seem to be doing pretty well at the moment, but it's always been the case that most of what's on TV is just not that great, and most people are fine with it.
Apple TV+ (or whatever they're calling it these days) is the only one now that seems to represent the consistent quality HBO and some of the early Netflix originals were known for.
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Have your way rapacious greedy troll. Dropped HBO/Max ages ago. Signed Netflix only for the winter, will drop shortly.
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I'm sure the GOP rep's on the committee are doing their best to throw sand in the gears for the Netflix bid by throwing the usual "woke", "monopolistic" etc etc droppings at the wall to try and make the bid preferred by Dear Orange Leader look better by comparison.
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The way the headline is written it sounds like he was offering us the ability to cancel as some sort of gesture of good will. The slimy co-CEO's actual words weren't quite that bad, but he just pointed out how easy it is to cancel as if that was evidence enough that this wouldn't create an unhealthy concentration of the market. I hope people do cancel in droves and he gets booted from his job, hopefully without a golden parachute.
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You were never going to get every show and movie ever made past or future for $9.99. Streaming started as a side business for some extra revenue on top of movie tickets and DVDs. Now that it's displaced them it needs to pull the full weight.
Netflix has around 300 million subscribers. Stranger Things 5 cost around $400 million alone.
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It’s the combo phone scrolling-one eye on the TV. You have to keep repeating things because people aren’t paying attention.
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Wow .. you'll allow me to cancel ? Thanks elvis ..
Never a good look when you sit there with a finger in the air .. very osama bin ladin .. pretty good clue how things will go I'm thinkin' ..
Never a good look when you sit there with a finger in the air .. very osama bin ladin .. pretty good clue how things will go I'm thinkin' ..
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"We'w just a iddy biddy stweaming suhvice!"
Points to handwritten sign where the "e" is written backwards
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"Netflix says users can cancel service if HBO Max merger makes it too expensive"
Well, then it sure seems like the merger is NOT in the public's best interests. If only that mattered anymore....
Well, then it sure seems like the merger is NOT in the public's best interests. If only that mattered anymore....
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Moments like this make me happy I bought the one-time payment lifetime access to Plex 
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I hope most of the money went to the actors and crew, cause that last season had so much crap CGI.
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