
Netflix introduces new plans and price changes - evanw
http://blog.netflix.com/2011/07/netflix-introduces-new-plans-and.html
======
Cherian_Abraham
Does anyone share my opinion that Netflix should have taken this opportunity
to clarify as to why these price hikes are inevitable, due to the sky high
content licensing costs they themselves have to pay to the content providers
to keep streaming possible. I didnt see any mention of this in their entire PR
release and I think at least the community would have read that and not
perceived this announcement as a "more money grab" and as Netflix doing what
it has to, to keep offering the best content available for streaming.

I think it threw away that chance and left the door open to a lot of these
"entitlement" type comments that harp about how Netflix used to charge $8 per
month and can never ever change that. Ever.

I for one, plan to stay with Netflix and opt for the Streaming option as long
as it makes sense. As for DVD/Bluray, I will go to my neighborhood Redbox.

Blockbuster? You, I havent yet gotten over the $4.99 rental fee, so you stay
in the shit list for a little while longer.

~~~
natrius
The streaming prices didn't change, so this isn't a licensing issue.

~~~
mortenjorck
[http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_con...](http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_contract/index.htm)

 _"Netflix has another year or two on most of these contracts, and then the
game completely changes," says Michael Pachter, analyst at Wedbush
Securities._

 _Pachter predicts Netflix's streaming content licensing costs will rise from
$180 million in 2010 to a whopping $1.98 billion in 2012._

~~~
encoderer
Michael Pachter is an analyst for a private equity firm. Google for some
choice opinion and meta-analysis.

And for all we know, Wedbush is short on NFLX.

People have been parroting this guys opinion as if it's fact. It's worthwhile
analysis, perhaps even correct, but they've got money in this game on one side
or the other and without knowing which, this opinion is useless.

~~~
mortenjorck
Your skepticism is well-reasoned and fair.

All I'm saying is, Netflix's actions today would seem to point to Pachter
being correct.

------
wiredfool
I'm really unclear how the 1 disk out at a time is 'unlimited'. It's more
along the lines of 'either I or my wife can see our choice'. And to call their
streaming unlimited ignores the lack of depth in their streaming catalog.

I really only want the dvds for things that they don't stream. So, their new
dvd plan is essentially a tax on me for their streaming plan not being good
enough.

And now, given how often I actually get around to watching something, It's
barely worth it at the current price, and not worth it at 2x.

[ edit quantification -- I've been a member this time for a year and a half,
and just shy of half the streaming was in the first week, (two sick parents
and kids to entertain will do that), and 7 titles streamed in the last year.
We've gotten 7 dvds in that whole time, and watched all of 3 of them. Doing
the math -- not worth $16/month. ]

~~~
njharman
The streaming selection is getting better all the time. They are adding stuff
faster than I can watch it. And I already have 100's of hours in my queue.

Streaming offers more than I could ever watch...

~~~
noonespecial
For me a bunch of stuff has disappeared while I was trying to get through a
series. I'm now wary of starting any long series for fear it will be gone
before I get to the end. I used to get on netflix to see what new stuff was
added, now I get on to see what's been taken off.

It really sucks when things just vanish from your queue and you find they're
gone from the service for good. Feels like bait and switch.

------
dasil003
Looking at the comments I'm amazed at how quickly the sense of entitlement
sets in. Netflix cut the cost and hassle of entertainment by 80-90% over what
was traditionally available from rental stores and cable subscriptions a few
years ago. Big content is seeing their profits evaporate and playing hard-ball
with Netflix, and all you get is whining from customers about paying
$15/month.

~~~
zavulon
It doesn't matter that they cut costs compared to "what was traditionally
available". What matters is they RAISED costs compared to what they had
before. For a long time now, I shared a plan with my parents - they used the
DVD's, I used unlimited streaming, and we were happy. Now we have to get two
separate plans, and pay more. Since there's no better option, we'll do this,
but I think we're fully within our rights to complain.

~~~
kinofcain
"I think we're fully within our rights to complain."

Wait, what? You were violating their terms of service and you're complaining
because they're raising the price you will have to pay to keep violating their
terms of service? It's not like they're even threatening to cut you off.

