Chill Communication
January 24, 2016 1:07 PM Subscribe
Netflix and Thrill - does the streaming TV company face a rocky future, or are its traditional competitors, desperatly trying to pin down its ratings, just suffering from jealously?
I find it interesting and compelling when content companies don't rely on advertising. In magazines, this tended to result in niche magazines that were a bit pricey, but had very high quality writing and articles. In the case of Netflix, they too serve the niche audience, the difference being they serve a TON of niche audiences.
It makes sense that the advertising based content providers are jealous of them not having to cater to a specific demographic. I hope their business model is sustainable, because it certainly seems as if they are forcing traditional broadcasters to up their game (yay competition!).
posted by el io at 1:24 PM on January 24, 2016 [13 favorites]
It makes sense that the advertising based content providers are jealous of them not having to cater to a specific demographic. I hope their business model is sustainable, because it certainly seems as if they are forcing traditional broadcasters to up their game (yay competition!).
posted by el io at 1:24 PM on January 24, 2016 [13 favorites]
Where else can you get Oscillating Fan For Your Home in SuperHD?
posted by four panels at 1:32 PM on January 24, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by four panels at 1:32 PM on January 24, 2016 [10 favorites]
I think it's more clueless legacy cable executives still not getting what Netflix does. If you don't sell ads why would you care about traditional ratings? Netflix is very data driven. I'm sure they track viewership very closely, via data that is far more sophisticated than a damn Neilson sampling.
posted by COD at 1:57 PM on January 24, 2016 [30 favorites]
posted by COD at 1:57 PM on January 24, 2016 [30 favorites]
Where else can you get Oscillating Fan For Your Home in SuperHD?
Trailer.
It's a ripoff, though. This one predates it by more than three years. Guess they're out of ideas.
posted by effbot at 2:00 PM on January 24, 2016
Trailer.
It's a ripoff, though. This one predates it by more than three years. Guess they're out of ideas.
posted by effbot at 2:00 PM on January 24, 2016
I think it's interesting that the SyFy Channel, which really has been the wrestling-and-Sharknado channel for some time, has recently gone towards prestige projects. Both The Magicians and The Expanse are miles ahead of their usual fare and it feels like they're going for the HBO/Amazon/Netflix audience instead of the lowest-common-denominator demographic that they've targeted for years.
As more people cut cable ties completely, those networks continue to lose revenue and they need to give people a reason to stick around.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 2:23 PM on January 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
As more people cut cable ties completely, those networks continue to lose revenue and they need to give people a reason to stick around.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 2:23 PM on January 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
When old-media execs talk about "ratings" it sounds like they are trying to use a microscope to hammer in nails.
posted by Phssthpok at 2:31 PM on January 24, 2016 [14 favorites]
posted by Phssthpok at 2:31 PM on January 24, 2016 [14 favorites]
Despite ratings and such, I must say Netflix really stands out in my book in one category - Customer service. I have spoken to their reps on more than one occasion (sometimes just for suggestions) and they have never failed to be polite and courteous (and sometimes even funny). As long as they keep that up, it is definitely points in their favor.
posted by Samizdata at 2:42 PM on January 24, 2016 [13 favorites]
posted by Samizdata at 2:42 PM on January 24, 2016 [13 favorites]
In contrast: Cable companies - the most loathed companies in the US.
posted by el io at 2:47 PM on January 24, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by el io at 2:47 PM on January 24, 2016 [7 favorites]
We don't have netflix. More than one I have encountered my daughters' friends asking them some variation of "Do you watch Pokemon on Netflix?"
Not on TV.
Not on YouTube.
Not on the computer.
On Netflix.
posted by 256 at 2:49 PM on January 24, 2016 [10 favorites]
Not on TV.
Not on YouTube.
Not on the computer.
On Netflix.
posted by 256 at 2:49 PM on January 24, 2016 [10 favorites]
The truth about prestige series is that the shows get better because they're skewing to nichier, more discerning audiences. You can't reach fifteen million people anymore -- those people have too many options now -- so instead of giving fifteen million people something they like all right enough to watch it, you give two million people something they will fucking love. This is sustainable so long as (a) the shows stay cheap enough to make, and (b) you don't accidentally make some schlock show that fifteen million people do watch, because then everybody remembers that fifteen million people is possible and suddenly everyone's churning out garbage all over again.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 2:50 PM on January 24, 2016 [22 favorites]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 2:50 PM on January 24, 2016 [22 favorites]
Netflix kind of slowly evolved their business model over time, which left people with a pretty wide range of interpretations of what they are.
