Further Lessons in Customer Alienation...Netflix

edited November 2010 in The Screening Room
They are jacking up the price big time, dammit. They will probably lose me over this...it doesn't really make economic sense as it is, this will only make it that much worse.

And yet, there's an important difference vis-a-vis eMusic in the way they're handling this: they say it up front. Most of our customers want streaming. The future is streaming. Therefore we are focusing on streaming. (There is a low-cost option for customers who want streaming only...No disc-only option for those who don't want/use streaming, which would be me.)

IMO, they are a little early on this. The streaming selection is very limited, and the vast majority of people don't have the technology yet. But at least they shooting straight about what they are doing and why they are doing it. They are willing to let me remain a troglodyte, if I'm willing to pay for the privilege! No doubt they will be happy when they have mailed out their last DVD, and they are doing what they can to hasten that day. Meanwhile, their investors think it's a swell idea.
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Comments

  • I didn't realize how much the bigger subscriptions were increasing. We've only done the single DVD for a while - and to be honest, we've had the same DVD sitting around the house for a couple months - and thought they were all just going up about a dollar.

    It's an interesting comparison with eMu. While eMu was basically set on doing a price increase and held off until they could get a major on board (supposedly) they ended up getting slammed because the two moves were completely tied together. Many people have wondered whether they might not have had such a negative reaction if they simply increased the prices and said that it was necessary to keep the business running and hopefully add new content in the future.

    On the other hand, Netflix didn't bother waiting for new content. They've said this is how the business is changing and it's time to move on. I think they received a lot of requests for the streaming only here in the US after they initially rolled it out to Canada. I wonder, though, if Netflix would have been served better by having a bunch of new releases ready to go online. Unlike eMu there would be no backlash to new content - and clearly the lack of new releases is the biggest problem with streaming. Over 1/3 of my regular queue (and a ton of stuff I never added) is available to stream - but that's largely because I haven't added many recent movies in awhile.

    Honestly, I think both companies did the opposite of what they should have. The only difference is that the Netflix change will most likely barely effect the bottom line of the majority of their customers.
  • edited November 2010
    We bought a Roku box for about $100, and stream constant stuff. Lots and Lots of good stuff for kids, lots of TV shows, lots of National Geographic stuff, etc. We're on a one-at-a-time DVD plan, but honestly between the streaming stuff, trips to the library for the kids, and regular network tv, the last DVD we got (Primer - highly recommend) has sat there for a month. We only have basic cable too.

    But the pricing increase only looks like a buck a month to me. If emusic had increased prices twice by a buck a month but left my content the same I'd have no complaints.

    [edit] - I didn't look at the chart for how much the bigger plans were increasing. Still, if emusic had gone up by $4; about what Netlix's closest option to $20; but I still got 90 a month, I wouldn't have minded. Emusic's cut was a lot more though - $20 went from 90 to $20.79 to 50 to about 48 cheap tracks - to get 90 cheap tracks I'd have to spend $41.99 - a lot more than a $4 increase.
  • We bought a Roku 2 years ago when we cut cable completely and, like Thom, we end up storing DVDs because we pretty much watch streaming exclusively. The way I'm looking at it, though, is that the price hike on DVD shipping is paying for the expansion of streaming content which I am 100% ok with.

    Relevant:
    6a00d83451c1bb69e20133f64cf62d970b-800wi
  • That comic totally sums up my Netflix experience for some time.

    Back in my bachelor days, a roommate and I went in on and account together (sadly before they added profiles and then deleted them). Since we were both getting 3 at a time for something like $17/month, we switched to the 8 at a time for about $35. Basically the same cost, but we each got an extra movie. Of course in those days I could sit and watch 2 or 3 movies in a row and mail them all back the next day with no problem.

    It's a lot harder to convince my wife to watch a silent communist propaganda film from the 1910s once we get to relax for the evening no matter how historically important it is.
  • I have been meaning to check into the Roku box...perhaps now would be the time. We have no cable, the idea is we have Netflix instead. We're on the 3-disc plan which is more than we need anyway.

