
Netflix: only 35 of IMDB top 250 available to stream (2018) - tosh
https://www.streamingobserver.com/netflix-35-movies-imdb-top-250/
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pier25
That's the tragedy with streaming and pay-per-view online systems. Piracy is
still has the better catalog.

I would gladly pay 3, even 4 times more for a Netflix that would have
everything.

~~~
carnagii
The other problem is that netflix physical had both a better catalog and
better quality so digital is a massive regression for them. Their physical
system was a hack that exploited existing systems (retail pricing for dvds,
cheap postal service) so it was too good to last but it is disappointing to
see products regress.

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compsciphd
it still exists....

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carnagii
yes, but hard to scale outside the US, and studios were hostile to it because
it didn't pay them enough, so they pressured Netflix to stop promoting it and
adopt streaming. It exists the same way AOL did EOL but it is not a factor in
future growth.

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darioush
Netflix used to be a great deal. I remember I wanted to watch a movie some top
100 IMDB movies, and checked their selection in 2015. There were most of the
ones I wanted to watch, and the price was < $8.

Now the price is going to $12-13, and the selection is abysmal. It's heavily
geared towards "original content" which are mostly series of 10+ episodes I
have not the time to commit to.

Still not bad for the occasional documentary and comedy special, but this is a
bait-and-switch. They don't have too many more pushes before I unsubscribe.

~~~
adventured
They were touting in their new quartely results that they didn't think they
were seeing any lasting consequential negative effects from raising the price
again. Which is another way of saying to Wall Street that investors can count
on Netflix to hit subscribers in the US again in the next year or two.

Negative $380 million in cash flow in the quarter (vs negative $287m last
year), persistently worsening quarter after quarter, year after year. I can't
decide who has the worse business model, Netflix or Uber. Their entire
business hinges on the ability to hit US consumers with ever higher fees for
ever less content.

Either $14 or $15 is where I unsubscribe permanently from Netflix, unless they
want to give me a much larger traditional movie library to go with the perma
hikes.

~~~
JakeTheAndroid
What's sad is I happily pay for HBO Now at a $15 price tag, but Netflix
wanting 13 pissed me off. And I am absolutely on Netflix more often, because I
use it to keep shows running in the background (no other service does this as
well as Netflix). With HBO though, they have amazing content and a lot of it.
And they own most of it, and rotate out solid movies that I probably wouldn't
buy or rent myself.

~~~
scruple
I spend more time browsing the Netflix catalog than I do watching television,
it feels like. I cancelled in the past but we recently re-subscribed and I'm
regretting it.

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paxy
At this point it's understood that Netflix is a service for watching Netflix
original content. Anything on top of that is a bonus, and may not be around a
month later.

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WhompingWindows
Except their top streamed show is The Office which isn't a Netflix original.
Nor is Parks and Rec or 30rock or A.D., etc., which all get plenty of views.
[https://www.recode.net/2018/12/21/18139817/netflix-most-
popu...](https://www.recode.net/2018/12/21/18139817/netflix-most-popular-
shows-friends-office-greys-anatomy-parks-recreation-streaming-tv)

~~~
fortylove
30 Rock wasn't on Netflix anymore, last I'd checked.

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yumraj
Disney+ has the potential to seriously hurt Netflix, at least in the US.

I currently go through phases of Netflix and Amazon Prime. Once Disney+
launches, I can see us moving to Disney+ while keeping the Amazon Prime. Not
100% sure, but it's likely.

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Geee
It's a misconception that Netflix is an online movie library. They have a
constantly changing selection, so it's more like a random access TV channel.

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topicseed
I rarely watch movies on Netflix — moreso documentaries and series. But the
endless browsing is becoming real when I want movie. Not sure whether I am
being very picky, or the overall quality of the film inventory is average.

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ghaff
Maybe it's even moreso today, but it's never been great. A senior person there
told me years ago when we were talking about their content library that
"People come for the movies and they stay for the TV." And this was (I
believe) before House of Cards etc.

The fact is that there's no subscription streaming service that has a great
movie catalog. You can subscribe to DVDs on Netflix--still pretty good though
the back catalog is rotting. Or just buy/rent a la carte either streaming or
disc. Welcome to our unbundled future.

~~~
spunker540
I don’t mind paying the 3 or 4 dollars to rent a movie off google play to
watch a movie when I don’t find it on Netflix. But I guess I don’t watch too
many movies so it’s not too bad. Anyone remember how much it used to cost to
rent a movie at blockbuster?

~~~
ghaff
I remember it as being in the $3 range or so though someone upthread wrote it
could be as high as $7. And there's gas/time and late fees. And no guarantee
of availability.

For current content, there's also Redbox today.

Personally, I'm basically fine with 1 or 2 streaming services for a
combination of general content and exclusives and renting/buying the rest in
some manner. I should cancel my cable though because I never watch it even
though it means that leaves me without live TV. Yeah, I know there's YouTube
TV but I really don't watch enough for it to be worth it.

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randomacct3847
I’ve become super bearish on Netflix. At some point the masses will realize
how bad the selection is for the money you pay.

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TheGRS
> ...for the money you pay.

That's where I'll have to stop you, as its still a _very_ cheap service
comparatively.

I worked at Blockbuster toward the end of their run, it was about $4-7 dollars
for a single rental.

Current streaming rentals on Amazon range from $4-8 as well.

Netflix, streaming only, is currently $13 per month.

The only alternative I think is very good is HBO, which is $15 per month. They
usually have before-cable-run-but-after-initial-rental-period movies. And they
have a handful of stellar TV shows. We still struggle to find something to
watch on that service.