I'm pissed they're raising my plan, but certainly you must have known you were
getting away with something.

~~~
seabee
Surely it is only a TOS violation if he doesn't live with his parents.

------
seasoup
My problem with this announcement is they try and tell their customers what a
good deal this is for them when it is obviously not good for them. It's a more
expensive deal then what they currently have, if they had been upfront about
it and said "our costs are going up due to content providers charging more for
their content" or "in order to acquire more premium content for our streaming
service we need to charge more" then I think people wouldn't have such an
issue.

It's the worse deal + treating customers like they won't notice it that is the
problem.

~~~
mortenjorck
At the very least, it could have been spun as a move "to better serve our
streaming customers with more premium content," which might have at least
rescued the post from the level of "insulting."

------
jm4
I wonder how many Netflix members are also Amazon Prime members. I'm currently
on a $15/mo 2-disc/streaming plan. But I also have Amazon Prime. I have the
Amazon channel on my Roku and have checked out the catalog a couple times. At
a glance, it looks pretty similar to Netflix. It never occurred to me to use
it because streaming was included in my Netflix plan and I've already been
using it for years.

I'm not so much bothered by the price hike. My price will go up to $20/mo. I'm
not going to gripe too much considering how much I use Netflix. But now that
DVDs and streaming are separate plans it creates a strong incentive for me to
use Amazon Prime for streaming. I'm already paying for it so I can get the
free shipping. Now I can change my Netflix plan from $15/mo (soon to be
$20/mo) to $7.99/mo and get the same overall service. I wonder if they thought
this through.

~~~
russell_h
That was my first thought as well. I'll almost certainly drop my Netflix
streaming entirely come September 1st, and just use Prime for streaming (also
convenient because Amazon has a pretty good selection of newer/better content
you can pay for, and this way I don't have to make sure I can play Netflix AND
Prime on my home theater device).

On the other hand, my guess is that the number of Prime subscribers is tiny
compared to the number of Netflix subscribers. So while this could be a great
opportunity for Amazon to do something about that, I don't think Netflix has
to worry about losing huge numbers of subscribers to Amazon as things stand.

------
eck
TLDR: Netflix raises subscription cost 60%. The comments on the post are
vicious.

They are duplicitous. DVD by mail is not a separate product. It is a
workaround for the fact that they have failed to license their entire library
for streaming. Now they have a perverse incentive to limit their streaming
library to encourage people to pay extra for DVD service.

[edit] Now had they just said, "Hollywood is putting the screws to us, we need
to raise our prices" I could respect that.

~~~
jonknee
Except their costs for DVD services are a _lot_ higher (hence it being more
than a $2 add on). Netflix wants everyone to stream, but because they haven't
been able to license and not everyone is interested in streaming (bandwidth
and viewing location being two obstacles) they will have to keep the DVD side
up for quite some time.

------
brettnak
I find the (dis)honesty of this post baffling. I understand that they want to
increase prices, whether because of greed, licensing, or other costs - I don't
care. What seems extremely dishonest to me is to say that this somehow
benefits the customer when it just doesn't. People want streaming w/ physical
DVD as a backup for things that aren't there on streaming. This, therefore, is
just a price increase.

------
m0nastic
I pay ~100/month for cable. I've had a Netflix subscription for ~6 months.
Since subscribing to Netflix, my girlfriend and I have watched less than 20
hours of television via cable. We maintain a cable subscription for pretty
much the same reason people rationalize a landline phone (just in case).

Netflix can raise their prices about 10x before I'd even consider not renewing
my subscription.

"But comparing Netflix to Cable is a bullshit comparison, the content on
Netflix is way less" you might say. In theory, you are right. The content
available via Instant Watch is way limited; and it has less newer content.

All I know is that since we've started using Netflix, I've stopped buying
DVD's (I used to order 15-20 a week from Amazon), I've stopped watching the
DVD's I already own (I have about 1000 sitting in giant plastic tubs in the
closet that I never dig through), and I've stopped watching regular
television.

~~~
smackfu
15-20 a week from Amazon? What the fuck. I know one series you may end up on:
Hoarders.

~~~
m0nastic
Once or twice a year I'd prune out all the movies that I was certain I'd never
want to watch again (Shallow Hal, I'm looking squarely at you).

I did the same thing with CD's when I was younger. Thankfully, the universe
ran out of music that I like.