    Interesting about "not waiting for new content"...they are getting slammed not only by DVD-only people like me, but also by streaming people because of the limited selection (incidentally, largely about the fact that they no longer offer "Lost"). But they have a clear vision where they're headed, so off they go, even if prematurely.

    The main comparison with eMu is the way the message is delivered...they're not pretending that a change you don't want is good for you. Streaming wins, DVD loses, period.

    Of course, Netflix has the clout to drive the market, eg, getting me to consider Roku. Also, the fewer discs they ship, the more their costs go down. This could be the beginning (or middle) of the end for the US Postal Service!
  • >>>>>>
    .....On the other hand, Netflix didn't bother waiting for new content.
    >>>>>>

    Actually, Netflix has signed some significant streaming deals over the past couple months. Not sure when all that content from those various deals actually arrived but I think any new content they acquired rights to stream would be made available relatively soon after the announcements. So, Netflix actually paid to get the content up front, let their community get a taste of what that content is and then introduced tweaks to their pricing plans.

    BTW: We are much in the same boat w/regards to the physical DVD from Netflix; we are lucky to recycle/return more than 1 physical DVD a month (we need to work on that). It is just so much more convenient to pick from the multitude of available streaming options immediately available depending on your current mood vs. watching a physical DVD that you might have that might be a sober documentary when you're actually in the mood for comedy or and action flick.
  • It doesn't seem like a HUGE increase. I was thinking about starting a subscription again. Gave it up because I was busy downloading and listening to all the emusic crack cards. Yep, the same DVDs sitting around for months. So I cancelled.

    Streaming aside, I think Netflix will still do well on the DVD service. There are still millions of folks in rural areas who are either on dial-up or satellite. Not sure streaming would work at all on dial up. AFAIK, you can't DL the whole thing and then start watching.
    Satellite, a lot of users have Hughes, which caps bandwidth during prime time. Unless they want to stream movies at 2am, they'd have to pay surcharges.
  • Speaking of DVD's, the closest Blockbuster to me recently shuttered up and disappeared. We did their online service for a while too, because it was the same price as Netflix, and everytime you brought in a mailed video for return, you got a free rental at the store, with no late fees. The return of late fees I think really killed them, although you could see they had to do it because there was never any product in the store, especially Thursday through Sunday.
  • Meanwhile, those Redboxes are popping up all over the place.
  • Battleship Potemkim, thom?

    I've never had a Netflix sub. Just don't watch movies...basically ever. If I did though, I'd sure as heck want streaming.

    Craig
  • confession/

    Netflix has rekindled my obsession with The Rockford Files. Streaming makes these sorts of vices so easy to succumb to.

    /confession
  • edited November 2010
    Oh, I used to love watching that show! He had a green camaro, wasn't that the car? Whatever brand car, he sure looked stylish tooling around, catching criminals.


    edit: nope, a firebird
    rockford-files.jpg
  • I'm on the two DVDs out a time plan, so mine is just going up $1/month. I use streaming especially either waiting to get another DVD or when I'm in the mood for something else. Their streaming offers are getting better, but still have a long long way to go before I would give up the DVD side. I don't have cable, so I often will watch something that shows up in the mail within a day or two, depending on my schedule. Yeah, they hate me.

    Redbox is okay, especially for new releases. They text a free rental code for the first Monday of each month. They also have some random Facebook promos, etc.
  • I've been on 4/month since 1999, a longtime fan of the service. With kids, as is common, our throughput isn't what it used to be. The price increase might well induce me to downgrade, despite my grandfathering (we pay 3/mo rates).
  • @luddite - I guess that's one way of looking at it. But, to be fair, eMusic had actually add a lot of content leading up to Sony, too (Domino, Barsuk, Black Saint/Soul Note to name a few).

    @Craig - Damn, you got the right Eisenstein. It's actually a damn brilliant movie. I was ready to sign up to fight the Tsar at the end.

