You Tired of Subscription Model Content Yet?

[gene]

Netflix announced that 200,000 people cancelled their Netflix subscriptions causing a massive drop in stock prices for the streaming service. But subscription based streaming services aren't going anywhere soon, and yes, you will have to pay for them. But for the audio-video enthusiast, there are so many ways to benefit from these subscription-based models.

The streaming market and its tangential subscription model boomed in recent years, but this is the pending “correction” that is predictable. Take one look at your credit card bill and see how many people have you spending with them and it is easy to pull back. I certainly have with likely more changes coming, but I won’t pull out of the streaming/subscription market completely. I will just curate my list of spending based on quality and value. You will too. These are good days, but you can’t spend on everything all the time. We will all find the happy place for our budgets and go from there.


What must have subscription services do you have and do you plan on changing those seasonally based on content offered?

Read: Are you Tired of Subscription Model Content Yet?

 

[3db]

IHO if Netflix eliminates password sharing which really isnt the issue here, then Netflix is going to lose far more than 200000 subscribers once its passed. It will surely hasten their demise.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

IHO if Netflix eliminates password sharing which really isnt the issue here, then Netflix is going to lose far more than 200000 subscribers once its passed. It will surely hasten their demise.

If they are half-smart they would start by nudging people toward paying password sharing plans, instead of a hard cut-off. However, their biggest problem isn't with constantly raising the cost of service (BTW: keeping HD on a separate plan is ridiculous, as everyone pretty much by now had at least (720p) HD TV sets)
The actual issue with a rapidly accelerating drop in their content quality.

New Movies on Netflix: Every Netflix Original Released in 2022

The complete list of all the new Netflix Original movies released in 2022.

www.whats-on-netflix.com

Just look at IMDB scores - I've checked most of 7 or higher, and at the moment only 2 original Netlfix 2022 movies have ratings over 7, with none over 8.
Look how many movies they drop every month and I bet you haven't heard about most of these.
Quantity over quality is a terrible strategy, but it clearly has been M.O at Netflix circa 2022.

If this strategy continues, I predict Netflix will move to the 4 or 5th spot, somewhere where Hulu is now.

 

[lovinthehd]

As a single guy, the whole password sharing thing is something I get no benefit from....kinda like cell phone plans for single guys like me vs a family group....if anything I'm getting screwed in comparison.

I do have a few subscriptions at the moment and was planning on cutting Disney out particularly. If I had kids/grandkids I'd probably keep it, but for me it doesn't make a lot of sense, just not much there I haven't seen and some of the new content has been fairly blah, maybe I'll sign back up after a while and catch up with any new content that way. Still, even with all my various subscriptions, still beats hell out of what I used to get from DirecTV before going with some Amazon Fire Sticks and various individual streaming services (and having a Prime account helps that along too). I've been a longtime customer of Netflix disc rental, and have for quite a while now also had their streaming service. I've got HBO Max, Showtime, Apple, and Mubi for other paid subscriptions and Showtime is probably up next for a rest after Disney.....

 

[MalVeauX]

Subscription model is in everything. Everything. I don't like most subscription models.

Subscription model isn't new.

You all had the same Columbia House freebies as I did and subscription model in the 90's. Same thing basically.

Steaming is convenient. I don't see Netflix dropping out Blockbuster-style. It'll try something, then revert or revamp.

I rarely stream, but my kids gobble up streaming on all these platforms.

I prefer the model of just having an account and paying for the one show or movie you want to see, at a time. I'd rather that compared to a subscription model. But, when you have kids that want to watch the same thing over and over and over, the current subscription model makes sense in that context.

Very best,

 

[lovinthehd]

Subscription model is in everything. Everything. I don't like most subscription models.

Subscription model isn't new.

You all had the same Columbia House freebies as I did and subscription model in the 90's. Same thing basically.

Steaming is convenient. I don't see Netflix dropping out Blockbuster-style. It'll try something, then revert or revamp.

I rarely stream, but my kids gobble up streaming on all these platforms.

I prefer the model of just having an account and paying for the one show or movie you want to see, at a time. I'd rather that compared to a subscription model. But, when you have kids that want to watch the same thing over and over and over, the current subscription model makes sense in that context.

