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The Netflix Cha-Cha
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2024
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The massive selection existed because cable users paid for it. The big companies made content based on cable customers. Then licensed to netflix for extra profit just like they licensed to other countries' broadcasters for extra profit.
Then netflix killed the cable income, so it wasn't profitable to make these shows, netflix wouldn't pay the cost of licensing these shows for the actual cost so the licenses dropped and everyone had to make their own service's.
Rather, it's netflix that is finding out that it's difficult to make good shows, they lived on licencing other people's shows, paid for by cable, then when they killed that money source they are struggling to produce good enough content to make their service worth it.
Netflix didn't kill cable's income, cable did that all on its own.
Netflix has had some successes with their own shows, however their approach has always been "throw all the shit against the wall and see what sticks".
Problem is they'd cancel a lot of stuff that did stick. Ending so many shows after one or two seasons and letting them end unresolved leaves a bitter taste in a viewers mouth. I quit watching almost any Netflix show before knowing the show has a proper ending. I'm sure they've put off the final season of stranger things over the last three years less because it wasn't able to be finished sooner and more because they think a bunch of people are still subscribed only because they're waiting to see the finale before unsubscribing.
No, netflix did. Let's not be silly. Cable succeeded by itself for decades then netflix came along and said have everything for ten bucks a month. Everyone switched. Cable started its death ride its been on since.
But netflix could only offer everything for ten bucks a month because Cable customers were the ones paying for that content to be made.
Netflix offered an alternative, but people left cable because cable was crap. If cable was good, people wouldn't have left.
Netflix could still offer things for $10 a month, but they don't want to, because now they're crap, too. They're not crap because cable isn't producing any more shows, though - the old shows are still just as strong of a draw as they always have been. However it doesn't help that these old shows have exclusive deals where they all end up on different platforms.
The main reason we don't have good new shows anymore is the strikes. Covid a little bit, too, but in general the writers and actors just haven't been working so much.
no, people left cable because cable was /expensive/ it wasn't crap. netflix was just cable content all in one place and cheaper. Then it switched to netflix produced content and they have struggled. as evidenced by everyone wishing it was like the old days.
This isn't about cable, they're sinking themselves by burying their head in the sand and pretending like streaming isn't a threat - all while bleeding subscribers.
As for Netflix, you've got your take backwards. Netflix was licensing all of the content and paying the content owners fees. NBC, CBS, Paramount, HBO (now Max), AMC, Disney.... they all got greedy. They saw the money Netflix was making, and they thought they could make more by keeping the content, creating their own services, and raking in the cash. Unfortunately that created a glut of new problems. Some of these providers don't have enough content to justify their price to consumers. Consumers struggle to find shows they want to watch now because content is spread so thin, so they give up. Most importantly, consumers feel nickeled & dimed. They don't want to pay for numerous services, so it becomes a game of "which one(s) am I going to subscribe to, and which am I going to ignore?". Many of these services have struggled and lost money, so they've decided that it's easier to license the content back to Netflix, let Netflix handle pricing, infrastructure, subscriber retention, etc., and they can cash the licensing checks.
Their take on Netflix isn't backwards. Netflix was able to get all of those shows initially because the streaming licenses were really cheap, cause they were making enough money through cable subscriptions. Once streaming caught on though the companies started raising the prices and/or withholding content because the cable money stopped flowing. Remember Friends cost Netflix $100 million and over $500 million for Seinfeld.
You could be right, but my understanding was that content owners pulled content from Netflix because they thought they could make more money setting up their own streaming services. Most are at worst losing money, and at best not bringing in projected profits, so they're moving content back to Netflix and taking the licensing money.
In that regards you're both right, I do think content owners eventually pulled content because they thought there was money to be had. I was just commenting that Netflix originally got a lot of content for cheap because no one originally cared about streaming (and so the licenses were undervalued). I believe Netflix started making a lot more content both to offset the risk of companies pulling content, but to also offset rising license fees.