I originally subscribed to the DVD service to get access to movies that I couldn't get at my local DVD rental places. So when they added the streaming services, I came at it from that perspective, assuming it'd mean I could stream the movies I'd been renting. So I'd get frustrated with the service as they ramped up their TV-competition content and seemed to be streaming fewer and fewer movies I wanted to see. But that really isn't what they do. They are more like a cable TV model, just with time-shifting and way more content.
I am much more inclined to plan out what to to see, turn down the lights, eliminate distractions, then sit down to watch something specific rather than to turn on the TV and see what's on. But I live with TWO different people who prefer the latter model and watch TV more as a background thing, so I am a minority even in my own home. So it makes perfect sense that Netflix is catering more to them than to me as they expand. That was how they watched cable TV when we had it, and they've pretty seamlessly translated those habits to watching Netflix.
Not going to lie, I am bitter and resentful about that and all, but I can't see how cable TV can even begin to compete with that, or why they think they can. Netflix isn't my thing so much, but even I get more than $10 of value out of it every month.
Ultimately, none of us have regretted cutting the cord, despite our different interests and habits. I added a Hulu subscription so I have access to their streaming Criterion Collection (plus I have my own DVD collection on my home server and a library card), which is where I get most of my favored content now, and we're all getting more of what we want for a tiny fraction of what we did for cable.
I guess I can see where the FUD approach might work on some who have always had cable, but I don't see anyone going back to cable TV.
posted by ernielundquist at 2:50 PM on January 24, 2016 [8 favorites]
I originally subscribed to the DVD service to get access to movies that I couldn't get at my local DVD rental places. So when they added the streaming services, I came at it from that perspective, assuming it'd mean I could stream the movies I'd been renting. So I'd get frustrated with the service as they ramped up their TV-competition content and seemed to be streaming fewer and fewer movies I wanted to see. But that really isn't what they do. They are more like a cable TV model, just with time-shifting and way more content.
I am much more inclined to plan out what to to see, turn down the lights, eliminate distractions, then sit down to watch something specific rather than to turn on the TV and see what's on. But I live with TWO different people who prefer the latter model and watch TV more as a background thing, so I am a minority even in my own home. So it makes perfect sense that Netflix is catering more to them than to me as they expand. That was how they watched cable TV when we had it, and they've pretty seamlessly translated those habits to watching Netflix.
Not going to lie, I am bitter and resentful about that and all, but I can't see how cable TV can even begin to compete with that, or why they think they can. Netflix isn't my thing so much, but even I get more than $10 of value out of it every month.
Ultimately, none of us have regretted cutting the cord, despite our different interests and habits. I added a Hulu subscription so I have access to their streaming Criterion Collection (plus I have my own DVD collection on my home server and a library card), which is where I get most of my favored content now, and we're all getting more of what we want for a tiny fraction of what we did for cable.
I guess I can see where the FUD approach might work on some who have always had cable, but I don't see anyone going back to cable TV.
posted by ernielundquist at 2:50 PM on January 24, 2016 [8 favorites]
I think it's ironic in a lot of ways that the modern incarnation of Netflix was driven in large part by "traditional networks" increasing the price of streaming licenses. Netflix is taking the necessary gamble that they can figure out what their customers want from new content faster than the cable companies can figure out what consumers want from their technology.
posted by 27kjmm at 2:54 PM on January 24, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by 27kjmm at 2:54 PM on January 24, 2016 [7 favorites]
Netflix doesn't care, for now, how many people share accounts. Between a dozen or so people I know three of them have netflix (one of whom is my mom) and the rest piggyback across it. I think that's really cool and it makes them likeable in a lot of my friends eyes. Producing such a wide range of content isn't hurting either and they're spending five billion on content this year, which is insane. Insane. Honestly
And I love that you can't really pin them down too much. Sure, they're going to make a bunch of Marvel shows but then they have Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, Master of None, Sense8, Narcos, W/ Bob and David, BoJack Horseman....that's a huge range of great stuff. Their upcoming shows look pretty promising as well.
I think it's great that other networks are feeling the pressure to change things up a little bit. That new Angie Tribeca series that debuted it's first season all at once? I wouldn't be too surprised if we didn't start seeing more of that kind of thing. Also shows that go after a hardcore niche audience like what SyFy seems to be doing and what Stars did with Ash vs Evil Dead (which was amazing).
posted by Neronomius at 3:05 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
And I love that you can't really pin them down too much. Sure, they're going to make a bunch of Marvel shows but then they have Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, Master of None, Sense8, Narcos, W/ Bob and David, BoJack Horseman....that's a huge range of great stuff. Their upcoming shows look pretty promising as well.
