[GreyHorace]

Does anyone think streaming services should focus less on original content and should focus more on being a platform? I'm subscribed to two streaming channels, Netflix and Amazon Prime. And much of their original shows and movies don't really interest me. For me, a streaming service is all about the convenience of watching your choice of movies and tv shows from the comfort of your home. I don't bother with original content unless it's something that catches my interest.

About the only Netflix original I'm looking forward to is The Witcher.

On Amazon, the one original show I thought was pretty good was their adaptation of Good Omens.

With the amount of shows and movies they produce, it seems like they're wasting a lot of money on stuff not many people want to watch. I think most people who subscribe to a streaming service are looking to watch movies and tv from the comfort of their home. It's especially important in these times with the pandemic and people are forced to stay indoors.

Recently, Netflix scored a win for me by streaming the last two Rurouni Kenshin films, The Final and The Beginning that were released in Japan this year.

I was worried that I wouldn't get a chance to see these movies since theaters are still closed in my country. Thank goodness Netflix got the rights to them.

Amazon meanwhile, is my go to place for finding obscure stuff that I probably won't find anywhere else. Like an excellent documentary on the Art of Dungeons and Dragons, and another on H.P. Lovecraft.

So yeah. I think streaming services should focus more on acquiring more movies and tv that people will want to watch rather than produce too much original content. If I were them, I'd produce less of these and look to up the quality of a select few, rather produce a ton of crap no one asked for.

But what do you guys think?

 

[Mickmrly]

I agree that the avalanche of low quality originals isn't doing anyone any favours. But the reason they persist is probably to lower the costs of acquiring and holding content from other studios. They will probably transition to only originals in a few years to boost profits at the expense of user satisfaction, they are out to make a profit after all. The thing that annoys me is that with the move to streaming and some big studios moving away from physical formats, when the big streaming services stop showing old libraries, there won't be any legal way to watch them except from buying scalped dvd's if they were made on there.

 

[GreyHorace]

I agree that the avalanche of low quality originals isn't doing anyone any favours. But the reason they persist is probably to lower the costs of acquiring and holding content from other studios. They will probably transition to only originals in a few years to boost profits at the expense of user satisfaction, they are out to make a profit after all. The thing that annoys me is that with the move to streaming and some big studios moving away from physical formats, when the big streaming services stop showing old libraries, there won't be any legal way to watch them except from buying scalped dvd's if they were made on there.

A Netflix with only originals would be an instant fail for me. Lest we forget this wee film they produced and defended being 'art.'

And I agree that big studios moving their properties to their own streaming services is scummy. Especially since some of them aren't available where I live!

 

[CloudNull]

I think it takes time. Amazon's upload is one of the best shows I've seen along with the Boys. Netflix has yet to hit their stride with me but I Hear the Witcher is great.

I think they need it be more selective if the content they create instead of throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks.

 

[slugbahr]

Didn't they use to be platforms? Buying the rights to stuff from all sorts of content buyers?
But now those content providers want their own streams, so Netflix has to start making their own shit.

Tldr ... it's not their fault, I think.

 

[Stilton Disco]

They're a victim of their own success.

They used to be a platform because the wider entertainment industry was healthy, but then fewer people were watching movies and shows because they were watching Netflix, so studios became less willing to take risks, which just led to worse content and more people watching old good stuff on Netflix and its few competitors, so then studios started making their own services to compete for those lost viewers, which led to IP hoarding and everything that could be made getting snapped up and given a budget, in a desperate war for subscribers that only had exclusive content to set each player apart.

If the market hadn't shifted so massively to streaming, we would still have all this shit being made, just not by the streaming services themselves, and not promoted so obviously.

Shit like Cuties would be on some small cable station, made with a 10th of the budget, broadcast at 1am and watched only by a handful of upper class nonces that stayed up late for it, or some stoned teenagers channel hopping.

It would then have ended up on Netflix eventually, but it wouldn't have been promoted, so no one would have watched it to have given a shit about it.

 

[King of Foxes]

I just pirate everything and don't give a fuck.

