

Ask HN: Why aren't there specialized "Netflixes"? - personlurking

If there were independent movie rental stores (which I assume had some sort of agreement to be able to stock their titles), why aren&#x27;t there (specialized) independent online movie streaming stores? To be more specific, let&#x27;s say I want to specialize in Westerns, for example, what would it take to open a Westerns-only online &quot;Netflix&quot;, with titles I would want to offer?
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dragonwriter
> If there were independent movie rental stores (which I assume had some sort
> of agreement to be able to stock their titles), why aren't there
> (specialized) independent online movie streaming stores?

Independent movie rental stores were viable for the same reason as chains with
multiple locations were viable: you needed geographic proximity to customers
to rent them movies. While some independent stores may also have had a degree
of genre-focus compared to, say, the national chains, IME it was usually a
fairly weak focus that reflected the local interests and demographics (and,
actually, the chains would stock different titles in different stores the same
way.)

A genre-specialized Netflix would have much of the fixed costs of a full-
fledged Netflix, would be competing with Netflix and other full-spectrum
streaming sites to acquire content, and would have an uphill battle getting
the visibility to attract users.

Scale often has advantages.

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personlurking
"A genre-specialized Netflix would have much of the fixed costs of a full-
fledged Netflix, would be competing with Netflix and other full-spectrum
streaming sites to acquire content, and would have an uphill battle getting
the visibility to attract users."

This was my thinking, though I didn't know if it was correct or not. I made
the post because all the big players, even together, don't have most of the
great (foreign) films I've seen. This makes it so that my only option is to
hope and wait until they do (though the problem is I've already seen them, so
the new problem is that I'd want 'related films' for the ones I've already
seen). To say 'this film is like that one, you should watch it', they'd need
to know what I think is actually good.

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minimaxir
_what would it take to open a Westerns-only online "Netflix", with titles I
would want to offer_

An unquantifiable amount of venture capital for infrastructure and licenses.

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AznHisoka
Because Netflix knows we're not genre watchers. Just because I enjoy "Game of
Thrones" sure as hell doesn't mean I'll enjoy "Harry Potter" just b/c they're
in the same "fantasy" genre.

~~~
personlurking
Although I happen to spend 85% of my film-watching time on foreign films.
Assuming they can be called a 'genre' then I would take Netflix seriously if
they said a film I just watched is like another film I should see...only they
don't offer much in terms of foreign films.