I think it's great that other networks are feeling the pressure to change things up a little bit. That new Angie Tribeca series that debuted it's first season all at once? I wouldn't be too surprised if we didn't start seeing more of that kind of thing. Also shows that go after a hardcore niche audience like what SyFy seems to be doing and what Stars did with Ash vs Evil Dead (which was amazing).
posted by Neronomius at 3:05 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
We're working on cutting the cord although that turns out to be more complicated than we first thought. We want to get rid of cable TV and the landline phone but the alarm system needs the phone so we need to get rid of that first. We looked into cell based security systems but they're even more expensive and we realized that we really only care about the smoke detection and not the actual burglar alarm so we ordered some Nest smoke alarms but we ordered the wrong ones and had to send those back to get the correct ones. And then it took 45 minutes of pleading and arguing on the phone with Guardian Security to shut down the damn service. I hate that stuff.
Then we had to get an antenna not knowing if it would really work or not (the reception here really varies house to house) and then figure out what kind of non-cable DVR to get. We've almost got all the pieces put together to call Verizon to tell them to drop us down to just internet access.
Between Netflix, Hulu, Google Play and Amazon, we really won't miss much on cable. Except for the $200 a month bills. Also with the ChromeCast Chrome plugin and a ChromeCast, you can watch almost anything that streams on a website on the TV.
posted by octothorpe at 3:17 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
Then we had to get an antenna not knowing if it would really work or not (the reception here really varies house to house) and then figure out what kind of non-cable DVR to get. We've almost got all the pieces put together to call Verizon to tell them to drop us down to just internet access.
Between Netflix, Hulu, Google Play and Amazon, we really won't miss much on cable. Except for the $200 a month bills. Also with the ChromeCast Chrome plugin and a ChromeCast, you can watch almost anything that streams on a website on the TV.
posted by octothorpe at 3:17 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
What astonishes me is the sheer number of children's shows they crank out. Care Bears, Inspector Gadget, Turbo, Popples, Peabody and Mr. Sherman. Every time we turn it in there's new cartoons. It's crazy. I mean they're not that good but just the sheer volume.
posted by Elementary Penguin at 3:19 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Elementary Penguin at 3:19 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
Netflix knows that a huge number if parents use netflix as a low cost babysitting service.
I dare say most parents have used a smartphone or tablet and netflix to pacify fussy kids in line or at a restaurant and even little kids will only watch MLP so many times.
posted by vuron at 3:28 PM on January 24, 2016 [7 favorites]
I dare say most parents have used a smartphone or tablet and netflix to pacify fussy kids in line or at a restaurant and even little kids will only watch MLP so many times.
posted by vuron at 3:28 PM on January 24, 2016 [7 favorites]
I guess that shows how well Netflix hits niches, I had no idea that they did children's programming.
posted by octothorpe at 3:28 PM on January 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 3:28 PM on January 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
I have yet to hit a Netflix original kids show that wasn't nauseating, TBH. Not sure why there's such a quality gap there.
posted by Artw at 3:30 PM on January 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Artw at 3:30 PM on January 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
Maybe irrelevant, but an aspect of this topic of audience/platform/provider might involve NetFlix: Oh, you mean American LeTV? And to narrow that down, NetFlix' emergence as a better "last mile" solution than BlockBuster is the chapter before NetFlix' streaming model that had its proof of concept in what was happening in China after the smartphone changed everything.
posted by lazycomputerkids at 3:46 PM on January 24, 2016
posted by lazycomputerkids at 3:46 PM on January 24, 2016
My kids watch nothing but other people playing video games. I think all professional content might be in trouble.
posted by fungible at 4:20 PM on January 24, 2016 [31 favorites]
posted by fungible at 4:20 PM on January 24, 2016 [31 favorites]
Despite ratings and such, I must say Netflix really stands out in my book in one category - Customer service. I have spoken to their reps on more than one occasion (sometimes just for suggestions) and they have never failed to be polite and courteous (and sometimes even funny). As long as they keep that up, it is definitely points in their favor.