------
silverlight
I really think they could have done a much better job of framing the
discussion around this increase. Talking about why they're doing it (not some
B.S. about how "they really want to show people that they are committed to
DVDs by mail") would have been appreciated.

Customers are not stupid. They see right through PR speak, and you can clearly
see that in the comments.

~~~
binxbolling
I think your post nailed what's intriguing me right now: Netflix did a
terrible job communicating these changes. It's odd to me to see such a large,
well-liked company spend so much of their social capital (brand loyalty or
belovedness) without better messaging.

For example, in an age where bundling is ubiquitous, I think Netflix needed to
have a better explanation for why one service is being split into two and why
there's no discount for joining both. Netflix needed to do a two-pronged
approach -- here's what we're going to do for you, and here's what you're
going to do for us. We all understood the latter (we're going to pay more),
but nobody gets what Netflix is offering in return.

------
chime
I don't know why people are complaining so much. The company did exactly what
they should have - they hiked the price to stay in business and clearly
informed their customers in advance. Evidently many people were abusing the
unlimited streaming + DVD subscription before and it was not cost-effective
for the company to continue to offer the deal.

Percentage-wise while it sounds a huge increase, it is absolutely nothing when
you look at the real dollars. My cell phone bill is $100+, ISP is $70+, web
hosting is $30+, and I pay $10+/month for many different web services (include
many startups I found via HN). How is $8/mo for renting 3-4 DVDs a month too
high? Sure, it was $2 before but you can't expect any company to make money on
deals that get abused by more than a few.

I'd rather have Netflix charge their customers appropriately than go out of
business or start nickel and diming like airlines or cellphone companies.

~~~
sologoub
The pricing doesn't seem all that great. Take $7.99 per month for 1 DVD out.
That equals to 8 DVDs rented for one of those DVD rental boxes in a grocery
store (RedBox, BlockBuster) assuming you return them the next day. In order
for you to rent 8 DVDs in 30 day month, you have to be getting new DVDs every
3.75 days.

So basically, in order for it to equal the cost of a comparable product, you
have to get the DVD and watch it the same night, then ship it back and hope
2.75 days is enough for Netflix to ship you another one.

Don't know about others here, but I don't really get time to watch DVDs during
work days. This leaves the weekend, so for $8 a month, I can rent 2 DVDs per
weekend and receive greater amount of entertainment during a more convenient
time.

So using your example of 4 DVDs per month, that's $2 per with Netflix or $1
(50% less) per with box rental services. So in terms of actual spending, you
are still only saving 4 bucks (not even a cup of coffee), but % wise, you save
50%.

(and yes, I go to the store regularly, so I'm not counting cost of gas in this
example)

Now, if they only had the latest stuff in the streaming catalog... that would
be entirely different story.

~~~
2arrs2ells
If you only watch new releases, your math makes sense.

But the big draw of Netflix DVD by mail is its enormous back catalog. The size
of the Redbox library pales in comparison.

~~~
sologoub
Very true, and that is also where their streaming service is reasonably good.
Although, there are still holes.

------
evanw
The really bad news: No more Unlimited Streaming + Unlimited DVD combines
plan.

\---

 _Second, we are separating unlimited DVDs by mail and unlimited streaming
into separate plans to better reflect the costs of each and to give our
members a choice: a streaming only plan, a DVD only plan or the option to
subscribe to both. With this change, we will no longer offer a plan that
includes both unlimited streaming and DVDs by mail.

So for instance, our current $9.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming
and unlimited DVDs will be split into 2 distinct plans:

Plan 1: Unlimited Streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month Plan 2: Unlimited
DVDs, 1 out at-a-time (no streaming), for $7.99 a month.

The price for getting both of these plans will be $15.98 a month ($7.99 +
$7.99). For new members, these changes are effective immediately; for existing
members, the new pricing will start for charges on or after September 1,
2011._

~~~
encoderer
So for folks like me, who have Unlimited Streaming + 1 Disc + Bluray, we've
been paying $11.99 before taxes.

Now, we'll be paying $17.99.

That is a very significant increase and very unfortunate.

I don't begrudge what they're doing: Weaning you off your DVD habit and onto
their streaming service.

But I just think they are jumping the gun. Get some more first-run content
available first.

As it is, I'm going to take it on the chin and pay the extra $6, but with a
lot less love for Netflix, for at least a little while until I forget about
this.

