Posted on 09/19/2011 5:56:25 AM PDT by Usagi_yo
Got the first two sentences right, and really that’s all that matters. Everybody has to make their own call. I figured there had to be a price hike coming when I found out about the fees they were facing, when the announcement came I did the math on how much that was going to cost me per movie on my normal usage it still came out as a screaming deal so I’m staying. I didn’t mind the $1 price hike when it hit years ago, the $4 price hike doesn’t bother me a bit.
When the customers start screaming that a company didn’t do something nobody does yes it is their fault. Everybody screaming about Netflix not explaining the price hike needs to remember the last time a gas station explained the price hike. Since we already know the answer to that is never the next question they should ask themselves is why is it bothering them that Netflix didn’t do what nobody else does.
Keeping the customers happy is nice. But sometimes you need to recognize that the customer has decided to be unhappy on their own and there’s nothing you can do about it. This is a perfect example. Netflix raised prices once with nothing more than a dry announcement, people complained so much they rolled it back; this time they actually did give some explanation (they discussed that the market reaction to stream and DVD being separately subscribable services was not what they expected), people STILL complained; now there’s this further announcement with even more explanation and even and apology, people are STILL complaining. It’s apparent they have a customer base that’s going to complain no matter what.
So now that they know that there’s going to be a hue and cry every time they do everything they’re freed to do whatever they want and not worry about it. Because even with all the whining and wailing and nashing of teeth they still have 23 million subscribers, so they must be doing something right, in spite of the noise coming from the overwrought minority. As for those with the stock tanking, they’re either the emotional ones that are making it tank, or the smart ones gobbling up cheap stock that’s going to bounce back when the emotions clear up and Netflix still has 23 million subscribers.
When DVDs first came out they were more expensive, just like with CDs, but then they became commoditized, price to produce dropped, and the price at retail dropped. Now they’re in the second stage, just a normal product in a time of high inflation when everything is more expensive (especially the fuel used to get the product to the store) and so the price has gone up. It’s still not as high as when they first hit, but higher than they were a few years ago when Netflix finally got big enough to started putting competition out of business.
Netflix does have rates with the Post Office, but the PO is raising prices on everybody.
I don’t think Netflix should have explained anything. Nobody else explains price hikes, the idea that Netflix is somehow different than my grocery store and needs to show why they’re increasing the price is silly. As a consumer I care if the new price is still of value to me. If I’m curious as to what went into it I have a brain and an internet connection I can go figure it out, same as the price of peaches at Safeway.
>>Netflix still has 23 million subscribers<<
They have lost 2 million subscribers and their stock has dropped 19%. In a bad economy with the studios and distributors fighting against them and competition chomping at the bit, they made a bad move. Now with Starz going away, people are all over the FB page dropping the service right and left. This is just the beginning.
Like I said, they ruined their brand. Brand recognition is important. In the meantime, Roku is adding channels every day. Classic tv and movies are coming free. Netflix will be fighting upstream to come back to where they were. It’s a pity that they thought they were “too big to fail”. I wish them luck. Because the more people are ticked, the more they will be on boards like this with other choices.
Oh and I did forget about this...
Note how it’s owned by Amazon.
This is in Europe, bet it will be available here soon.
Wow. Looks good. Thanks...hope it will. Good tip on the library. I always forget our library does have a pretty good DVD selection.
:)
The one that may sell off the old service and focus on the new one.
And less those 2 million subscribers they still have 23 million. Which helps to show how the market is ruled by emotions, they lost less than 10% of the subscribers and the stock is down almost 20%.
Starz and Netflix started parting company before the price hike ever got announced. This isn’t news. And they’ve failed at the streaming market before.
You really go out of your way to misread these things. Most of the things you’re pointing to are WHY Netflix is doing what they’re doing, this is in RESPONSE to those facts. They’re repositioning the stream, their strongest brand, to not be associated with the DVD, now their weakest brand, and to be able to negotiate with these other content providers without the DVD ever being brought into the discussion. Netflix has one thing none of their competition have currently: clients on entertainment devices. You can’t buy an internet connected TV/ DVD/ BluRay/ game system without it having the ability to connect to Netflix. Yeah all these other companies hitting the stream can get to computers, but computer screens tend to be smaller, and connecting them to the TV is a PITA even people paid to be nerds (like me) don’t like doing. And as long as Netflix continues to own that real estate they’ll still have power.
I think in the long run Netflix is going to wind up a hub site. Starz and HBO and NBC will find out that not having their clients on the TVs of the world greatly reduces their potential audience. But they’ll still want to keep their stuff on their own servers with their own advertising (primary reason they’re pulling away from Netflix, they think they can make more money, which they can’t because they can’t keep that size stream audience). The answer is obvious, keep it on their servers but connect to it via Netflix. That gives them the audience they want but can’t get, and the control they want but Netflix can’t give them.
I can’t find the article/comment now but an interesting point was proposed as to the change. Apparently Hollywood was charging Netflix a streaming fee based on its entire subscriber base and Netflix broke the DVD/Streaming base apart as their streaming base was much smaller.
I gave them up a while back when I exhausted the old movies database. One thing I like about DVD is the Bonus and other sections. Are those available for streaming as well? If not, this movie buff will stick with the “obsolete” DVDs.
>>> I’m can’t believe my fellow patriots on this site use services like Netflix. For the sake of convinience you’re willing to abandon American jobs such as Blockbuster, a company founded by Americans...
The free market knows no loyalties or nationalities.
Provide a good service at a competitive price and you make money.... That’s it.
>>You really go out of your way to misread these things<<
I don’t mind at all having a rational conversation with you, however I feel no need to continue it, if you insist on peppering it with insults.
Write back when you get it together and we’ll talk about LoveFilm and the Roku options.
There’s not a single insult there. Sorry if you think it is, but it isn’t. And I don’t want the LoveFilm or the Roku option, don’t like running the computer into the TV and don’t need another piece of hardware. I barely used Netflix stream at all until I got my bluray player with the client.
I was at a friends house and we planned on watching a movie while having dinner. He found a ton of films he wanted to watch as he loves low rent crappy B science fiction.
I did not find one movie I would watch.
Settled on some silly movie about witches and the Spanish Inquisition. man, was that bad.
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