Yeah, a few years ago when I finally just worked up the gumption to overcome my shame and cancel the DVD plan I had that I'd lost the disc to many months prior, the woman on the phone laughed (sympathetically) and then told me not to worry about the lost disc fee. It made me feel way better about the whole thing.
posted by invitapriore at 4:51 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
Yeah, a few years ago when I finally just worked up the gumption to overcome my shame and cancel the DVD plan I had that I'd lost the disc to many months prior, the woman on the phone laughed (sympathetically) and then told me not to worry about the lost disc fee. It made me feel way better about the whole thing.
posted by invitapriore at 4:51 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'd say I cut the cord, but I never had one. I probably get 50% of my video entertainment via Netflix, 35% from Amazon Instant Video, 15% Youtube, and a DVD rental or four a year. Cable TV and Broadcast TV, the latter suffering from an enormously distracting spew of commercials not even aimed at me, are such a turnoff I won't ever try them.
posted by zippy at 4:53 PM on January 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by zippy at 4:53 PM on January 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
The only thing that I'm going to miss from cable will be baseball games but for the money we'll be saving, we can just got watch the Pirates in person more often. We live within walking distance of the stadium and right field tickets are $20 each. Or I can just listen on the radio. Or walk three doors down to the Modern Cafe and drink a beer while I watch the game.
posted by octothorpe at 5:02 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by octothorpe at 5:02 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
We want to get rid of cable TV and the landline phone but the alarm system needs the phone so we need to get rid of that first.
Just FYI, some VOIP offerings will work with security systems. I had a similar problem--landlord too cheap to install proper buzzers which requires tenants to get a landline the buzzer box can ring--and Ooma works with that. I got a refurb model for something like $75 and monthly service is less than $5/mo., all taxes, for the basic service.
I find that I do miss cable a little. Sometimes I like TV for background noise, and there's nothing in particular on my OTA Roamio at that moment that's suitable for that purpose. I also have a soft spot for some of the terrible basic-cable shows on A&E and USA. If the price gap between Internet + TiVo and a decent cable package were a bit smaller, I might convert back. But, of course, it isn't (and it doesn't help that Comcast's basic "digital starter" package is, as they fail to mention anywhere really noticeable, a standard definition service). The cable companies are pretty much going to have to be garroted to get them to back off the trough. And no one's going to mind when it happens. In short: go Netflix!
posted by praemunire at 5:17 PM on January 24, 2016
Just FYI, some VOIP offerings will work with security systems. I had a similar problem--landlord too cheap to install proper buzzers which requires tenants to get a landline the buzzer box can ring--and Ooma works with that. I got a refurb model for something like $75 and monthly service is less than $5/mo., all taxes, for the basic service.
I find that I do miss cable a little. Sometimes I like TV for background noise, and there's nothing in particular on my OTA Roamio at that moment that's suitable for that purpose. I also have a soft spot for some of the terrible basic-cable shows on A&E and USA. If the price gap between Internet + TiVo and a decent cable package were a bit smaller, I might convert back. But, of course, it isn't (and it doesn't help that Comcast's basic "digital starter" package is, as they fail to mention anywhere really noticeable, a standard definition service). The cable companies are pretty much going to have to be garroted to get them to back off the trough. And no one's going to mind when it happens. In short: go Netflix!
posted by praemunire at 5:17 PM on January 24, 2016
oh man I can't wait until the cable companies start losing video subscribers left and right and the whining starts. yeeessssss let me taste your tears.
posted by indubitable at 5:57 PM on January 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by indubitable at 5:57 PM on January 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
My failed New Year's romance (it's on the blog) did have one benefit - I learned I could use my old Wii console to stream Netflix, and so I signed up. Even with the shoddy Canadian version there's plenty of stuff to watch and I find I am not torrenting nearly as much stuff as I used to. Heck, I'm rewatching Third Rock from the Sun and it's plenty entertaining.
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 6:11 PM on January 24, 2016
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 6:11 PM on January 24, 2016
Cable companies are getting ready to be broadband companies metering you for every blessed KB of Netflix or HBONow or Hulu you stream. The better question is what is your local Channel 7 hoping to be?
posted by MattD at 6:13 PM on January 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by MattD at 6:13 PM on January 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
The better question is what is your local Channel 7 hoping to be?
Landlord to a chunk of T-Mobile spectrum?
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:30 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
Landlord to a chunk of T-Mobile spectrum?
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:30 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
The only thing that I'm going to miss from cable will be baseball games...