Very best,

What do you think of that single show pricing, tho? For the most part I do much better with a subscription rather than paying for one show at a time....but if you rarely use a streamed show then that would make more sense than me who streams a lot daily.

 

[MalVeauX]

What do you think of that single show pricing, tho? For the most part I do much better with a subscription rather than paying for one show at a time....but if you rarely use a streamed show then that would make more sense than me who streams a lot daily.

I stream a show once every few months, so for me, it makes sense. I realize someone who watches something daily would hate that. I don't like watching anything if I'm going to be interrupted and cannot listen loud... I get all "get off my lawn" with it.

Very best,

 

[Trebdp83]

I’ve cancelled all of my recurring subscriptions and only Disney+, though cancelled, is still active. T-Mobile gave subscribers a free year of Paramount+ so I have access to it until January. I did get one month of HBOMAX to see The Batman and catch up on some other things and then will let it go. Might do a month of Netflix this summer and finish “Stranger Things.” Then, Shudder for October. Little here, little there but not all of them all at once all of the time. That s#%t adds up.

Subscription models aren’t anything new. We watched the same movies over and over again as kids because our parents had a cable subscription. Kids today can hit replay immediately. We had to go outside and play until the next airing.

 

[highfigh]

They make movies in order to make money but let's be serious- they need to stop doing 4th gen remakes of movies that were originally filmed in the '40s.

You had cable? We had three TV channels, in beautiful Black & White. We didn't get our first color TV until the day they walked on the Moon and even that was in B&W.

 

[mns3dhm]

For years people rightly complained that the bundles offered by cable and satellite providers were price inflated because they had to pay for channels that they never watched. These content providers typically offer bundle tiers but you still wind up paying for content you don't want. This led to a cutting the cord reaction where millions of households ditched cable or satellite for over the air and streaming content and the chance to buy content a la carte.

Are you really surprised that a la carte often winds up costing more than the bundle once the initial offer disappears and the real pricing kicks in? You didn't know the sign up was an evergreen contract that renews itself automatically? Surprise again! It's painful as a consumer and I wonder how many of the myriad streaming services can survive on their own; their actions seem driven as much by desperation and fear as capitalism these days.

My real concern at this point is we could be heading societally into a have and have nots culture where significant portions of the population have little or no access to not only entertainment, but also basic information like news and weather. In my mind this is happening to a certain extent already as evidenced by persons I see on television expressing ideas and opinions that are not tethered to reality in any way shape or form.

 

[McC]

The actual issue with a rapidly accelerating drop in their content quality.

This^ I dropped Netflix primarily due to its poor content. The constant price increases didn't help, but I might have tolerated them if the content improved. It hasn't, and I don't expect it will anytime soon.

Other providers offer better programming but many seem unable to meet production schedules. They introduce a new show with a weekly release schedule and then make viewers wait several weeks or more for another episode. I'm too old to waste time with poor content or wait until I've lost interest in a new episode.

 

[snakeeyes]

I do switch mine up. Since I do HBOmax or Showtime or Disney+ through Hulu, I just do one at a time for a few months and switch.

For Netflix I have thought about pausing it but there are so many shows there so I haven’t done it yet but may do that at some point.

I don’t see myself canceling AppleTV Plus as long as it stays cheap.

 

[lovinthehd]

I stream a show once every few months, so for me, it makes sense. I realize someone who watches something daily would hate that. I don't like watching anything if I'm going to be interrupted and cannot listen loud... I get all "get off my lawn" with it.

Very best,

Yeah if I only got to watch that infrequently I'd do it on a show by show basis too.....but being retired and living alone sure helps. I don't particularly care for conversation while I'm watching either....

 

[}Fear_Inoculum{]

I currently have:

Apple TV
Amazon Prime
Disney +
Netflix
Crave TV (which includes HBO/HBO Max)

Crave was a 1 month trial for 0.98$ I literally signed up to watch Dune, The Batman and The Matrix: Resurrections (still haven't watched that one yet). My wife has watched some of that Sex and The City sequel.

