I think we're at or approaching a tipping point. For a long while I've not been able to justify the effort it takes to maintain automatic content downloads and a streaming server. But that maintenance cost isn't higher when I want content from an additional platform. If I'm gonna pirate an Amazon/MGM exclusive then I'm gonna cancel Netflix, Hulu, Paramount+ and Apple TV+ too.
Piracy was the Easiest/Only way to get content until ~2008ish. Since then; Netflix and (...x streaming platform) made it easier/better to Pay for the content than pirate it.
It does feel like we're approaching a tipping point now in the other direction with all of these streaming fiefdoms.
My household has Netflix, Hulu, D+, and Prime streaming now - that's already too many and needs pairing IMO.
I'd argue that we've reached the tipping point already. It will accelerate now. netflix just increased their prices again to compensate for slowing growth.
All these stream platforms produce their own exclusive shows and chances are that you're only interested in one or two flag ship series and the occasional movie or so. I believe this will hurt hulu the most then hbo before the rest, because compared to netflix and disney they have less exclusive content.
This leads to a downward spiral, where you need more exclusive content to attract users which leads to more fragmentation and eventually drives costs, which is bad for platforms with less (exclusive) content, because user may ditch first because of unattractive content/cost ratio...
Pirating is great if you're just interested in a particular new show but nothing else, for me that's HBO.
What you're missing out on with pirating is discovering new shows/movies that you actually like just by browser the platform.
Cable providers were charging you $80/mo for commercial laden network aggregation. You cut that cord and complain when paying less for more content, without commercials, and is on demand, because it is unbundled and you need to manage each $5-15 "network" fee individually, instead of a single itemized bill.
This is like complaining you have to pay for NBC to watch Friends when you'd much prefer to watch it on ABC so you can avoid paying for both.
Absolutely. I see a lot of rationalization for piracy here, even though media consumption has never been cheaper or more convenient.
I can't speak for the Android ecosystem, but the iOS ecosystem's Apple TV app (Netflix notwithstanding) aggregates channels into one nice experience, and the App Store makes these channels trivial to subscribe to and cancel, making it easy to decide month-to-month what I want to pay for.
> You cut that cord and complain when paying less for more content.
For a few years there; it felt like I could watch ~anything i wanted on Netflix or Crunchyroll. Now it feels like I need 10 services. Maybe my viewing habits have changed; but I haven't started a torrent in a decade and I've been tempted recently.
We never paid for networks, we paid for a handful of shows that were worth watching, which happened to be on different channels because physics.
Now they are on different platforms, because no good reason at all.
A copyright holder of a creative work should be able to set the price, but should not be able to use their monopolistic powers to control who pays the price. Let each channel decide if they want to buy a given show at a given price.
> which happened to be on different channels because physics.
So why do we see wars for who gets to stream Friends/Seinfeld/The Office/etc now? The networks don't own that content, it was just physics?
> Let each channel decide if they want to buy a given show at a given price.
That's not how this works now, nor has it ever worked this way. If Network A is paying for the exclusive broadcast rights, then Network B doesn't also have an equal Right to also purchase the exclusive broadcast rights. This has always worked this way. If Disney produces Disney Mouse Club Cartoon it has no obligation to allow any network purchase the exclusive rights to broadcast that show because it already purchased them in the form of owning the original production, and therefore copyright, from its inception.
You are quite right in that it doesn't work this way, I am advocating a change in the law. Remember copyright is a temporary monopoly granted to promote science and the useful arts.
So let's imagine the streaming services operate like channels--which is to say they have some content they get created and other content that they license. Now imagine there's a common platform or at least common portal that aggregates them all and bills you for access to everything. You've now effectively recreated the cable bundle and your monthly bill is probably going to be $100-$200/month. (Maybe more if it includes something like YouTube TV.) Is that actually what you want?
I wouldn't pay that much, which suggests that I wouldn't have access to everything, but I would probably get best or alternatively everything in a certain niche (ie. a sci-fy channel that has nothing but sci-fy). Why pay for romantic comedy and horror when I don't want to watch it?
Makes no difference to me, I just spend a few seconds searching the title and pay and watch what I want when I want. But I also do not watch much.
If enough people want bundled content and are willing to pay enough to make it happen, then content owners will sell it. If not, then the buyers and sellers do not agree on price.
