Is there really a problem with this, besides the loss of broadcast news? Netflix just bought a production studio and things are shifting that way everywhere. I don’t mind a world where consumers have to pay for content rather than trading their eyeballs for it.
I think there are a lot of potential issues, including those that are in the realm of unintended or unthought-of consequences, yes.
I envision the FOX streaming network of the future. You can watch all of the FOX television shows and movies you like FOR FREE whenever you like, but you have to watch 10 minutes of FOX News content before each episode or movie.
You forgot to mention the part where the TVs will use built-in eye tracking to make sure you’re looking AT the screen during the required 10 minutes of viewing.
Netflix posts a big miss on subscriber growth - 2.7m vs a predicted 5m. US market was “essentially flat”. Next quarter they expect 6.2m overseas and 0.8m in the US.
Also, the eternal mystery of Adam Sandler’s popularity continues:
Jennifer Aniston had something to do with those numbers too, but yeah, the appeal of Sandler is a mystery.
Maybe. She was never much of a movie star and looking at Box Office Mojo her biggest non-animated hit in the last five years was Office Christmas Party at $54m. Could be she has more appeal on Netflix because people think of it as TV though.
Yeah, I don’t know the depth of her appeal but I am sure there are some people who would watch it because they like her but have no interest in Sandler. You still see Aniston on the cover of a lot of the newstand magazines and tabloids.
She’s certainly a big celebrity, I’m just questioning whether she has much box office draw.
Isn’t Friends one of the biggest shows on Netflix among tweens and teens? Wonder if she can pull any of them in for a goofy Sandler flick. I would think not, but then I would think Friends would have been ignored by kids today too.
I would argue that Friends is viewed by the teenagers and young adults as one of those strange alt sci-fi shows where young adults can afford to live in nice apartments on their salaries, and still afford to furnish it.
I mean, I doubt it was ever realistic in the 90s, but it’s even less realistic today.
I don’t get this - has he said anything to make folks turn on him? I loved him when I was in high school and I still enjoy him to this day - he’s funny, charismatic, and enjoyable to watch. The movies he makes aren’t high brow, noble art or anything but they are entertaining and fun. I guess he rubs a lot of people the wrong way.
I enjoyed some of his movies, but I haven’t enjoyed much of what I’ve seen in the last 4-5 years. He seems to be phoning it in.
Comics often have a short self life in the movies before the public grows tired of them. Some transition into more serious roles. Others seem to make fewer and fewer comedies that work.
Ofcom gives green light to Britbox — not the US service, but Kangaroo Mk. 2. But it’s a pretty weaksauce offering.
Edit: and the launch announcement, which doesn’t say a lot other than it will cost £5.99 a month. These are the programmes they are highlighting:
They talk about “hundreds of hours” of new BBC and ITV content coming on to the service every year, which doesn’t sound like all that much, to be honest, both in comparison to other services and in comparison to how much ITV and the BBC air. There will also be BritBox exclusive content from 2020, which will go down a treat with licence-payers I’m sure.
I put the continued success of his movies for the most part in the same boat as TV viewers who still watch CSI/NCSI shows 15 plus years on. TV “comfort food”.
Apples and oranges, right? There’s a big difference between “I’ll go to the theater and pay $10-15 to see Jennifer Aniston’s new movie” and “I’m sitting on the couch and Netflix has a new movie with Jennifer Aniston in it at the top of my feed.”
I don’t doubt Sandler is the bigger draw here, but on a streaming service where Friends is at the top of the list, I’m sure Aniston’s box office record isn’t hurting things.
You may well be right, as I hinted at above, though personally I don’t look at things that way (that said, I don’t generally see movies for their stars anyway). It’s still two hours of my time. I’d be very curious to see data on that, not that we’ll ever get it. Do the movies of people who are predominantly TV stars (her some-time costar Jason Bateman would be another good test case) do better on subscription than on PAYG formats?
A lot of people don’t care for slapstick.
Anecdotal evidence obviously, but my 19-year-old college son and his also 19-year-old college girlfriend will work their way through old Friends episodes on Netflix when they just want to chill out and do nothing together. They watched Murder Mystery like the day after it dropped because of both the Friends connection via Anniston and the fact that they both fondly remember Sandler’s movies from when they were younger.
My wife and I then watched Murder Mystery on their recommendation. It was OK, my wife liked it more than I did. I can definitely say it would have likely been a disappointment in theaters, but was perfectly suited to rack up tens of millions of views on Netflix. As has been mentioned upthread, when I’m watching a movie that is part of a streaming service I already pay for, in my home, on my time schedule, I am a lot more forgiving if it’s not AAA knock-me-out-of-my-seat good.
Yeah, sometimes I’m tired and just want to chill and watch a no-think movie. A murder mystery romp sounds good to me.
When I go to the theater I have higher expectations. It takes energy to get my ass to the theater, park the car, walk to the theater, queue up for popcorn, and then get our seats. It better be worth our time and money.