Why streaming Netflix, Disney Plus, and HBO Max keeps getting more expensive

Well, eventually when people get fed up, they will have to lower prices again. And I don't think ad-based subscriptions are the solution, to me it's too annoying. But I would be willing to pay more if they offered me better quality movies, they are doing a horrible job over here in The Netherlands.

Netflix and HBO Max are a freaking joke. Disney+ has added a lot of their US content, so I have to give them credits. And Prime Video is also not that bad but they could do a whole lot better. Recently, a new streaming service has been launched named SkyShowtime, which is basically a mix between Paramount+ and Showtime, but it's pretty much a joke too.

 

It was a bait and switch to get everyone onto these services and eliminate physical media. Pay forever, own nothing. Then when they get enough people onboard and abandon DVDs and such the price goes up.

 

I personally don't really have a problem with not owning movies, as long as I have access to my favoritie movies and series. And that's exactly what's bugging me, I don't see why quite a lot of them are not available in Europe, this whole ''movie rights'' thing is completely bonkers. BTW, about my earlier comment, I see that SkyShowtime has added a couple of new movies, so I wouldn't call them a complete joke anymore.

 

And what's even more ridiculous about these price hikes is that movies aren't getting better. I haven't seen them all but I'm sure most of these Netflix produced movies sucked. Texas Chainsaw Massacre wasn't bad but had a runtime of only 70 minutes, what a joke! And The Bubble was a disgrace.

https://screencrush.com/worst-netflix-movies-2022/

 

This is my gripe with streaming. They can drop anything at any time. If I have a physical copy I can watch it whenever I want. They can also get lazy and make low quality stuff because, well, you're already paying anyway. Why put forth effort? Subscription software is the same thing. Why innovate when you're already getting paid?

 

Once there was Netflix, and people larfed and larfed and larfed.
But they eventually were making so much money that they stopped larfing and said "we can have some of that"
And Netflix, which did not own copyrights to anything, had to relinquish access to much of their good stuff.
And now we have multiple choice of providers, with their limited copyrighted content, at a price which seems a little to much for what is provided.

And then there's me - and I know that i'm no orphan.
Regardless of where the stream begins, it all ends up as a torrent somewhere.
And now who's larfing.

 

How many times you actually wanted to watch same movie on average?
I hardly imagine spending 300 hours watching same movie while it is quite ease to so that using commonly used software.
And many movies eventually ends up on DVDs. It is not like movie industry stopped selling DVDs completly.
In older times many of my collegues also not bothered to own large collection of DVDs. It was either TV or cinema mainly and it was fine for them.

 

How many times? I don't keep track but I do watch many things more than once, especially over time. I'm not sure what point you are trying to make with 300 hours, seems like an excessive number. I have started a series on Netflix before and had them drop it in the middle. It's a large part of why I cancelled and never signed back up. I had to buy the DVDs to finish watching it.

DVDs are certainly harder to come by than they were, and it seems like Blu-ray is all but done. There are only couple of manufacturers still making players and many new release are DVD only if not streaming only.

If colleagues of yours were happy with TV and cinema then they would have loved the '70s when those were the only option. It has little to do with my personal desire to own copies of things I'd like to watch again in the future. The last time I purchased a series on streaming the first several episodes were released as they aired. The last 2 episode released about 3 weeks after the series ended. I wasn't even into it at the point. It's a subpar experience that you're not going to convince me is a suitable replacement. If it works for you then great, I have no problem with it. I don't wish for it to become the only option. It takes options away from the consumer for the intent of making more profit.

 

This is indeed annoying when films and series get removed, so I always try to keep track of these things. But this info isn't always easy to find, strange that streaming services are not more clear about this.

But I do wonder if you guys make use of ad supported streaming services like Freevee and Tubi? I noticed that they have quite a lot of my favorite content, so who needs Prime Video and Netflix, know what I mean? However, I'm not sure they will work with my VPN, still need to check it out.

 

Never heard of them. Might have to check them out.

