Jan 26, 2024 2:30:12 GMT Kilgore said:

Streaming sucks so bad, man.

Why?

Jan 26, 2024 13:10:14 GMT Emperor said:

Jan 26, 2024 2:30:12 GMT Kilgore said:

Streaming sucks so bad, man.

Why?

The compression in streaming is a worse quality than broadcast cable. It's less convenient. And now, when you add up all the streamers to get the same amount of programming formerly part of a cable bundle, it's more expensive. So in short, it's doing a lesser version of what cable did, making it less convenient, at a worse picture quality, and for (significantly) more money.

Then there's the aspect of if everything becomes parts of different paywall streamers, you create a more isolating environment where THE THING that everyone is watching and connecting with each other talking about, is less likely to occur. So the world becomes an even more isolating place. And for the creators that go behind the paywall, while the upfront money is great, they'll probably see diminishing returns in viewers in the long run because it's in a gated community atmosphere behind a paywall that a large percentage of potential viewers will never pay for because they're already paying for several different streamers.

Fictional series can deal with this better through word of mouth in between seasons, they can grow easier, but it's different for live programming who have no time off, and are in a sense starting a deficit, with less viewers than they used to have on television. 

Netflix, being the biggest, and the most entrenched, lessens these problems. It's the closest a streamer has, or probably ever will, get to creating the monoculture atmosphere of broadcast television. But it's still more fractured than television and always will be.

NFL on Prime, for example, is actually up in viewership in its second season streaming, as you need to teach an audience new habits of going to an app to watch it instead of it just appearing on television, and this takes time. Even in its  growth, it still pales in comparison to viewership it had on television. Will it ever catch up? Time will tell.

WWE has a slightly easier transition, the WWE Network days training its audience very early in app watching live programming. That said, the WWE is not the NFL, and if the NFL is struggling to come close to similar viewership it had on television, I think Netflix is guaranteed to make the WWE even more niche than they've already become in the long run. 

All that said, this is still the best deal for the WWE. This is more of an indictment on the state of media, than the decision itself. 

What makes it less convenient? I was on board with everything you said before and after, but it's driving me crazy.

Jan 26, 2024 23:42:00 GMT @ness said:

What makes it less convenient? I was on board with everything you said before and after, but it's driving me crazy.

Monday Night Football is on the ESPN app. Monday Night Raw is on Netflix. You're interested in both. Is flipping from different apps as easy as flipping channels?

Kilgore nailed it, Raw engagement will plummet after the three month off the air cycle as people just skip it instead of paying for Netflix. Assuming of course Netflix keeps the deal, they are likely trying to get out of it now that sponsors are cancelling WWE deals.

What kills it for me is they will be planning shows with ads backed in so you get filler shit for where the ads would be even if you pay for ad free experience on Netflix and PLE. So all matches will get rest holds, brawling outside, taunting or whatever they can to have 4 to 5 minutes where nothing of note happens in the middle of them. Main events will have several spots like this backed in if they go over 15 minutes. People who watch AEW ad free, know there are black screens and when they cut away from live, not a whole lot happens when ads people go picture in picture, which may not be a thing even on Netflix.

My only argument against streaming (apart from a need for the internet) is the number of different platforms you need to be able to see the best of everything. Then the other 90% of what else is on each platform is garbage.

Hands up who has Apple TV?

Nope, no one? Why would you?

Well, if you want to see the Band of Brothers spin off, Masters of the Air, then you need it. Disney+ outside of the MCU and Star Wars on quick and easy demand is terrible for adults. There's the occasional series, ie; The Bear, but not much else unless you've got kids who enjoy the animation classics. And, there was a period where we were paying for Netflix and never watching it. Unless you like serial killers and teen angst with a cup of social pandering, sure.

I’m surprised at what Kilgore mentioned about picture quality. In the UK the major streamers provide better picture quality than satellite and cable. I would be surprised if cable could beat streaming, it’s just less efficient. Cramming all those channels into bandwidth, whereas streaming can just cap the peak bitrate. Of course, if you have a bad internet connection the experience will be different.

I also wouldn’t be surprised if Netflix push WWE into 4K. A lot will depend on if the arenas themselves have the infrastructure, but Netflix was early to 4K and to date is still probably the biggest adopter of the format.

Whilst not so much on the quality side, there is even a move to more favourable use of streaming in the UK as well with our traditional UK TV channels. For example, BBC uploaded the first three episodes of The Traitors in iPlayer after the first one aired as a first week special, even though they were still getting aired as normal the following two days on TV. BBC and ITV have both been pretty good at doing the same with the soaps when they get displaced for major sporting events.

I have Foxtel and Netflix so I get WWE either way here in Australia.

I don't buy that Cable companies are bad and streaming is good... There are so many streaming platforms now with the content spread so thinly that most families are shelling out more for a couple of streaming services than they would for a single cable package.
It has never been such a bad deal for consumers.

This is a great deal for the WWE though, they are getting PPV money without having to sell shows.

Jan 30, 2024 4:37:57 GMT iNCY said:

I have Foxtel and Netflix so I get WWE either way here in Australia.

I don't buy that Cable companies are bad and streaming is good... There are so many streaming platforms now with the content spread so thinly that most families are shelling out more for a couple of streaming services than they would for a single cable package.
It has never been such a bad deal for consumers.

This is a great deal for the WWE though, they are getting PPV money without having to sell shows.

Streamers frequently produce better content at a lower price and allow you to choose which channels you get and when you get them, all while not dealing with the hassle of cable companies. Frequently now they allow pricing tiers to match your budget as well. And considering moves like Raw to Netflix (or NFL to Prime/Peacock, etc.) you frequently have to augment cable packages with streamers anyway. Add in considerably better technology (Roku vs a ten year old TiVo cable box that I had to pay a monthly fee for despite it having died twice in one year) and more competition (only one cable company in my area, dozens of streamers competing), it makes no sense locally to be on cable. Most people here have a sling or YouTube tv subscription still but I’m fine without either.

I cancelled cable in November. I have one fewer streamer now than I did at that time as well, so it’s been a net gain of more than $150 per month of savings. Assuming I’d had no streamers and had to supplement cable with the streamers I have now I would still be saving money. And I can literally name one show my wife misses because of the switch, Catfish (the new ones don’t go up quickly).

Also can’t really relate to the idea of content being spread thinly. I suppose the good stuff is, but that allows for “Netflix this month, Hulu next month” strategies that you don’t get when you only want Bravo for Top Chef season.

I haven’t had cable since 2015.

The only exception is during the college football season I purchase Sling TV + SEC Package to watch Mizzou.

We have almost every streamer there is:

- Apple TV (annual fee)
- Paramount Plus (annual fee)
- Max (annual fee)
- Prime (annual fee)
- Netflix (monthly)
- Disney Plus + Hulu (cover by Verizon phone bill)
- Peacock (covered by Spectrum internet)

In the past, I was spending $70-80 on the cable portion of my bill (again, a decade ago). Internet was separate.

Now I pay four ~$100-145 fees (and Prime included way more than just streaming) and like $18/mo for Netflix (which I already paid for, so let’s call that a wash with inflation).

So that means I’m spending like 40% less on streaming, and never feel without.

The cost differences in Australia are greater and internet is more expensive.

When Netflix started out it had like everything on it, now every new platform sees Netflix becoming more content they produced than anything else.
We also get less with our subscriptions when I use a VPN for geolocation the platforms have heaps more in the USA.