
Netflix Is Winning the Streaming Race–But for How Long? - ptrptr
http://fortune.com/2017/03/10/netflix-video-streaming-market/
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stormbrew
Things that keep me with Netflix:

\- I can watch their shows on any device, including my chromecast (unlike
Amazon Prime Video) and linux laptops.

\- I don't live in the US, so most of these alternatives just plain don't
exist for me, and the local versions of them are mostly awful.

Sometimes I feel like these doomsaying articles (cfe also Uber) are coming
from a hopelessly American perspective. They wonder "why is this company still
so successful around the world when X, Y, and Z American competitors exist?"

Well, mostly because the rest of us don't have those options and so the one
that actually takes a global perspective wins by default.

~~~
moonka
>\- I can watch their shows on any device, including my chromecast (unlike
Amazon Prime Video) and linux laptops.

In addition to the availability of the app, it's a much nicer app than Hulu or
Amazon provides. I saw this as someone who mainly uses streaming on a Fire
tablet and Fire sticks. The main benefit of prime over netflix was that you
could download videos for flights, but netflix recently added that capability.

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27182818284
For the second time in more than a decade I've been considering cancelling my
Netflix account. There are two main reasons I haven't:

1\. It is basically background-billing at this point. Like Netflix is
something you have in your monthly bills like your power bill. It is just a
part of life.

2\. Their independent shows are a lot more crucial for keeping people like me
around. I'm to the point where I almost want to put it on hold or just cancel
it until the next favorite season of X comes out. In my case, Stranger Things
this October.

However, like I mentioned, I've thought about cancelling and I doubt I'm the
only one, so the article's quotes from Count Morningstar Research make sense
to me.

~~~
ascagnel_
If you cancelled Netflix today and waited until 10/31/2017 (the release date
of Season 2), you'd save $48-$72 (depending on which tier of Netflix you
subscribe to). The big benefit of the "new" group of streaming services is
that (with the exception of Amazon Prime) you can switch them on and off at
will to save a bit of money here and there.

~~~
zelias
Yeah, but is the money you save by doing this worth the headache of
remembering to do it at all?

~~~
ascagnel_
I feel that if I cancel something and then don't remember to reactivate it,
I'm probably better off without it in the first place.

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bo1024
A. The impending death of net neutrality in the US could (though I don't know
the odds on this) throw a huge wrench into these works. Does it look likely in
the next couple years that ISPs will be allowed to throttle Netflix in favor
of their own services?

B. I hate that "the streaming race" is the only race in town. When will we
have price-viable options to purchase, download, and own a movie? (Own: have
control over, e.g. can store, back up, watch on any platform, etc.). The only
options I know of are DRM-controlled like iTunes and even those cost orders of
magnitude more than streaming by reasonable measures.*

*Netflix users pay about $10/month and watch on average about 45 hours/month of video (about $0.20/hour), while downloads cost about $20 per movie. If the downloaded two-hour video is watched five times on average, to pick a number out of a hat, that's still a cost of about $2/hour of watching.

~~~
mcv
Watch the same thing five times on average? What for? There's way too much
other cool stuff to watch.

I admit our Thomas the Tank Engine DVDs have probably been played more than 50
times by now, so buying popular kids stuff makes sense (and these cost a lot
less than $20), but for me, I generally prefer to watch something new rather
than the same thing a second time.

The impending death of net neutrality is only a US thing. Netflix is more
international than that. I doubt it's going to impact me much.

~~~
bo1024
My point was that downloads are 10x overpriced even if you plan to watch them
5 times. If you watch it less, then they're just more overpriced.

The numbers I found (Netflix earnings report from Q3 and Q4 of 2016) seemed to
indicate, if I'm reading it right, that they actually lose money
internationally and are only profitable in the US. So I think they're in a
very fragile position with regards to US policy changes.

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rdtsc
I canceled my Netflix. I have been re-watching some older shows like The
Office. I liked Stranger Things - a pretty well done show. But all in all I
have not been using it.

Up until recently I was able to watch Netflix on my Ubuntu laptop via some
user agent switching trick I found, but that stopped working recently, so
that's another thing that drove the decision.

