On day 0, this probably doesn't affect most folks here. The option to not have ads remains, and thus far at the same-ish price, hand-waving preexisting upward adjustments.<p>Most of the brouhaha around this will be pricing-related: will Netflix use this to boost their prices???? Will I have to pay more??????<p>I dunno. Maybe. Doesn't seem unlikely. I don't really care, though, to be honest. $5 a month doesn't make a huge difference.<p>What concerns me is that this changes Netflix's incentive structure. Prior to this change, Netflix had one customer base: the viewers. So content was produced with the primary goal of making the viewers happy, enough so to continue paying them month over month.<p>Now, the shift is towards also having another customer base: advertising buyers. Will they have direct input into what content is produced? If not direct, will they have the right of refusal, or pressure? "We won't put our ads next to that" will likely reduce the amount of "that" being produced. Additionally, since ads are shown per time block, this adds an incentive to produce content that takes longer to watch rather than content that you can enjoy in concentration.
It's like all the services are increasing their price and decreasing the content/quality.<p>I find that's issue with startup culture where they have lost billions of dollars in name of growth and now they need to recover
Up to 5 minutes per hour of ads, one device, streaming only (no downloading for planes/etc), 720p max, 10% of the catalog unavailable.<p>That’s a hell of a lot of compromises.
Since Netflix is now in the ads game, I can't trust it even if I do avoid the ad-supported tier. I have to assume that they're now gathering my data and making it available to advertisers anyway. Another service destroyed (for me) by advertising.
It strikes me that supporting ads has a huge impact on the technical infrastructure. It complicates server deployment and client UI. And how would you tailor markets to regions? subscriber preferences? coveted spots (just before that cliff-hanger...)? Oy<p>I'd be interested in ballpark resource estimates for added complexity and staffing for operations and for the ad business units.<p>Most importantly, is most of the cost up-front in infrastructure development, or do the ad business units themselves eat so much they don't make sense below a certain level of adoption?<p>i.e.,
- How many ad-supported users does Netflix need for the ad tier to justify its fixed and operational costs?<p>- What about cannibalizing the higher tiers? Can ads end up being a net revenue loss even if they pay for themselves?<p>- If it is complicated and hard, and they get it right, can it be a moat for them?<p>Way too many questions.
Ahh the slippery slope towards the day that maybe "a little bit" of ads can be shown across all subscription tiers has started...<p>Once you can show ads in one place, the pressure to show ads across the board will become enormous.
To me, this action speaks of the continued fall of Netflix. If their content can't support them with subscriptions, it probably won't support them with subscriptions <i>plus</i> intrusive brain worms, err, ads. This is a pattern seen all the time in gaming - a subscription service downgrades to F2P, then a vast majority of them go away.<p>The differences between the successes and failures comes down to content, not business models. And Netflix' content is very thin for my tastes.
I wonder if they'll force their Netflix produced shows to be structured like network TV ones where optimal moments are created for ad placement.<p>Ads otherwise are extremely jarring.
Curious that the UK announcement, at <a href="https://about.netflix.com/en/news/our-newest-plan-now-available-gb" rel="nofollow">https://about.netflix.com/en/news/our-newest-plan-now-availa...</a>, mentions:<p>> <i>In the UK, there will also be nationally recognised brands such as HSBC, T-Mobile, GoCompare, Lidl and Ernest Jones.</i><p>T-Mobile hasn't been a consumer-facing brand in the UK for at least seven years.
Anyone have recommendations for setting up a mini home server to download and store torrented movies? I want something that "kinda just works", like what hardware and software? Only for movies I have consent and rights to torrent, ofcourse.
> We are excited to begin rolling out a new plan at $6.99/month from November 3 in the US.<p>You have to click through the link to see that "in the US" actually means<p>> Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, the UK and the US.
People seem to forget that Hulu has been supported by this model for quite some time. In some ways, it's a return to form: television was historically supported by ads and is returning to ads for support.
> a limited number of movies and TV shows won't be available due to licensing restrictions, which we’re working on<p>This needs much more detail. What isn't available and in what regions?
Netflix keep making content. How long until they have so much that we are content just to explore the back catalogue? Can margins increase massively over the long run?