    @elwoodicious - Rockford Files is totally on my list. I remember loving that show as a kid but can't remember a damn thing about it. I just have to finish Babylon 5, get caught up with Eureka, then James Garner here I come! Who doesn't think it's cool?
  • thom - I wrote a paper in college about Soviet propaganda that focused on Potemkin. Fascinating stuff (the movie, not the paper. I was an undergrad so it sucked).

    Craig
  • I got hooked on Rockford reruns about a year ago when one of our over-the-air digital channels started carrying old TV shows. I confessed to my inexplicable obsession on watching the show again after all these years on my facebook page and a woman I knew from college commented that her dentist is so obsessed with the show he named his office building the Rockford Building!
  • Rockford freaking RULES. There was some talk of getting Josh Holloway (Sawyer on Lost) to play Rockford in an update of the series. If you're going to do the series, Josh is the guy to get. But please don't do the series. James Garner is the MAN.

    That said, there are a couple of Rockford novels by mystery novel god Stuart Kaminsky, a guy who also loves movies, TV, and yes, Rockford. They're really good.

    re: Netflix, there were a couple of interesting articles in the Hollywood Reporter. One was about the launching of Netflix in Canada: cheaper than the US (7.99 for all you can eat), and all streaming. HR asked when the DVDs were coming, and co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings said it's never going to happen. If he were starting in the US today, it would be all streaming, no DVDs.

    In another article, he pointed out that the amount of time people are streaming exceeds the total minutes of the DVDs they're shipping...and as per the cartoon, hardly anybody is watching every minute of the DVDs they receive. Once we approached zero in our household, we dropped it...but the point is that they're well on their way to becoming streaming only. Let Redbox have the DVD business. Fine by me - Redbox is pretty cool. In the meantime, the days of DVDs at Neflix are numbered.
  • Speaking of physical media, I am surprised that people are buying into Blu-Ray. It seems so utterly pointless, then again, I usually watch movies while reading a book or surfing the web so the "enhanced realism" is lost on me.
  • Re; blu-ray; my in-laws have a nice big HD TV, and you really can see the difference between something HD on cable and something on DVD. On my CRT tv, using only the tv speakers, no difference.
  • edited November 2010
    Like Froggie, I bought a big TV last Christmas. HD is beautiful, and I can really tell the difference. I did buy a basic Blu-Ray player, but I buy Blu-Ray only when I think it will make a difference -- like the Planet Earth DVD.
  • My concern with Blu-ray is that the technology is simply not going to have much shelf life. I built up a size-able DVD collection over the course of a decade before deciding that I just wasn't watching them enough anymore (once again, when I was in college and then a bachelor it was movies and music non-stop - now, not so much). I'm waiting for us to at least get past spinning discs. But really I think I'm realizing that, unlike streaming music, streaming video makes sense to me.

    But yes, if you have a full HD setup it's totally worth it. I have an upconverting DVD player on my 42" Vizio and that alone is pretty great.

    Also, check out this video of a Netflix distribution center. Who wants to run dozens of those?
  • Planet earth was exactly what I was thinking - we all loved watching them on DVR from the tv, but on DVD it was nowhere near the same thing. We've lately been watching National Geographic's Great Migrations from netflix- from the look on my TV I can only imagine how great that would be in HD.
  • But really I think I'm realizing that, unlike streaming music, streaming video makes sense to me.
    I think that's the crux of the issue for myself. Music has an enormous amount of re-playability, it can be played in mixes, as albums, randomly, in cars, on walks, etc. Movies/TV Shows? Not so much, at least for me. One movie is a huge time investment 1.5-2 hours so forget about making a mix list and driving while watching movies is awkward at best. But, with most of the people I've talked to about it, even favorite movies may only get a couple of plays a decade so a physical collection is like a boat anchor.*