~~~
ctdonath
"I don't begrudge what they're doing: Weaning you off your DVD habit and onto
their streaming service."

Neither would I, if they weren't REDUCING the streaming service from my
perspective. Dozens of movies on my streaming queue have disappeared before I
could get to them - something I didn't mind so much so long as I could at
least get the disc version.

General consensus seems: if pretty much everything were available streaming,
fine - but it's not, and it's that "not" part which is small enough to make
the DVD plan too expensive yet the content is personally important enough that
we'll pay anyway.

~~~
encoderer
I agree, I hate that. The nuts and bolts don't matter, bad service is bad
service, but in case you're just curious, the reason that most often happens
is due to their StarzPlay agreement.

A lot of the decent newer movies on their service come from their contract
with Starz to stream any of the movies currently playing on that network.

Well, Starz only gets movies for a certain period (same as any other TV
network). So when the run is over on Starz, it's removed from netflix as well.

This isn't the entire story, but I've found 9/10 of the movies that are
removed from my instant queue are because of this.

------
mattcurry
I've taken to getting DVDs from my local library.

\- I can reserve online and they'll get it from any library in the network.

\- Generally get new release DVDs much faster then Netflix

\- Get entire seasons of TV shows at once instead of a disc at a time.

\- Free

The big negative is I have to actually go and get them, but I generally pass
the library daily, so it isn't that big of a deal.

------
jjm
This sucks. The streaming collection sucks even more. Every time I login the
only titles being added are bottom rated movies and "Mock busters". Complete
crap honestly.

It also looks like the meat of the customers are in these lower end plans.

I have no intention of passing Netflix on as just another cable bill.

 __We need more innovation in this space. __

------
smackfu
Netflix brought this on themselves by including streaming in the plans for
free to start with, which gave the message that this should be valued at $0.
Now they want to charge $8 for that, and should not be surprised if there is a
backlash.

------
vaksel
seems nothing more than just a price hike.

at the very least, they could have thrown in some good news about how they are
increasing the quality of each service by adding a ton more stuff to netflix
instant etc.

~~~
seanalltogether
Unfortunately their streaming catalog has just _decreased_ recently as a
result of ongoing negotiations with sony. All of this is probably in
preparation for the fact that streaming rights are set to increase
dramatically over the next 2-3 years

------
alexgaribay
I think this is a horrible idea. I was actually thinking about upgrading my
unlimited streaming plan to get the unlimited dvds option for $9.99. That
price is such a good deal and I think it attracted a lot of customers because
they were getting bang for their buck. But now that Netflix has announced this
new pricing schema, I will definitely will not be doing so and I'm sure many
customers are unhappy about this change.

------
quandrum
For everyone complaining in this thread, I will remind them of the article
from several days ago indicating studios have increased their streaming
licensing costs from ~180 million to ~1.98 Billion _.

If they think this price increase is enough to stay afloat, honestly, I'm
impressed

_[http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_con...](http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_contract/index.htm)

~~~
smackfu
They didn't actually raise the price of a streaming-only plan though.

------
jerhinesmith
I wonder how many people now live close enough to a Redbox location that
dropping the Netflix DVD service and going streaming + Redbox ends up being
cheaper and affording of more DVDs/month.

~~~
healsdata
Interesting point. Since Redbox is $1 a movie and the "1 movie at a time"
Netflix plan is a minimum of about $.80 per movie, it really does make the two
pricing plans pretty equal. The Netflix cost per disc goes up if you don't
watch and return them as soon as possible.

On top of that, Redbox would let you get four movies on a Friday night to
watch Friday & Saturday while Netflix would require you to watch movies during
the work week (to keep the price per disc equal, at least).

------
nplusone
To those who are unhappy that customers are whining, I'd like to offer some
context:

The instant viewing section is almost unusable since they launched their
layout redesign in early June. The only logical explanation for introducing
such a poor UX is to restrict users from accessing content in the first place,
to reduce costs.

There continue to be a substantial number of complaints following that
redesign, to which Netflix never adequately responded. Now they are raising
prices on an already reduced customer experience. It's possible that Netflix
could have gotten away with raising prices (with a reasonable explanation for
doing so), but this change is happening in a broader context where Netflix is
essentially taking its customers for a ride.