 

OK cool, let me know what you think about them. The ads shouldn't be extremely annoying like on Plex Free. But this depends per person of course. They both got quite a big selection of movies and series. That's why I wondered how Netflix would compete with them. To me Netflix Originals are mostly garbage. BTW, Freevee is owned by Amazon and Tubi by Fox. I suppose these ad supported free streaming services are quite lucrative for them.

https://www.justwatch.com/us/provider/tubi-tv/movies
https://www.justwatch.com/us/provider/freevee-amazon-channel/movies

 

I have a feeling you are correct about this.

 

Agreed. The few I've recently attempted to watch almost put me into a comatose state before I get even halfway through them. Just dreadful.

Except I think this was expedited with the mass closures of Blockbusters in 2014.

 

Holy crap, don't get me started. You know how many movies I have stopped watching after 30 minutes or so? Life is too short for crap movies and series. I have already said it before, but the only Netflix Original movies I did like was The Babysitter 1 and 2 and Hypnotic.

In Holland the biggest video rental chain was Videoland, lucky for them they did recognize that streaming was getting big, so now they are the biggest competitor to Netflix over here. However, their website and smart TV app is horrible.

 

Holy cow, I've never heard of those movies so I looked them up. It seems like your taste in movies is not really mainstream, so your probably not Netflix's target audience.

 

I'm not sure what you mean with this. I like all movie genres, and so far most Netflix produced movies sucked. I made a list of my favorite movies (916 titles), see link. I believe these are pretty mainstream. But I do believe it's not just Netflix, it's Hollywood in general who has been in a crisis for the last 5+ years, a lot of crap is being produced, so there's a lack of talent.

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls046424878/?sort=list_order,asc&st_dt=&mode=grid&page=1&ref_=ttls_vw_grd

 

BTW, I do have a preference for horrors and thrillers, you can clearly see that in my list. And I see that 56 movies of the list were made in the period from 2016 till 2022, not even that bad, but I feel like in the past you had more blockbusters per year. A couple of movies that I was impressed with in the last few years were The Invisible Man and Ready Or Not, they are not boring for a single minute, that's how I like them.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1051906/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7798634/

 

Yes, it wasn't for Korean police procedurals and some quirky comedies I like I'd probably cancel Netflix. Some of the movies are OK, I want to see Don Delilio's White Noise because I studied the novel at University.

 

I have never heard of it, but it also doesn't seem to be my cup of tea. I do know about the White Noise movie from 2005, that's more up to my alley, but I haven't seen it in 10 years, so I can't fully remember it. Another thing that I don't like about most Netflix produced movies is that they are so long, 2 hours seems to be the standard. To me 90 minutes is more than enough and it also limits the risk of boring parts.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6160448/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375210/

 

This doesn't surprise me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Noise_(novel)

I don't mind long or longer movies. Although Netflix probably doesn't cater much to my demographic. I've got nothing against vacuous Hollywood movies where everything blows up and there are car chases and gun battles. But I don't necessarily want to watch them. Your second link was inspired by the EVP experiments of Konstantīns Raudive in the 1970's. The movie's not bad actually.

 

- Don't forget all those multi million deals e.g. Netflix has signed up with several persons with a questionable reputation. No, I won't mention names I have in mind. Terminating those contracts would be a good start for returning back to making a profit.

 

No, name names, lol, I'm intrigued now.

 

I also don't mind them as long as they are not boring, but most of the Netflix movies are. Actually, I didn't even realize that at least 250 movies on my favorite movies list have a runtime of 2 hours or more. Some examples: A Beautiful Mind, Catch Me If You Can, Terminator 2, Rosemary's Baby and The Shining.

Yes good point, that's just bad management. Like the $150 million they spend on the Harry & Meghan documentary, I wonder how many people watched that pointless crap.

OK cool, didn't know about this. I think I actually saw this movie once about 15 years ago. They even made a part 2, see link. But that's what I don't like about Netflix, there are so many movies that I would like to see that they won't offer.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0496436/