I'd cut Netflix tomorrow (would have cut it 2 years ago) but my wife watches shows on it. The cost (which has jumped 2× in the last 6 months alone), combined with the terrible content, sound and picture quality really irks me.

Disney +, Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video are cheap enough with decent content and (at least at my house) excellent picture/sound quality that I'll keep them all around. If Crave was cheaper (I've canceled it already), I'd keep it as well.

Streaming is here to stay. Now they just need to make the video/audio lossless and keep it affordable.

 

[jinjuku]

I keep it simple. My streaming budget is no more that $35/Month. I'll rotate services in and out as I deem worthy. Still less than my cable bill and that cord I cut in 2012.

 

[panteragstk]

If they are half-smart they would start by nudging people toward paying password sharing plans, instead of a hard cut-off. However, their biggest problem isn't with constantly raising the cost of service (BTW: keeping HD on a separate plan is ridiculous, as everyone pretty much by now had at least (720p) HD TV sets)
The actual issue with a rapidly accelerating drop in their content quality.

New Movies on Netflix: Every Netflix Original Released in 2022

The complete list of all the new Netflix Original movies released in 2022.

www.whats-on-netflix.com

Just look at IMDB scores - I've checked most of 7 or higher, and at the moment only 2 original Netlfix 2022 movies have ratings over 7, with none over 8.
Look how many movies they drop every month and I bet you haven't heard about most of these.
Quantity over quality is a terrible strategy, but it clearly has been M.O at Netflix circa 2022.

If this strategy continues, I predict Netflix will move to the 4 or 5th spot, somewhere where Hulu is now.

Do your kids watch any of the super low budget Netflix shows that are clearly imported? Talk about low quality.

I do like a lot of their shows, and they seem to be putting money into them, but they need to severely limit how much they make. They're just another streaming service/network that make good things that I like, the number of shows they make that I feel that way about is very small.

I'd much rather have a small collection of excellent content than the "throw stuff against the wall and see what sticks" method they seem to be using now.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Do your kids watch any of the super low budget Netflix shows that are clearly imported? Talk about low quality.

Youtube (with blocked Ads) and supplemented by stuff from Plex server(s)

I'd much rather have a small collection of excellent content than the "throw stuff against the wall and see what sticks" method they seem to be using now.

100% agree.

 

[Teetertotter?]

Wife and I are retired, and DTV Satellite is where it is at with their Ultimate Pkg with Sports. Other streaming services like You Tube, do not have all the channels we need. We can afford it and is much of our entertainment. Our daughter has Netflix and Prime and we share. When the sharing disappears, will stream with our account. It is a little hassle to call DTV to ask for discounts, which we do receive every year. We also have ATT U-verse DSL internet with 100Mbps and avg's 75-95 Mbps. If we become unable to share Prime and Netflix via our daughter, we will subscribe. My wife is a TV series person and I'm into movies. So far, all content has been good with our wide selection of channel options/content. We have his and hers TV's.

 

[lovinthehd]

W

Wife and I are retired, and DTV Satellite is where it is at with their Ultimate Pkg with Sports. Other streaming services like You Tube, do not have all the channels we need. We can afford it and is much of our entertainment. Our daughter has Netflix and Prime and we share. When the sharing disappears, will stream with our account. It is a little hassle to call DTV to ask for discounts, which we do receive every year. We also have ATT U-verse DSL internet with 100Mbps and avg's 75-95 Mbps. If we become unable to share Prime and Netflix via our daughter, we will subscribe. My wife is a TV series person and I'm into movies. So far, all content has been good with our wide selection of channel options/content. We have his and hers TV's.

What's the cost of that full package, tho? I got rid of D* because of the high package prices, much of which included stuff I didn't want/use....

 

[panteragstk]

W

What's the cost of that full package, tho? I got rid of D* because of the high package prices, much of which included stuff I didn't want/use....

I know that when I had their "full package" it was close to $200/mo. That was 10 years ago, so no idea on what it'd be now.

My main issue with DTV is that the picture is so compressed compared to my streaming services. That's saying something, but it's been an issue for 20 years.