I suppose I could be completely wrong. The redesign might offer a wonderful
experience that somehow I can't grasp. But that seems unlikely.

------
eddof13
There's actually a reason for this:
[http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_con...](http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_contract/)

People can complain all they want, but the price increases are necessary.

~~~
bryanlarsen
If it's a price increase because costs went up, then say so. We might not like
it, but we'll understand. Don't spin it to pretend that they're doing
something for our benefit.

------
brown9-2
The oddest part to me about this pricing announcement is that the company
announces a new set of plans, but only mentions the price of _just one_ option
in the announcement - the one in which prices are rising the highest (1 dvd at
a time plus streaming).

I am currently paying for 2 DVDs at a time plus streaming, for $14.99/month.
According to the recently updated Your Account page, this will cost $19.99 in
a few months, a price raise of 33%.

Not as dramatic as the rise mentioned in the announcement - so why not mention
that? Why make me hunt for how much other plans will be changing?

~~~
berberich
I'm pretty sure that was by far the most popular plan.

------
sad
This sure sets the table for spinning off the DVD rental product. Prior to
this arrangement the two were practically inseparable.

------
username3
Pay $7.99 and have both by switching your plan during the month when you want
streaming and when you want DVDs.

------
cyanbane
I feel like this is a chicken and egg scenario between big media wanting more
for their content and consumers wanting a better selection of first run movies
via streaming. Netflix (at its current pricing structure I assume from the
comments here) can't afford newer titles however people want a better
selection in the streaming section. One's gotta give and I feel like they
chose to go with letting the customer pay more in an attempt to secure better
streaming titles. Unfortunately in the climate of hearing about monthly caps
from ISPs I don't feel like it was the best choice. I am going to go back to
physical medium, and somewhat debating if I even want to continue that. $12 is
3 decent titles from a console service or Amazon a month. A la carte will win
the day.

edit: clarity of second sentence.

~~~
thecoffman
Contrary to what you've said here - I've never been a fan of a la carte
pricing. I want the unlimited plan. When I get home from work - I generally
have netflix on in the background with some documentary or other while I do
housework or hack on stuff - same as I'm going to sleep. I probably play 3-4
titles every single day. Clearly a la carte pricing would not be a viable
option for streaming 90-120 programs a month.

~~~
masterzora
My use case is very similar and, as such, I agree with you. Unfortunately,
given unlimited plans, heavy usage like ours tends to be subsidised by people
who aren't anywhere near the average usage but still pay the same amount. I'm
generally in favour of such subsidies (even for services where I'm an
underutiliser), but I don't believe this to be a popular opinion since it's
"unfair".

------
revorad
Random aside: The Netflix blog doesn't have page titles!

------
wildmXranat
I appreciate the overall disturbance in the rental and cable industry that
netflix pulled off, but as a canadian ex-customer, this will not get me back.
In fact, it still feels like a liability when you couple a really bad
selection with our shitty bandwidth caps.

------
ronp
This was a botched attempt at spinning bad news into something else. If the
message was more forthcoming I suspect there'd be a lot less ire. I'm unlikely
to opt for a streaming+dvd plan. Hey, maybe I'll get some stuff done around
the house!

------
paul9290
By looks of the comments I guess people don't understand if Netflix streamed
everything they offered on DVD then A) Cable TV business model would crumble
bringing down billions of dollars or B) It would have to be as costly as cable
TV.

Netflix streaming is great and it's turned this once illegal downloader into a
consumer.

Im sure in the future they will offer high priced streaming plans that offer
more, but of course not too much more. Understandably Hollywood does not want
to cut off a huge revenue stream and all of us entrepreneur are smart enough
to know this ... the general public not so much.

------
Keyframe
Even at that price it's a steal. It should be at least 5x more. I really don't
see how netflix pulled it off with content providers, they must have a really
large user base i guess. Also, I've seen a lot of people talking about "money
grab" - consider that entertainment production is a REALLY expensive sport,
with each product considered a startup in its own right. Lots of them aren't
successful and tag along their successful brothers.

------
ctdonath
I'm on the "unlimited 2-at-a-time" plan 'cuz my wife & I have separate queues
(sappy romantic comedies vs. sci-fi action).

