Physical & Digital EST: The Future of Home Video Discussion Thread

[The_Donster]

I think Netflix is (and will) be fine. Again, this is a knee jerk reaction that pops up every time we hear they are losing something. Well guess what, they lose a lot of things month to month. This is no different than any of the premium cable channels. Are cable subscribers panicking once Disney and Starz contract ends and the movies switch over to Disney Now dublinbluray108

[Steedeel]

Well Vilya, seeing as how you referenced me, I can’t resist but reply to this despite my planned lazy couple of days.

You are quite right that I would take heed of that article. I read articles just like that a while back and it ties in to where I think things are going. Take note of the paragraph that asks, ‘Where does that leave us viewers at home, searching for our remote? A new era? A new era indeed, just not a good one.

It’s pointed out time and time again by myself that they will look to push mobile content to the front. The talk of edited episodes cut down to length for mobile is the future. That article spells it out for you. AT&T buying WB is for the purpose of getting eyes fixed on their mobile service. Mobiles have the advantage of location based targeted ads, that’s enough incentive right there.

You have it laid out in plain English right there in that article but no doubt you will find a way to talk yourselves out of this. What I say will happen is what the STUDIOS want to happen.

[Steedeel]

https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/17/2...onfirmed-india

Rumoured to be coming to the U.S and other countries to counter losing subscriptions due to price increases.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Well Vilya, seeing as how you referenced me, I can’t resist but reply to this despite my planned lazy couple of days.

You are quite right that I would take heed of that article. I read articles just like that a while back and it ties in to where I think things are going. Take note of the paragraph that asks, ‘Where does that leave us viewers at home, searching for our remote? A new era? A new era indeed, just not a good one.

It’s pointed out time and time again by myself that they will look to push mobile content to the front. The talk of edited episodes cut down to length for mobile is the future. That article spells it out for you. AT&T buying WB is for the purpose of getting eyes fixed on their mobile service. Mobiles have the advantage of location based targeted ads, that’s enough incentive right there.

You have it laid out in plain English right there in that article but no doubt you will find a way to talk yourselves out of this. What I say will happen is what the STUDIOS want to happen.

I do not see mobile as the threat that you do; I simply see it as another market that the industry would be foolish to ignore.

Did you fail to notice that people are still watching streaming content for an average of 4 hours per viewing session? There is nothing in this article that suggests that people are abandoning their TVs in favor of watching content on their phones. Many people do both. There is nothing in this article that suggests that long form content is in jeopardy; increasing amounts of it are being made, not less.

What I find potentially concerning is the last quote I posted about the majority of content being owned and controlled by just three telecoms. While the person speaking was half-joking, there is cause for concern that creativity, innovation, and competition could be stifled as a result of these potential monopolies. So much in the hands of so few might really "suck" like the quote forebodes.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/17/2...onfirmed-india

Rumoured to be coming to the U.S and other countries to counter losing subscriptions due to price increases.

You have posted about this before. The India market is vastly different than it is in both of our countries. One HUGE difference is that the average per capita income in India was just $1670 in 2016, ranked 112th in the world. Do you really expect home theaters to be commonplace there with incomes such as these? Netflix is planning a service that makes sense for that market; a gigantic one, but also a rather poor one.

Rumors are not worth addressing, but it only makes sense to offer services for the vast mobile market. The home viewing market is plenty vast as well. It is why companies market to both of them.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

You have posted about this before. The India market is vastly different than it is in both of our countries. One HUGE difference is that the average per capita income in India was just $1670, ranked 112th in the world. Do you really expect home theaters to be commonplace there with incomes such as these? Netflix is planning a service that makes sense for that market; a gigantic one, but also a rather poor one.

It’s also suggested that Netflix will try to compensate for the loss of subscribers (due to price hikes) by flipping the other way and offering a mobile only option in the U.S.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I do not see mobile as the threat that you do; I simply see it as another market that the studios would be foolish to ignore.

Did you fail to notice that people are still watching streaming content for an average of 4 hours per viewing session? There is nothing in this article that suggests that people are abandoning their TVs in favor of watching content on their phones. Many people do both. There is nothing in this article that suggests that long form content is in jeopardy; increasing amounts of it are being made, not less.

What I find potentially concerning is the last quote I posted about the majority of content being owned and controlled by just three telecoms. While the person speaking was half-joking, there is cause for concern that creativity, innovation, and competition could be stifled as a result of these monopolies. So much in the hands of so few might really "suck" like the quote forebodes.

Does it not concern you that execs think a appealing way to market content to subscribers is to edit it into 20 minute highlight reels effectively?

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

It’s also suggested that Netflix will try to compensate for the loss of subscribers (due to price hikes) by flipping the other way and offering a mobile only option in the U.S.

I see nothing to be concerned about if they do so; it is just another option, not the soon-to-be only option.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Does it not concern you that execs think a appealing way to market content to subscribers is to edit it into 20 minute highlight reels effectively?

No, it does not.