~~~
adventured
> I worked at Blockbuster toward the end of their run, it was about $4-7
> dollars for a single rental. Current streaming rentals on Amazon range from
> $4-8 as well.

Blockbuster at that price isn't a great example. Redbox Blu-rays are $2.12. I
live in an area with a relatively low population density and there are three
Redbox machines within short driving distance. Each with a solid selection of
new releases (Aquaman, Glass, The Mule, Into the Spider-verse, Green Book et
al.). Redbox has ~34,000 locations.

~~~
freewilly1040
So assuming a movie or two a week you're paying maybe a few dollars less than
Netflix? And you have to drive there? Netflix sounds way better than that.

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elliotlarson
It's pretty rare that I watch a movie on Netflix these days. I pay for the
original content they produce and some of the documentaries that end up there.
For my purposes, there is enough content along these lines to justify the
expense. Once in a blue moon I see a movie there that I want to watch, but I
consider that a bonus.

~~~
JakeTheAndroid
I watch _some_ movies on there, and it's mostly because I find that Netflix
has the smoothest streaming even when my internet isn't great. But it's really
about the shows, and even that is taking some serious hits.

I love that I have the Office on demand always, but that used to be true about
It's Always Sunny, which is no longer there. So I can't even trust that the
shows I keep Netflix around for will still be there. Including their original
content like the Marvel stuff. Nothing is a safe bet to stay on Netflix.

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jalgos_eminator
Every time I find out about a movie outside of netflix, then go check to see
if it is available to stream, it is not available. Seriously every single
time. I look up movies as a joke at this point. Having said that, I still
think its worth the $13/month for the TV shows and movies that actually are
available.

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jackconnor
You don't license the good stuff with the rest of the slop, that you want to
rent out a la carte.

It's also why you don't see certain prestige shows on streaming such as Fargo,
Twin Peaks: The Return, Preacher, or Legion. They know that people will pay
top dollar to rent/buy the really good stuff.

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andersonvieira
In Brazil I got Fargo, Twin Peaks, and Legion on Netflix and Preacher on
Amazon Prime Video.

~~~
jackconnor
Lucky!

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jimjimjim
Netflix the once great hope, the central video store, the one-stop-shop-for-
movies is now just a channel.

prime, another channel.

disney's thing, another channel.

so, if this is now the norm, what is the next next thing that will "disrupt"
these old guard?

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autokad
it seems like a bad choice for a content producer to let netflix stream their
material.

as a content provider, you have an edge in that your library is larger than
theirs. by allowing them to stream your content, you make profit today, but
subsidize a competitor building their library.

and in the transaction, you loose the most valuable component of the sale, the
customer data. now your competitor has viewing habits of your customers, to
which you are now blind.

10 years ago, it was really hard to stand up a streaming service for many
companies, but that barrier is much lower now. 10 years ago, it was mostly
tech companies that realized the value of data, now others are catching up.

what is the next thing to disrupt the old guard? probably something not
movie/series related. all this stuff, listening to music, watching a show,
posting on fb, reading on hn are all actually competing for our time. we are
running into an era where our times are stretched thin and we finally see
unrelated things compete. so the next disruption may be something completely
new.

some said people posting content on youtube is that next thing. I am not so
sure, I dont always want to watch someone rant about how bad the new star wars
is.

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neves
The problem isn't the top, but the long tail: where can we legally find the
greatest directors films from the world that aren't blockbusters.

~~~
ghaff
The Netflix DVD catalog is still pretty good although less so than it used to
be. Your local library is one option. A la carte from iTunes and Amazon is
another. Or, as a last resort, buying off Amazon or a more specialist selling
site. By and large, if something is available on DVD (or VHS), you can
probably buy it for a semi-reasonable sum.

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orestes910
Someone else can find the source, but Netflix themselves have stated that the
lions share of viewing on their platform is aimed at TV shows, so it doesn't
surprise me that they haven't invested in quality (and expensive) movies. Why
would they if no one is watching them?

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stubish
TV is pretty much in the same state on Netflix (AU at least). Search for a
show and chances are it isn't there, even if it has been in the DVD bargain
bin for years. Other shows disappearing (say, Downton Abbey, which was taken
off just as my mother in law got to season 5). Lots of new shows a season
behind, lots of newish shows never arrive.

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vinni2
I have been waiting for them to update their Apple TV app to support their own
original interactive show black mirror bandersnatch. How hard can it be to add
a button? They are more focused on expanding to new markets than providing
quality service to existing ones.

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CobrastanJorji
The first sale doctrine didn't survive the transition to the Internet era. If
"buying" one copy of a film still allowed one to resell or rent it to someone
else, despite it not being a physical object, Netflix would have all 250
titles tomorrow.

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colechristensen
We would all be better off if there were a flat universal fee for feature
films and tv episodes on streaming platforms.

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dporter
Seems like part of the plan really. Why pay license fees to other studios when
they can make their own movies?

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debacle
Their content is very hit or miss. A lot of copycat anime shows, low quality
kids TV, middling sitcoms and drama series with only one season, and a very
small pool of popular series.

Contrast with Amazon which has an incredibly deep library and is "free" to
some extent with Prime.

Netflix is in trouble.

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OrgNet
their catalog keeps shrinking... soon they will only host what they produce...
but even if I pay for Netflix and something I want to watch is available on
Netflix, I download it from some other sources, most of the time.

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jwildeboer
From September 2018. Maybe someone can do an update?