$150 a year (I think ) will get you every game from mlb.com, except your Pirates because of legacy blackout rules. Although you could work around that with a $7 a month VPN service. But if I lived walking distance to PNC (that's the name right) I'd probably go broke attending games. That is a gorgeous ballpark.
posted by COD at 6:31 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
$150 a year (I think ) will get you every game from mlb.com, except your Pirates because of legacy blackout rules. Although you could work around that with a $7 a month VPN service. But if I lived walking distance to PNC (that's the name right) I'd probably go broke attending games. That is a gorgeous ballpark.
posted by COD at 6:31 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
NBC executive Andy Wurtzel actually said this whole Netflix thing is just a fad, and people will soon return to watching television "the way that God intended."
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:38 PM on January 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:38 PM on January 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
Cable companies are going to lose to wireless providers and Google Fiber if they dont change their strategy. Their monopoly is starting to break.
posted by humanfont at 6:53 PM on January 24, 2016
posted by humanfont at 6:53 PM on January 24, 2016
It's worth pointing out that when I was in college in 1985-87, my roommates and I had cable TV from TCI (which is now part of Comcast) that cost $10 a month and we paid an extra $5 a month for HBO. That $15 is about $32 in today's money but no where near what you pay for cable now. And yeah, there are a ton more channels but you can only watch one at a time.
posted by octothorpe at 7:42 PM on January 24, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 7:42 PM on January 24, 2016 [5 favorites]
My kids watch nothing but other people playing video games. I think all professional content might be in trouble.
Hell, that's pretty much all I watch any more, and I'm 40.
posted by rifflesby at 7:49 PM on January 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
Hell, that's pretty much all I watch any more, and I'm 40.
posted by rifflesby at 7:49 PM on January 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
We have birds, so we tend to use the TV as background noise as much as anything. But the problem with that is that there are a lot of hours out of the day when there's nothing on that's even worth ignoring.
The traditional TV model is really, really stupid, when you think about it. You get to watch what somebody else thinks somebody sort of like you might want to be watching at a certain time. Instead of, like, watching what you want to be watching when you want to watch it. Is it any surprise Netflix is eating TV's lunch?
posted by tobascodagama at 8:06 PM on January 24, 2016 [10 favorites]
The traditional TV model is really, really stupid, when you think about it. You get to watch what somebody else thinks somebody sort of like you might want to be watching at a certain time. Instead of, like, watching what you want to be watching when you want to watch it. Is it any surprise Netflix is eating TV's lunch?
posted by tobascodagama at 8:06 PM on January 24, 2016 [10 favorites]
I'm doing right now what I do a lot: Watching Netflix on the left half of my screen (Making a Murderer, in this case) and reading MetaFilter on the right half. That is all.
posted by limeonaire at 8:29 PM on January 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by limeonaire at 8:29 PM on January 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
I dare say most parents have used a smartphone or tablet and netflix to pacify fussy kids in line or at a restaurant and even little kids will only watch MLP so many times.
Well, that still works when I'm fussy.
posted by Drinky Die at 9:11 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
Well, that still works when I'm fussy.
posted by Drinky Die at 9:11 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
We have birds. I read that in the same tone as, "Yeah, cancer. Terminal."
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:52 PM on January 24, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:52 PM on January 24, 2016 [12 favorites]
(b) you don't accidentally make some schlock show that fifteen million people do watch, because then everybody remembers that fifteen million people is possible and suddenly everyone's churning out garbage all over again.
General observation, or sly dig at Game of Thrones?
posted by Gerald Bostock at 10:08 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
General observation, or sly dig at Game of Thrones?
posted by Gerald Bostock at 10:08 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
We have birds. I read that in the same tone as, "Yeah, cancer. Terminal."
Imagine toddlers who can bite through fabric and wood -- not to mention skin -- if they aren't constantly entertained. I mean, I love 'em, but then I guess people love their toddlers as well. And also plunk their toddlers down in front of the TV for hours on end of children's programming?
posted by tobascodagama at 5:02 AM on January 25, 2016 [5 favorites]
Imagine toddlers who can bite through fabric and wood -- not to mention skin -- if they aren't constantly entertained. I mean, I love 'em, but then I guess people love their toddlers as well. And also plunk their toddlers down in front of the TV for hours on end of children's programming?
posted by tobascodagama at 5:02 AM on January 25, 2016 [5 favorites]
We have a Roku, because it's cheap and reliable, and we have Netflix, Youtube and Amazon installed on it (along with some special purpose sites like PBS Kids and Vimeo, which is an amazing font of experimental animation).
Amazon has a pretty good catalog (and free 2-day shipping and a selection of e-books to sweeten the deal), but the interface is so clunky, it just doesn't get the same use. We'll fire it up to rent a movie, that's it. Youtube is pretty useless to navigate (tho the Youtube Kids iPad app is insidiously easy).
