I don't understand the value of Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu, etc.

$2b more to flush wrote:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-04-23/netflix-selling-another-2-billion-junk-bonds-fund-war-disney

These same trends occurred during the first tech bubble. All these "tech" companies that are supposed to change the world as we know it will blow up again and stockholders will be left to pick up the pieces. Don't get me wrong, it's a cool idea. But the current price point won't generate positive cash flow. The problem is if they raise the price to $25-$30 per month they will lose half of their customer base.

The Wall Street Journal has revealed just how dependent Netflix is on licensing deals to supply its subscribers with content they actually want to watch.

And now that many of the companies that have been licensing this content are now preparing to launch streaming services of their own, Netflix could be headed for a crisis that could soon cost it its position as the streaming market leader, at which point, we imagine, its extremely precarious balance sheet will become almost impossible to ignore.

Three companies that are preparing to launch streaming platforms of their own account for 40% of viewing minutes on Netflix. And should they decide not to renew their licensing deals, Netflix could lose most, if not all, of its most popular shows.

According to WSJ, Netflix could lose its most popular show - NBC's "The Office" - as soon as 2021. Netflix viewers watched 52 billion minutes of the Office last year, accounting for roughly 3% of Netflix's aggregate streaming time

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-04-24/nobody-watches-netflixs-original-shows-and-thats-huge-problem

Netflix releases details of $65 million bribe to Obama

It seems Barack Obama will rake in about a billion bucks off his Oval Office tenure.

So far, Netflix gave the biggest bribe: $65 million to produce seven films.

First up, Frederick Douglass, likely as seen as a Socialist. Also a Kid's Show from 'Drunk History' creator.

The Obamas have come since the University of Chicago Hospital bought the senator off with a part-time, $300,000 a year no-show job for his wife.

Now they split $65 million as no-show producers.

Well, this is the Obamas: show-up-for-the-photo-op producers.

https://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/news/2019/04/30/obamas-announce-first-7-films-in-deal-with-netflix.html

Netflix has the Witcher coming, which will be the next game of thrones. HBO needed a total of one show to make streaming viable. The witcher will keep netflix in the black for years to come.

Netflix is a very interesting place where you can find a lot of video content. Also, there are a lot of blocked videos there. I always use VeePN service in order to get access to content that I need, such as websites, games, streaming media, streaming music or Netflix. And it really helps in such situations a lot. Additionally, vpn services can be very useful in order to increase online security and privacy level.

Fragmentation, overcompression, content delivery issues, catalog changes and subpar apps.

As Gabe Newell said almost 10 years ago 'piracy' is a service problem, not a pricing problem. If your service sucks then the price doesn't really matter when the content is readily available elsewhere with minimal hassle.

Although Newell's Steam (video game platform) isn't very popular with game studios (it's essentially a 30% tax) and monopolistic platforms have way too much power, the users simply can't be bothered with pirating cracked games anymore because it's so convenient. Not to mention that many popular games have a subscription model or a F2P with in-game-transactions for visual items or 'easing the grind' if you have to play to progress.

Nevertheless, a consolidation of streaming services is necessary. Subscribing to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Go, Hulu, [sports network 1], [sports network 2] & [sports network 3] just to cover your 5 favorite series and 3 favorite sports events is ridiculous.

I pay for live sports (because sports is only watched live), movies in the theater, concert tickets, etc. but not series, music and older movies.

Wolf's Bane wrote:

Netflix has the Witcher coming, which will be the next game of thrones. HBO needed a total of one show to make streaming viable. The witcher will keep netflix in the black for years to come.

If they are expecting The Witcher to be GOT replacement then they will be disappointed, maybe greatly.

GOT succeeded because it was a crossover and had cross genre appeal. The magical elements were well in the BG and character conflict and intricate plotting drove the show. It eventually brought in the House of Cards crowd, once they were convinced it wasn't pure;y a genre piece and they could watch guilt-free.

I think the The Witcher is going to be full-on genre from Day One. How is there going to be an intricate character conflict based plot when there is basically one character of interest? It's from a video game for christ sakes. Everything about it is going to scream cheesey genre to the average viewer from day one. I think it could be good and please the intended audience but I really dont' think it is going to be a huge crossover hit, any more than I would think something like Halo was.

I hope i'm wrong, the game was amazing. But I have a strong hunch it's going to have crazy fake-looking cg skies, over used half-assed fantasy fx and gross 'edgy' color palettes that immediately identify it as shoddy genre work to anyone browsing for something to watch. Not that all of those are out of place, just that they make it easy for the average viewer to dismiss the show.

It would be really interesting if they tried to do a really gritty, non-CG-colorized version, with small bits of magic grounded in a realistic world inhabited by occasional monsters. I think the monsters have a bigger impact when they are few and far between and seem to be walking around in a world we recognize., rather than endless CG gorefest.

Who knows though, maybe thats what they did.

yes, all the streaminng services are so expensive... I think that some free solutions are really good. For example, you can install some Kodi addons like those on https://www.firesticktricks.com/best-kodi-addons.html on a Firestick, and they will allow you to watch any movies and shows you want. It is so cool and wokring

Bump

As I expected, "Streaming Wars" just means a gazillion of the same companies competing each other's profits while dumb consumers waste money to access the 0.01% of content that is actually good. Companies have no good ideas for content, so they light a stack of money on fire by creating 10,000 shows of which maybe 1 becomes a hit but doesn't bring in enough revenue to offset the 10,000 non-hits.

Image:i.ibb.co/X5mKPPr/ntflx.png

Wow, some pretty good calls on NFLX 2 years ago. I still subscribe but rarely watch it. The recommended movies and shows are 98% terrible, perhaps due to my in-laws and kids watching from my account.

I’ve been a member since the DVD days, and the streaming service took time to build, but eventually got pretty good. Then they started creating their own content and most of it is garbage.

Amazon Prime Video is my go to with a Starz add on. Some great movies on Starz. HBO Max and Apple TV have some decent stuff but Apple is pretty sparse in selection. That’s actually a bonus, since I spend way too much time sifting through the junk of Netflix.

I feel a little less upset about selling my NFLX in 2011, but I’d still be way up.

People give jamin too much crap on this board. Spot on about bs tech companies. Hoping he's right about real estate too.

I hope you shorted Netflix stock last November - might enable you to buy a home for cash.

You don’t understand the value of real estate either so I think we can ALL agree you’re clueless.

I've only explained common-sense facts about a primary residence as financial investment. For example, I've explained that if your primary residence appreciates in dollar value, you can only access the dollars gained by downgrading in primary residence, e.g. moving to a less expensive locale.

So if your primary residence appreciates, you don't have "more" of anything. That makes it unlike owning a stock. If you own AT&T stock and the price doubles, your get 2x as much money in your dividend check. If your primary residence is appraised at 2x as much, you don't receive any money (in fact you have to pay more money in insurance and taxes) and your house doesn't magically move to a better neighborhood.