Egret Posted September 20, 2011 Author Share Posted September 20, 2011 One thing I never understood was why couldn't netflix stream even the new releases? Once they had the physical dvd they could rent it out all they want as long as it was just one at a time. Why couldn't they do that with the streaming? Buy 100,000 "licenses" (or just buy the dvds and then have a bonfire in the parking lot after making a copy) burn a copy and make sure they only stream the amount of licenses they have on hand. Allow quarterly "audits" to keep themselves out of court and voila! Streaming new releases! They can currently keep track of what is being watched and where people left off so they should be able to keep track of licenses without too much of a hassle. I company named Zediva tried something similar. It didn't work out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Irish Doggy Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 Looks like Dish/Blockbuster are planning an announcement for later this week to put the nail in the Netflix coffin with some kind of better streaming package. Once mighty Blockbuster, mighty again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 One thing I never understood was why couldn't netflix stream even the new releases? Once they had the physical dvd they could rent it out all they want as long as it was just one at a time. Why couldn't they do that with the streaming? Buy 100,000 "licenses" (or just buy the dvds and then have a bonfire in the parking lot after making a copy) burn a copy and make sure they only stream the amount of licenses they have on hand. Allow quarterly "audits" to keep themselves out of court and voila! Streaming new releases! They can currently keep track of what is being watched and where people left off so they should be able to keep track of licenses without too much of a hassle. The studios won't allow it. The new releaes can't be streamed until the DVD has been released for some amount of time (varies by studio agreement) to allow the studio time to get DVD sales and in some cases PPV/OnDemand revenue. The studios would completely cannibalize their DVD sales revenue if they allowed films to be streamed through services immediately. I do believe amazon has a service where you can stream new releases right away, but it is essentially a PPV service where you pay per movie and have access for a limited period of time, just like PPV through your cable/satellite provider. Now, I could see some studios going to a model where they set up a streaming service for just their library of films for a set monthly fee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Irish Doggy Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Its bad when even "Weird Al" slams you. BREAKING: Netflix splits off into a third company called Vernster where you can rent nothing but Ernest P. Worrell movies for $5 a month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 The studios would completely cannibalize their DVD sales revenue if they allowed films to be streamed through services immediately. I don't see why they would care if they're still getting paid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 (edited) I don't see why they would care if they're still getting paid. The problem, I think, is that streaming new releases won't fit into Netflix's per-month pricing model. Only PPV can fit, hence Hulu and similar sites can stream stuff much earlier than Netflix. Edited September 21, 2011 by Ursa Majoris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaP'N GRuNGe Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 (edited) The fees they pay for content seem to be astronomical. They recently paid between $75-$100 million for the rights to stream Mad Men. That takes a ton of subscriber fees alone to pay for. No wonder most of their streaming content is old and second rate. Edited September 21, 2011 by CaP'N GRuNGe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I don't see why they would care if they're still getting paid. Because customers like Best Buy, Target, Amazon and Wal-Mart would mind..... a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yo mama Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 The fees they pay for content seem to be astronomical. They recently paid between $75-$100 million for the rights to stream Mad Men. That takes a ton of subscriber fees alone to pay for. No wonder most of their streaming content is old and second rate. But heaven forbid someone pay an extra $5 a month for better content. Netflix is right with regards to it vision for the future. But whoever is in charge of PR should be fired. And what the hell is "quickster" supposed to sound like? Terrible rebranding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SayItAintSoJoe Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Netflix is right with regards to it vision for the future. They sure are. Spin off the DVD portion of their business and sell it off to the highest bidder. They better hurry though. The DVD business isn't going to be worth squat once the Post Office goes away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 (edited) Looks like Dish/Blockbuster are planning an announcement for later this week to put the nail in the Netflix coffin Edited September 21, 2011 by Azazello1313 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Because customers like Best Buy, Target, Amazon and Wal-Mart would mind..... a lot. they wouldn't care if they were getting more money selling the streaming content to netflix, amazon, etc. it's not a matter of if they'll move to an effective pricing model on high-demand streaming content, but when. maybe netflix needs to come up with a model where they charge a couple bucks for new releases or something, but they have GOT to improve their streaming content library if they are going to have any future at all. how can anyone get excited about a service that gives you some crappy movies, some old reruns, and a handful of kids shows for 8 bucks a month Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 they wouldn't care if they were getting more money selling the streaming content to netflix, amazon, etc. it's not a matter of if they'll move to an effective pricing model on high-demand streaming content, but when. maybe netflix needs to come up with a model where they charge a couple bucks for new releases or something, but they have GOT to improve their streaming content library if they are going to have any future at all. how can anyone get excited about a service that gives you some crappy movies, some old reruns, and a handful of kids shows for 8 bucks a month Hulu charges $10 - $11 per movie. Netflix would have to charge in the hundreds per month to make new releases work under a monthly charge scheme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaP'N GRuNGe Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 If I were them I would try to offer everything streaming and set up tier pricing. 20 hrs a month flat rate. 40 hrs a month flat rate. 60 hrs, etc etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SayItAintSoJoe Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 LOS GATOS, Calif. – Netflix has abandoned its unpopular plan to spin off its DVD-by-mail service and rename it Qwikster, saying it will continue to offer both services through its flagship web site. The movie renter told customers in an email and blog post on Monday that they will continue using "one web site, one account and one password" under the Netflix brand for both streaming and DVD-by-mail services. "It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs," wrote CEO Reed Hastings on the company blog. "This means no change: one website, one account, one password… in other words, no Qwikster," Hastings wrote. Move over "New Coke"..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.