 

[Kadayi]

Similarly looking forward to more Witcher. I think after Netflix got burned by Marvel they're probably a little wary of commitment to big tentpole stuff outside their control tbh. It makes sense to try and have control of a fair amount of stuff in house, and then manage any syndicated shows that arise. With that said, Netflix could definitely do with raising their benchmark in terms of quality, and the whole diversity for the sake of diversity angle they keep foisting into their shows is becoming increasingly tedious, though tbf they're not alone in that regard as it just seems kind of endemic (I'm looking at you in particular BBC). If you want to make series with a multicultural cast, set it in either the modern-day, the future or at least contextualise it because the sudden appearance of a random PoC in an otherwise largely white production tends to stand out like a sore thumb. It really is just tokenism in the worst sense of the word.

 

[GreyHorace]

Similarly looking forward to more Witcher. I think after Netflix got burned by Marvel they're probably a little wary of commitment to big tentpole stuff outside their control tbh. It makes sense to try and have control of a fair amount of stuff in house, and then manage any syndicated shows that arise. With that said, Netflix could definitely do with raising their benchmark in terms of quality, and the whole diversity for the sake of diversity angle they keep foisting into their shows is becoming increasingly tedious, though tbf they're not alone in that regard as it just seems kind of endemic (I'm looking at you in particular BBC). If you want to make series with a multicultural cast, set it in either the modern-day, the future or at least contextualise it because the sudden appearance of a random PoC in an otherwise largely white production tends to stand out like a sore thumb. It really is just tokenism in the worst sense of the word.

Yeah. Having a bunch of PoC's run around the Continent was jarring for one who's played the games. Especially since Sapkowski's world has other human cultures like Zerrakania and Ofeir and anyone who comes from those areas would stand out in the mostly white Continent. Not to mention they race changed a bunch of the characters, most jarringly Fringilla Vigo.

The only PoC I can tolerate in the series is Anya Chalotra as Yennefer. She's fucking brilliant in the role and her Indian features don't really stand out too much.

And yes, the BBC sucks ass with their constant drive to diversify their programming even when it's not needed. They killed Doctor Who with this horseshit so I don't really care with what they have to offer now.

 

[Kadayi]

Yeah. Having a bunch of PoC's run around the Continent was jarring for one who's played the games. Especially since Sapkowski's world has other human cultures like Zerrakania and Ofeir and anyone who comes from those areas would stand out in the mostly white Continent. Not to mention they race changed a bunch of the characters, most jarringly Fringilla Vigo.

I wasn't that familiar with the books tbh during season 1, though I am now and yes the some of the decisions made regarding the casting don't make a heap of sense outside ticking boxes to submit to Netflix HQ. It would be a bit more forgivable if they at least made Fingilla (or her uncle who was one of the older mages) Zerrikanian as that would at least tie in with the two Zerrikanian warriors we find accompanying Borch three Jackdaws, but no, none of that. It's not something that I'm irate about, more it just makes me roll my eyes at the sheer awkwardness of it all.

 

[Allnamestakenlol]

I'd be more okay with original content if it was of a higher standard. Netflix, specifically, is just churning out lots of pure garbage, I feel like.

 

[ExpandKong]

I'd be more okay with original content if it was of a higher standard. Netflix, specifically, is just churning out lots of pure garbage, I feel like.

Man that Death Note movie was something else. Not even Willem Dafoe as Ryuk helped them there.

 

[El Rey]

The only good original content I've seen in recent history from Netflix was DOTA, that shit was awesome. They should focus on being a platform and quit producing gay shit.

 

[ExpandKong]

The only good original content I've seen in recent history from Netflix was DOTA, that shit was awesome. They should focus on being a platform and quit producing gay shit.

I Think You Should Leave is also surprisingly funny.

 

[GreyHorace]

Should somewhat revise my opinion a bit. I did enjoy another Netflix exclusive, which was The Queen's Gambit with Anna Taylor Joy.

 

[El Rey]

Should somewhat revise my opinion a bit. I did enjoy another Netflix exclusive, which was The Queen's Gambit with Anna Taylor Joy.

 

[rykomatsu]

So yeah. I think streaming services should focus more on acquiring more movies and tv that people will want to watch rather than produce too much original content. If I were them, I'd produce less of these and look to up the quality of a select few, rather produce a ton of crap no one asked for.

But what do you guys think?