They are not discussing reducing content to 20 minutes. They are discussing the possibility of dividing hour long shows into chapters for the mobile market. Not for the entire market. All of the content in the hour long episode would remain; it would just come in three parts instead of one and, again, this mere proposal is aimed for the mobile market, not the home market.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

No, it does not.

They are not discussing reducing content to 20 minutes. They are discussing the possibility of dividing hour long shows into chapters for the mobile market. Not for the entire market. All of the content in the hour long episode would remain; it would just come in three parts instead of one and, again, this mere proposal is aimed for the mobile market, not the home market.

Do you have evidence of that? Pretty sure that’s not what they were planning.

To clarify, I mean AT&T with their HBO and Warner Media content, I am already aware that Quibi are making complete series in 10 minute segments.

[Canada]

Washington Post article against digital censorship

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I do not see mobile as the threat that you do; I simply see it as another market that the studios would be foolish to ignore.

Did you fail to notice that people are still watching streaming content for an average of 4 hours per viewing session? There is nothing in this article that suggests that people are abandoning their TVs in favor of watching content on their phones. Many people do both. There is nothing in this article that suggests that long form content is in jeopardy; increasing amounts of it are being made, not less.

What I find potentially concerning is the last quote I posted about the majority of content being owned and controlled by just three telecoms. While the person speaking was half-joking, there is cause for concern that creativity, innovation, and competition could be stifled as a result of these potential monopolies. So much in the hands of so few might really "suck" like the quote forebodes.

Who are the three major telcos by the way? AT&T, Comcast and who else?

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Do you have evidence of that? Pretty sure that’s not what they were planning.

I simply read what the article said without adding words that were not there. The AT&T executive that was quoted only proposed dividing Game Of Thrones episodes into 20 minute edits "for optimal mobile viewing." It is all still just an idea that has not even been implemented.

Nothing in that long article suggests that this was being considered for any other market other than mobile. I have not read anything anywhere that suggests that content will be chopped up into bite size chunks for any market other than the mobile market.

People watch streaming services for an average of four hours per viewing session; there is no reason to serve them appetizer sized portions when they are committing that amount of time to their viewing sessions.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Who are the three major telcos by the way? AT&T, Comcast and who else?

I'm just guessing here, but Verizon seems likely.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I simply read what the article said without adding words that were not there. The AT&T executive that was quoted only proposed dividing Game Of Thrones episodes into 20 minute chapters "for optimal mobile viewing."

Nothing in that long article suggests that this was being considered for any other market other than mobile. I have not read anything anywhere that suggests that content will be chopped up into bite size chunks for any market other than the mobile market.

People watch streaming services for an average of four hours per viewing session; there is no reason to serve them appetizer sized portions when they are committing that amount of time to their viewing sessions.

No, I was referring to mobile. I think I remember reading that they were going to be edited 20 minute shows made up of highlights of a full episode.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

No, I was referring to mobile. I think I remember reading that they were going to be edited 20 minute shows made up of highlights of a full episode.

Perhaps, but reducing the episodes of one of the world's most popular shows by 67% seems draconian, couldn't resist given the show in question. I think editing out two-thirds of an episode would piss people off, personally.

Either way, broken up into chapters or squished into a "highlight" reel, the proposal, by one executive at that, is for the mobile market, not the entire market.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I'm just guessing here, but Verizon seems likely.

The article doesn’t take into account Netflix and Disney’s no doubt huge impact on the landscape when it speaks of too much power in the hands of too few. Odd, where do they think those services are going to go? They will be top dogs.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Perhaps, but reducing the episodes of one of the world's most popular shows by 67% seems draconian, couldn't resist given the show in question. I think editing out two-thirds of an episode would piss people off, personally.

Either way, broken up into chapters or squished into a "highlight" reel, the proposal, by one executive at that, is for the mobile market, not the entire market.

I think depending on where they go with this, it’s VERY important.

A future mobile audience is huge and sending out edited highlights to them in their millions is a worrying thing.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

The article doesn’t take into account Netflix and Disney’s no doubt huge impact on the landscape when it speaks of too much power in the hands of too few. Odd, where do they think those services are going to go? They will be top dogs.

The article does discuss Netflix, at length actually, and also Disney:

"The nightmare version of this would be a TV replication of the Hollywood blockbuster model. It’s possible that Disney — whose holdings include ESPN, Pixar, the “Star Wars” franchise and a vast chunk of the Marvel universe — will program its streaming service much the same way it programs its theatrical slate, organized around a loud parade of Jedi titles and interconnected superhero movies. In the movie business, the supremacy of blockbusters has come at the expense of a once-robust calendar of smaller-bore, midbudget titles. It would be paradoxical, though hardly inconceivable, if TV — a much-heralded refuge for exactly that kind of storytelling — fell victim to a similar fate."

A few telecoms owning many of the actual companies that make creative content is of great concern as it gives both control over the content and the very manner in which many customers receive it, i.e. mobile, internet, and pay TV.

[The_Donster]

See, here lies the real problem. People read something online, latch onto something and take it as fact. There’s nothing new here that hasn’t already been said before. They’re called options for a reason. You can subscribe to them or not. The choice is yours.