>> Piracy was the Easiest/Only way to get content until ~2008ish. Since then; Netflix and (...x streaming platform) made it easier/better to Pay for the content than pirate it.
Fragmentation still hurts this to an extreme, and - worse - God-awful region locks. As a fan of obscure, cult and independent cinema in particular it’s a wasteland of titles strewn across 5 different services, and being Canadian, piracy is just a fact of life for us.
Nothing beats the convenience of typing in what you’re looking for and actually finding it right away. That pretty much defines convenience. It’s what I expect.
I don’t want to Google what platform my current obscure interest is on, only to maybe find out because I didn’t bother with Paramount+ I’m going to have to torrent it anyway. :P
It’s literally just one extra search to find what streaming platform it’s on - which is an inconvenience* - when I can just do a quick Torrent search, and have a nice high quality copy of pretty much whatever usually within (on my connection) about 5 minutes.
By the time I make my popcorn, the torrent is done, I stream it through my Plex on my Roku, and Plex even gets the metadata for me. It’s kinda scary how good it is.
And talk about how inconvenient region locking is to the point where VPNs actually advertise* the ability to get around this inconvenience as a point of sale.
Piracy’s convenience and case for existence has only gotten seriously stronger as more and more competing streaming services open.
If there was a way to combine search results for services into one like overall UI that would then just direct you to the content even that would be better, but anecdotally most people I know are tired of the fragmentation issue.
There is a way to combine search results. Use the search from the Roku/Google TV/Apple TV/FireTV OS. Unfortunately results are varied. I found search results missing from a lot of platforms when I used Roku. The Chromecast with Google TV has been better. I don't how the search is integrated, e.g. on the backend or in the OS via the app. I'd guess it depends on platform.
> Nothing beats the convenience of typing in what you’re looking for and actually finding it right away. That pretty much defines convenience. It’s what I expect.
You can do this for most items. For example, go to apple’s TV app or play store and purchase or rent the item.
>> You can do this for most items. For example, go to apple’s TV app or play store and purchase or rent the item.
Okay, so you're telling me if I boot up my Apple TV and type in 'The Simpsons', I'm going to immediately get a list of options to watch the Simpsons?
...
No, that won't work - in fact - this was actually my first overall point - the fragmentation issue.
If I search 'The Simpsons' on TPB, I'll get multiple options of quality vs. size, every episode ever, the movie; fullscreen vs. widescreen; etc.
If I search 'The Simpsons' on Apple TV+, I get...nothing.
If I search 'The Simpsons' on Netflix, I get...nothing.
If I search 'The Simpsons' on Amazon Prime, I get...nothing.
If I search 'The Simpsons' on Paramount+, I get...nothing.
So...unless you're subscribed to this one particular streaming service (Disney+), you can't watch one of the most popular shows on television, which often airs on many a channel up here in Canada.
If we're even lucky enough to get the content at all in Canada due to region restrictions.
That's...not convenient. I'm not sure what you meant by your comment, but the fact that you can't do what your comment says was kinda my overall point.
If I search for "Simpsons" in the TV app on my Apple TV 4K, the first option is "The Simpsons" TV show. I press that, I can then scroll through 32 seasons of the Simpsons and choose which episode I want to watch for $3.
If I search for "Sesame Street" in the TV app, the first option is "Sesame Street" TV show, which then leads to the HBO Max app from where I can watch all of the episodes.
If I search for the "The Office", the first option is the US series, which I can purchase for $3 each episode, and the second option is the UK series, which then leads me to HBO Max.
If I search for "Jaws", the first option is the first Jaws movie from 1975, which then opens up in HBO Max. Note that Apple does not ask me to purchase the Jaws movie, and instead offers to play it in HBO Max, since apparently HBO Max is currently streaming it.
If I search for the top 3, I come up with nothing. The 4th, "Gully Boy" returns with an option to play on Amazon Prime.
Overall, I think as someone who was looking to watch something in the Hollywood/American universe, life is easier than it has ever been. There is probably room for improvement, especially in international titles, but I'm sure that is in the works.
The set of people who know how to set up Plex/Roku is very, very small. My parents can barely figure out how to use Netflix. This is why monthly streaming services exist and will continue to exist