BIG QUESTION: how will Netflix handle the distribution of rather large queues
now? We've spent quite some time assembling three queues (2 DVD and 1
streaming) totaling some 400 movies, and will be quite cheesed off if 2/3rds
of it disappears just because the service provider encouraged/forced us to
switch plans.

~~~
kpozin
I'm guessing that if you backed up the queue that's about to be eliminated --
by saving a copy of the queue page to disk (as HTML, PDF, etc.) -- it would
take you about an hour to reenter its contents into your remaining queue.
Annoying, but survivable.

------
evilduck
I'm pretty sure they're just passing along the licensing costs, but as little
content as I consume, this is just pushing me towards iTunes where I can
outright purchase what I want, with a little more 'ownership' rights and still
spend roughly the same amount per month.

For heavier consumers though, $16 + a cheap Netflix streaming device is still
a steal compared to satellite/cable and movie channels.

------
kenjackson
Redbox + Amazon Prime is now far preferred to Netflix. Starting Sept 1st
they'll see my cancellation in the mail.

------
mirkules
I would love to be able to export my movie ratings before I cancel my account.
Anyone know of a way to do this?

------
Jcasc
Consider the price of The Office Season 1-6 DVD set, $169.99.

Now consider the price of HD streaming The Office Season 1-6 on Netflix,
$7.99/mo.

Thank you, Netflix.

[http://www.nbcuniversalstore.com/the-office-
season-1-6-dvd-g...](http://www.nbcuniversalstore.com/the-office-
season-1-6-dvd-gift-set/detail.php?p=282319)

~~~
smackfu
Missing the point. Netflix has sizable gaps in their streaming that are only
filled by the DVD plan. Filling those gaps for $2 is a lot more reasonable
than $8.

~~~
Jcasc
No, I get the point. The services are not equal in terms of catalogue depth.
They're also not equal in terms of viewing volume.

If I used the DVD plan to fill those gaps, I would be annoyed too. But I
don't, I only use streaming. I suspect the majority of users were either
overwhelmingly streaming or overwhelmingly DVD oriented. The cost to fill the
gaps for those users wasn't adequately covered by the $2, and since they were
the minority, they put a wall between the services.

My point was, I still perceive $7.99 unlimited streaming as a great value for
the product. Gaps and all.

------
billybob
Pricing gripes aside, by packaging DVDs and streaming separately, they'll have
much clearer signals about which one users really want, as measured in
dollars.

I'm assuming they'll be watching the numbers for DVD rental drop until it no
longer makes business sense to offer that service.

------
winsbe01
I wrote a post about why Netflix is actually doing a good thing here:

[http://www.bathouselabs.com/archives/yes-netflix-raised-
it%E...](http://www.bathouselabs.com/archives/yes-netflix-raised-
it%E2%80%99s-prices-now-chill-out/)

------
larrik
Just to be clear, this affects ALL levels of membership, not just the low-end
ones that are constantly being referenced. My (once standard) 3-at-a-time plan
is going up to $24 in September.

------
whichdan
I'd be happy to pay $15-25/mo without question if they had a better streaming
library. I wonder what % of their streaming customers would pay more?

------
elemenohpee
> Given the long life we think DVDs by mail will have...

Yes, shipping pieces of plastic around is the way of the future.

------
matmann2001
Great, so if I use and want to keep BOTH services, I have to pay more to get
what I already had...

------
jason_slack
I understand prices rise...I am just pissed for me is it almost $6/month for
the same plan.

------
phil
Gee, that's a funny way to say "we're raising the price of your subscription
by $5.99"

~~~
masterzora
Because that would simply be untrue. My subscription price is unchanged.

------
dh
Really too bad to see such a large price increase, they have lost money from
me.

------
J3L2404
Well maybe Zediva the video on demand service that puts DVDs in physical
drives and streams them will actually stand a chance of being profitable.
There was some discussion on HN about it here:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2334332>

Although I still find it hard to believe this is economically viable.

------
georgieporgie
They just doubled my subscription price, for the exact same content. So, I
would pay another $8 for streaming content that is mostly old, and often
mediocre. It's like having TBS streaming to your PC. On top of that, their
encoding is often lousy, and there's no separate way to report it.