Also I have a an Amazon Firestick so unfortunately if stuff is available there
I'd end up watching it there since launching Netflix app was another extra
step.

~~~
jandrese
I watch Netflix on my Ubuntu laptop using Chrome. No user agent switching or
anything. You have to use full up Chrome from Google's repo, not Chromium from
the Ubuntu repo. Chromium doesn't have the DRM bits that Netflix needs.

The other caveat is that Netflix hates my Hurricane Electric tunnel, so I have
to sysctl off IPv6 when watching on the laptop. This is annoying but not
Ubuntu's fault.

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hypercluster
I really want to like Netflix but unfortunately it just isn't enough. Sure the
originals are good but the rest isn't very new and isn't very good. Some gems
here and there but good movies are rare and the shows you want to watch are
not included. This led me to get Sky(UK and Germany only I guess?). Quite
expensive but at least lots of rotation and newish movies.

//edit: I wait until worthwhile seasons accumulated and binge watch for a
month.

~~~
Nexxxeh
In the UK, you'd probably be better off with Now TV. It's basically Sky's IP-
only platform. If you don't mind 720p and the lack of subtitles (with subs
currently in closed beta), it's pretty cheap. Especially as you can buy a box
with a code for 3 months Entertainment package for £15 with a free locked-down
Roku box.

If you're actually IN the UK, they do a rather good DVB-T2 IPTV hybrid box
called the Now TV Smart Box.

Although I'm the opposite entirely. Last thing I watched that was Sky-
exclusive was West World. Netflix and Amazon Prime have been smashing it.

Black Sails is just about to finish up on Amazon Prime (exclusive) and I'm
just getting up to current on Hell on Wheels, and the second season of Hand of
God, having just finished binging Vikings and Patriot.

I'm looking forward to the full seasons of Jean-Claude Van Johnson, and The
Tick, both having had well received pilots (as did Patriot.)

Netflix are about to release Iron Fist, which I'm chomping at the bit for.
Luke Cage was a bit of a let down for me, but only in the context of DD and JJ
which were superlative.

They've brought scifi ranging from the gourmet The Expanse to junkfood
Killjoys, including the rather enjoyable Travellers. (Weirdly I watched the
season of Hell on Wheels where they changed a character's actress to MacKenzie
Porter, _after_ watching Travellers.) Stranger Things, ASoUE, Narcos, the new
season of Black Mirror (having moved from Channel 4), the surprisingly
excellent Shooter...

And Arc, Gantz: O, iBoy, Santa Clarita Diet, Kuro Mukuro, Aldnoah Zero, Ajin:
Demi Human, Your Lie In April, Better Call Saul... There's no shortage on new
varied content that I've thoroughly enjoyed.

I've still got some new-ish Sense8 and the second season of Bloodline to
watch.

I can't think of a month that hasn't provided a new influx of excellent
content on both platforms.

~~~
hypercluster
I'm from Germany but we do have those Sky Tickets as well. It's tempting but
if you get both tickets (Entertainment and Movies) then it's actually as
expensive as the real thing here. Plus there's always content that's exclusive
to TV.

I didn't like the Netflix Marvel stuff but you're right there are good shows
on there no question. I enjoyed The Expanse and Killjoys too (on Sky) but good
to see that those are available too (although Killjoys not in Germany it
seems..). But as soon as the second seasons of The Expanse starts it will take
a while until Netflix has it whereas Sky will show it sooner (or did Netflix
get better with this?).

~~~
Nexxxeh
Whoa, that's weird pricing. Although no more so than ours I guess!

But a full Sky sub here is ridiculously expensive at retail. To get Sky
Atlantic and SyFy in HD (1080i) you need the "Boxset" bundle at £38 a month.
The "Original" package (even at £22) is SD only for the premium channels.

Even paying monthly, that's more than NowTV Entertainment (which is most of
Sky's premium entertainment pack except SyFy, in 720p), Netflix and Amazon
Prime combined at full price (£22.49).

You're right, The Expanse S02 will be a binge-able dump on Netflix, at the
end, rather than a weekly trickle on SciFy, despite its billing as a Netflix
Original.

~~~
hypercluster
Okay it's actually similar for us but nobody gets Sky with normal pricing,
there's always an offer that gets you Sky + Entertain + Movies + HD for 30€.
Sky Ticket Entertainment is 10€ + Movies Ticket 15 € so it's aaaaalmost the
the same. Maybe I'll switch to Netflix + Amazon + Sky Entertainment too and
live with the fact that I'll miss out on movies.

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mcv
This is just one pessimistic investor. Many think that Netflix will continue
to grow. As a user, I think Netflix is getting a lot of things very right.
Their original content is really, really excellent, and they make it really
easy to keep track of where you are in a long series (unlike when I'm
recording something from TV, for example).