Our daughter has been able to queue up whatever she wants on her own Netflix sub-account - she's been doing it since she was three. Netflix suggests new shows she might like to watch, and keeps her current binge-watching favorites close to hand. You don't even need to read, Netflix is smart enough to help you find what you want. If she's looking for a show on Amazon (some kid's movies not available on Netflix), she'll ask us to search for it because she won't be able to find it and our old Roku doesn't have voice search.
It's been similarly fantastic for the grownups, making browsing for what we want a breeze - Amazon is a chore, and Youtube is basically just for looking at viral vids and movie previews.
UX matters. Netflix remains on top of the heap because it's easy to find content you enjoy, and a delight to just browse around in it. One of the few companies who do a better job of human-machine interaction than Apple.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:40 AM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
Amazon has a pretty good catalog (and free 2-day shipping and a selection of e-books to sweeten the deal), but the interface is so clunky, it just doesn't get the same use. We'll fire it up to rent a movie, that's it. Youtube is pretty useless to navigate (tho the Youtube Kids iPad app is insidiously easy).
Our daughter has been able to queue up whatever she wants on her own Netflix sub-account - she's been doing it since she was three. Netflix suggests new shows she might like to watch, and keeps her current binge-watching favorites close to hand. You don't even need to read, Netflix is smart enough to help you find what you want. If she's looking for a show on Amazon (some kid's movies not available on Netflix), she'll ask us to search for it because she won't be able to find it and our old Roku doesn't have voice search.
It's been similarly fantastic for the grownups, making browsing for what we want a breeze - Amazon is a chore, and Youtube is basically just for looking at viral vids and movie previews.
UX matters. Netflix remains on top of the heap because it's easy to find content you enjoy, and a delight to just browse around in it. One of the few companies who do a better job of human-machine interaction than Apple.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:40 AM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
I guess that shows how well Netflix hits niches, I had no idea that they did children's programming.
Our Netflix account has been used either three or four times over the years, total, to watch children's programming, when visiting kids wanted to watch something. That is evidently enough use for them to constantly suggest kids cartoons and movies, despite no other indication of interest or use. They have an ok system for suggesting content, but amusingly it is failing in this respect.
watch TV more as a background thing
If I ever end up dating again, this will have to be front and center in my criteria. A TV blaring away with no one watching is one of those totally irrational pet peeves that makes me want to commit acts of violence and bothers me way out of proportion to its actual importance.
We have subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, and I've considered adding HBO. With those, I am never tempted by cable at all (and the minute there is a competitor for internet service, probably Google Fiber, I will ditch the cable service so fast their heads will spin). I like the access to quirkier offerings, and right now I am alternating watching two different foreign shows, both with subtitles and difficult content, that would never work on broadcast TV and where I have no interest in watching one episode a week on someone else's schedule.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:42 AM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
Our Netflix account has been used either three or four times over the years, total, to watch children's programming, when visiting kids wanted to watch something. That is evidently enough use for them to constantly suggest kids cartoons and movies, despite no other indication of interest or use. They have an ok system for suggesting content, but amusingly it is failing in this respect.
watch TV more as a background thing
If I ever end up dating again, this will have to be front and center in my criteria. A TV blaring away with no one watching is one of those totally irrational pet peeves that makes me want to commit acts of violence and bothers me way out of proportion to its actual importance.
We have subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, and I've considered adding HBO. With those, I am never tempted by cable at all (and the minute there is a competitor for internet service, probably Google Fiber, I will ditch the cable service so fast their heads will spin). I like the access to quirkier offerings, and right now I am alternating watching two different foreign shows, both with subtitles and difficult content, that would never work on broadcast TV and where I have no interest in watching one episode a week on someone else's schedule.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:42 AM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
Our Netflix account has been used either three or four times over the years, total, to watch children's programming, when visiting kids wanted to watch something. That is evidently enough use for them to constantly suggest kids cartoons and movies, despite no other indication of interest or use. They have an ok system for suggesting content, but amusingly it is failing in this respect.
My sister created a separate profile for our kids on her netflix account simply because it drives her batty to have her Reccomended for You list polluted by the occasional Bubble Guppies binge by visiting nieces.
posted by 256 at 6:30 AM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
My sister created a separate profile for our kids on her netflix account simply because it drives her batty to have her Reccomended for You list polluted by the occasional Bubble Guppies binge by visiting nieces.
posted by 256 at 6:30 AM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
I think Netflix even includes a default Guest and/or Kids profile now, for precisely this purpose.