    * With regards to my music collection I ceased buying CDs in earnest around 2001 because I was and am more interested in the music rather than the medium. My boss falls on the other end of the spectrum, he's a vinyl collector that is in love of the ritual of listening: scotch, cigar, and a needle touching down on a Billie Holiday 78.
  • I have a small collection of favorite movies, many of them old, that I do watch more than once a decade. I have an even smaller collection of TV shows, mostly comedies. Watching a show or two when I need a mood boost is just the thing. LIke Night Court and Frazier. I never seem to get tired of watching these again. I'm sure I will stream someday, but don't have the speed to do it now.
  • 1) You can TOTALLY tell the difference with Blu-ray, not just for the pictures, but for some slick navigation features, more helpful and MUCH faster menus, better graphics, etc. With players going for WELL under $100 (I bought one for $73 last year; you can probably do better), there's not much excuse to pass one up. They play regular DVDs too of course.

    1)a) Number of Blu-ray disks I own: 1. Number I've rented: 1. But the built-in upconvert is very nice, definitely noticeable...and noticeably not as sharp as native Blu-ray.

    2) We have to be talking about TVs 42" in or greater, roughly 2 picture heights back. With a clear input, most people's eyes can't resolve the difference in resolution. THAT's why Blu-ray is transitional. The difference between DVD and VHS was immediately visible to every jack-a-knape with a belly telly. Throw in size, durability, better sound - a slam dunk. Blu-ray is tougher....although NOTE: it started slow, but the adoption rate of Blu-ray has comfortably surpassed DVD.

    2)a) The Blu-ray players selling best are the ones that have built-in Netflix streaming. No kidding.

    3) While streaming is the future, it's getting here faster than expected. Apple (hate/love) is driving it. Steve called Blu-ray "a big bag of hurt," and has committed Apple to NEVER supporting it. OTOH, they've spent well over $1B on a new data center, one of the biggest in the world. Some of it is absolutely beyond question for whatever they've done with the Lala purchase, but a lot of it is for streaming HD content.

    4) More important to me than buying Blu-ray: HD movies on cable. Again, quite obviously not as sharp as Blu-ray, even for the most casual viewer, but for me, the winner because I don't miss the physical media.

    5) I DO miss the extra features. Especially with informed commentaries and a handful of good behind the scenes things, these are often better than the movies themselves. The Lord of the Rings trilogies are the obvious examples: some of the best pure documentaries on post-war literature and history, moviemaking and design that have ever been made. I learned more from these than from 4 years in film school, and they're entertaining as hell. So the disks I buy are generally for these.

    6)a) And for entertainment value. I was shocked to discover the other day that the actor I own the movies with is Bruce Willis. I would never have guessed this until in a conversation about desert island action movies, I had Die Hard and The Fifth Element. I'm not sure I'd call them my favorites, but they bear repeated watching -- Die Hard is a family Christmas tradition.


    Sorry for the yap yap yap. This is all pretty well related to both my day job and my personal entertainment passions... not the worst things to have overlap....so it comes up in thorough conversation on a very regular basis....
  • Braun_HF_1.jpg

    I want one of these.
  • When we first got our Ron Popeil rotisserie oven, we watched it like a TV. While making cracks about having a life so boring we would watch it.

    It has to be a rare DVD for me to buy it. For a while I was buying a lot of VCR tapes, but that's because we didn't have cable/good reception/used it as a babysitter while making dinner/ ecuatijonal for my son. I think the only grow-up VHS titles I have are Rebecca and Joy Luck Club.

    I don't have 5th Element, mainly because they show it on TV so often. That is one of my fave movies, though. DVds, again it is mostly kids' movies except for LOTR, Fight Club, CHronicles of RIddick and Almost Famous.
  • @tim - All interesting thoughts. Thanks. I would probably be picking up one of those Blu-ray players with Netflix if I hadn't grabbed an upconverting DVD player or installed Netflix on my Wii (not nearly as dirty as it sounds).

    @amclark2 - Me too!
  • Fwiw, just got a netflix-streaming LG BR player, and the netflix streaming quality is way better than netflix from the Wii, which is what I used before.
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