I'm not sure what you want Netflix and other non-content providers to do beyond what they're already doing. If you don't think they're courting studios, even after their library falls off, I think you are largely mistaken.

Sure, they can focus on existing Studio content, but at the end of the day, this makes them beholden to studios - what was originally a "hey, Netflix is cute, it's not going to catch on" is no longer the case and contracts often fall through because of high cost or restrictions imposed by the studios. Studios see streaming as a constant revenue generator, and star content is what brings customers to the Studio's platform. This puts Netflix and its peers in a bit of an untenable situation:

• Pay the increased costs and bite the restrictions imposed by Studios, and increase subscription cost
• Invest the costs that would have otherwise gone to studios into original content
  • Someone somewhere has done the market research and made the decision that providing a differentiator is more important and revenue generating than being a "me too" library

If they were to focus on "select few" good titles like you mention, will there be enough content to make the platform sticky? Netflix sure doesn't think so, and they (no offense to you or anyone else) have far more analytical data to make their assessment than we would ever really hope to have.

 

[Pumpkin Seeds]

The original content is not just bad but worse for the company, it's god damned boring. It's soulless work. Netflix got a hit with Cobra Kai, which they brought over from Youtube.

Lately, I've been looking for rewatchable stuff, but I'm not finding it on Netflix or Amazon. I end up on some free with ads streaming site so I can watch an older movie with some charm I haven't seen in awhile. All of that sort of stuff is gone from Netflix. There's no Mel Brooks movie on Netflix.

It's not that it's barren of that stuff though, as there's Monty Python and Big Lebowski on Netflix. Yet I can get those elsewhere, which I think was their logic. As more streaming services open up, they'll lose exclusive rights to rewatchable staple IPs in films and tv shows. So focus on original content that you control.

Unfortunately, they largely produce unremarkable tofu-like predictable crap.

 

[GreyHorace]

I'm not sure what you want Netflix and other non-content providers to do beyond what they're already doing. If you don't think they're courting studios, even after their library falls off, I think you are largely mistaken.

Sure, they can focus on existing Studio content, but at the end of the day, this makes them beholden to studios - what was originally a "hey, Netflix is cute, it's not going to catch on" is no longer the case and contracts often fall through because of high cost or restrictions imposed by the studios. Studios see streaming as a constant revenue generator, and star content is what brings customers to the Studio's platform. This puts Netflix and its peers in a bit of an untenable situation:

• Pay the increased costs and bite the restrictions imposed by Studios, and increase subscription cost
• Invest the costs that would have otherwise gone to studios into original content
  • Someone somewhere has done the market research and made the decision that providing a differentiator is more important and revenue generating than being a "me too" library

If they were to focus on "select few" good titles like you mention, will there be enough content to make the platform sticky? Netflix sure doesn't think so, and they (no offense to you or anyone else) have far more analytical data to make their assessment than we would ever really hope to have.

If Netflix and Amazon were producing quality content I wouldn't have made this thread. But as many here have pointed out, much of their original content is garbage and not worth a watch.

This is why I want them to focus less on their original content and look to acquire more movies and tv shows that you probably couldn't find anywhere else. It doesn't even need to be the big studio stuff. I mentioned in my OP that Netflix got the last Kenshin movies and Amazon has those two amazing documentaries.

 

[ManofTwo]

Well that like asking PS or XBOX to be a generic game console and not have exclusives.

Exclusives builds value. Now the type of exclusives are based on the type of customer that consumes their content. It seems to me that Netflix is going downhill.

 

[Arkam]

If they ever want to see my money they need to have catalogs that do not rotate month to month. Its infuriating going to the largest streaming service and not being able to watch some of the greatest films ever.

I've said it before and Ill say it again. It's for channel flippers. They dont really know what they want and will settle easily.

 

[GreyHorace]

Well that like asking PS or XBOX to be a generic game console and not have exclusives.

Exclusives builds value. Now the type of exclusives are based on the type of customer that consumes their content. It seems to me that Netflix is going downhill.

Speaking as one who quit on Xbox in the last gen, but I've heard that Microsoft has the leg up on Sony with GamePass. Sony may have the better exclusives, but Xbox has the bigger library that you can peruse at your leisure.

 

[quickwhips]

Only thing good on Netflix is that Chris Hemsworth extraction movie.