Dip Flash: Never have kids. Or birds.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:25 AM on January 25, 2016
Dip Flash: Never have kids. Or birds.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:25 AM on January 25, 2016
Watching friends post on Facebook last night about scrambling to figure out a way to watch Fox for the new X-Files, obviously television networks just need to go back and make new episodes of shows people used to like, and all their problems will be solved.
posted by Automocar at 8:05 AM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Automocar at 8:05 AM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
What with the 30 minute sportsball-related delay and everything, trying to watch The X-Files as it aired last night mostly just reminded me how much I hate the traditional television networks.
posted by tobascodagama at 8:12 AM on January 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 8:12 AM on January 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
limeonaire: "I'm doing right now what I do a lot: Watching Netflix on the left half of my screen (Making a Murderer, in this case) and reading MetaFilter on the right half. That is all."
Heh. I have a dual head setup. A 31" Sony Bravia and a 19" Acer to one side. Unfortunately, the Acer gets the Netflix. My vision sucks a fair bit, and, although I can make out video just fine, text not so much.
posted by Samizdata at 8:17 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Heh. I have a dual head setup. A 31" Sony Bravia and a 19" Acer to one side. Unfortunately, the Acer gets the Netflix. My vision sucks a fair bit, and, although I can make out video just fine, text not so much.
posted by Samizdata at 8:17 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
tobascodagama:
Also, in the cut cable future, space still needs to be made for local programming. People may laugh at the quality of local news, but it still provides a critical resource.
posted by charred husk at 8:19 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
"What with the 30 minute sportsball-related delay and everything, trying to watch The X-Files as it aired last night mostly just reminded me how much I hate the traditional television networks."Mrs.Husk and I were looking at the clock as it approached 10:30 thinking about how we had to get up early for work the next morning and began looking to see where the new episodes would be streaming. Ended up watching anyways because it was an "event".
Also, in the cut cable future, space still needs to be made for local programming. People may laugh at the quality of local news, but it still provides a critical resource.
posted by charred husk at 8:19 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Automocar: "Watching friends post on Facebook last night about scrambling to figure out a way to watch Fox for the new X-Files, obviously television networks just need to go back and make new episodes of shows people used to like, and all their problems will be solved."
Fox is broadcast. Can't most people just get that with an antenna? Or am I spoiled by living in a city? We get 36 digital broadcast channels just using a little flat antenna taped to the window.
posted by octothorpe at 8:50 AM on January 25, 2016
Fox is broadcast. Can't most people just get that with an antenna? Or am I spoiled by living in a city? We get 36 digital broadcast channels just using a little flat antenna taped to the window.
posted by octothorpe at 8:50 AM on January 25, 2016
I guess here is where I announce that for a little over half a year now I've been earning cash (with the help with a fellow MeFite, thanks guy!) finding interesting things on Netflix at the rate of two a day and writing a few sentences about each for his app (and now newsletter), and I've been quietly surprised at times by Netflix's canniness in supporting interesting things. When I saw they made W/ Bob & David I nearly gasped, someone out there had the insight to pay Odenkirk and Cross (who couldn't have been cheap considering how both of them are pretty big names these days) to basically make more Mr. Show, which had been something beloved by just about everyone except those actually writing checks.
Is that kind of thing sustainable? I honestly don't know, but if Netflix can make a business model out of paying people for content who have been spurned by traditional entertainment companies then I wish them all the best.
posted by JHarris at 8:55 AM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
Is that kind of thing sustainable? I honestly don't know, but if Netflix can make a business model out of paying people for content who have been spurned by traditional entertainment companies then I wish them all the best.
posted by JHarris at 8:55 AM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
When I saw they made W/ Bob & David I nearly gasped, someone out there had the insight to pay Odenkirk and Cross (who couldn't have been cheap considering how both of them are pretty big names these days) to basically make more Mr. Show, which had been something beloved by just about everyone except those actually writing checks.
I wouldn't assume they are getting big checks. Lots of these deals are trading low budgets for almost complete creative control. This is similar to what Louie C.K. does with his show.
posted by mmascolino at 9:14 AM on January 25, 2016 [4 favorites]
I wouldn't assume they are getting big checks. Lots of these deals are trading low budgets for almost complete creative control. This is similar to what Louie C.K. does with his show.
posted by mmascolino at 9:14 AM on January 25, 2016 [4 favorites]
Fox is broadcast. Can't most people just get that with an antenna? Or am I spoiled by living in a city? We get 36 digital broadcast channels just using a little flat antenna taped to the window.
Depends on where you live: which stations are broadcasting locally and whether you can get them easily are pretty variable. The newer low-profile powered antennas help a lot with this, but I can get a lot of stations in my city with my super-cheap rabbit ears. (And when living in a smaller city, got absolutely none other than the local PBS affiliate, because the small city was in a topological bowl and none of the nearby larger city's broadcasts would reach us without a really tall outdoor antenna.)
AntennaWeb is great for info about what broadcast stations you can expect to receive and how you'll need to set up your antenna to receive them. For anyone who's got an old TV antenna languishing somewhere, it's worth plugging it in -- the changes needed to receive digital broadcast signals were in the TV tuners, not the antennas.
posted by asperity at 9:15 AM on January 25, 2016 [4 favorites]
Depends on where you live: which stations are broadcasting locally and whether you can get them easily are pretty variable. The newer low-profile powered antennas help a lot with this, but I can get a lot of stations in my city with my super-cheap rabbit ears. (And when living in a smaller city, got absolutely none other than the local PBS affiliate, because the small city was in a topological bowl and none of the nearby larger city's broadcasts would reach us without a really tall outdoor antenna.)
AntennaWeb is great for info about what broadcast stations you can expect to receive and how you'll need to set up your antenna to receive them. For anyone who's got an old TV antenna languishing somewhere, it's worth plugging it in -- the changes needed to receive digital broadcast signals were in the TV tuners, not the antennas.
posted by asperity at 9:15 AM on January 25, 2016 [4 favorites]
Yeah, digital broadcast signals are a lot less forgiving than analog--in the old days, it was a slow drop-off in quality. With digital, you either get it, or you don't. And interference is a killer with digital signals, because the picture will drop in and out and pixelate, and it's unwatchable--very different from the old snow or fuzz.
posted by Automocar at 10:03 AM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Automocar at 10:03 AM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
I have yet to hit a Netflix original kids show that wasn't nauseating, TBH. Not sure why there's such a quality gap there.
Puffin Rock was pretty good IMO. It's a kids show where there's not much yelling and "wackiness". My daughter loves it. Though it's for the really young set.
posted by Hoopo at 10:05 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Puffin Rock was pretty good IMO. It's a kids show where there's not much yelling and "wackiness". My daughter loves it. Though it's for the really young set.
posted by Hoopo at 10:05 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Heh. We ended up DVRing a bunch of post game chat instead of X Files, so I guess we'll catch up with that when its on demand.
posted by Artw at 10:07 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 10:07 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
My parents have cable so I DVRed X-files last night. My plan this am was to have my morning before work coffee with X-files in their living room. And like Art I turned on the recording only to be met with football chat. Ugh. So annoying.
Since my legal method was kyboshed now as I'm writing X files is downloading and I'll be streaming it on my new chromecast. I love this thing. It's the perfect gadget for the media I watch and the way I watch which is a mixture of netflix, bbc iplayer, some free streaming sites, you tube, twitch and torrents. I'm also now going move my sound system from my desktop to my tv since chromecast makes it dead easy to play music from my phone.
I've also got some free trials of Shomii and Crave TV now that you can get them without a cable subscription. There's some pretty good stuff on each of them but I doubt I will stay subscribed just because I've seen most of it already. I don't see getting rid of Netflix anytime soon though. Although I have seen much of what is on there there's enough original content and enough things that I like rewatching that it still is worth the 10 dollars a month.
posted by Jalliah at 3:57 PM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Since my legal method was kyboshed now as I'm writing X files is downloading and I'll be streaming it on my new chromecast. I love this thing. It's the perfect gadget for the media I watch and the way I watch which is a mixture of netflix, bbc iplayer, some free streaming sites, you tube, twitch and torrents. I'm also now going move my sound system from my desktop to my tv since chromecast makes it dead easy to play music from my phone.
I've also got some free trials of Shomii and Crave TV now that you can get them without a cable subscription. There's some pretty good stuff on each of them but I doubt I will stay subscribed just because I've seen most of it already. I don't see getting rid of Netflix anytime soon though. Although I have seen much of what is on there there's enough original content and enough things that I like rewatching that it still is worth the 10 dollars a month.
posted by Jalliah at 3:57 PM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
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I love that SyFy, AMC, and FX are now "traditional networks".
posted by Etrigan at 1:21 PM on January 24, 2016 [40 favorites]