Terrible idea: streaming services to only unlock the next episode a week after you watch the last one.

[Umbran]

It's not a great idea. Perhaps best used on new members/new seasons, rather than stuff that's a couple years old. It's a way to stop the wait a year, subscribe and binge for a month that cuts the profits off a 12 episode series from 3 months to 1.

While a lot of people talk about taking one month, binging, and then turning it off, I am not so sure they are such a large number that it would justify putting a roadblock in the way of other users.

I suspect most folks just buy the subscription, or intend to do one month, but never turn it off. The providers would love these people - paying for the service, but not actually using it most of the time is like printing money. They would not want to disrupt the experience of the moneymakers.

Another idea in my back pocket is that vendors who make original content that we pay for, owe us a complete series. Unlike NBC, who is paid by advertisers, so if a show tanks, they cancel it. I paid Netflix to make The OA. They Owe Me.

Define "complete series" - The Good Place is ending after four seasons, because that's the story they set out to tell. Supernatural is ending after 15 seasons.

Do you want to pay up front for several seasons of a show whose quality is not yet known?

 

[CapnZapp]

What are you talking about? Certainly not D+, or any other service I know of. Mandalorian releases on Fridays (mostly).

I am talking about this thread!

Don't believe me - read the OP... again

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I think something like this could be built, but doing so would be more hassle than most streaming companies would want compared to the financial benefits they'll get out of it. I could be wrong, but I imagine the people that subscribe and maintain are greater in number than those that binge and delete.

For my part, I'm not really a binge-watcher (unless I'm home sick). I like to take my time and savor a series. That and, when I'm finished, either the series is done or I have that much longer to wait for the next season.

So what if they make you want a week before you can watch the next episode. Period. Not because it's, but because it's new to you.

I don't think this is actually a good idea, just one of those thoughts of how something could be done.

 

[Ovinomancer]

I am talking about this thread!

Don't believe me - read the OP... again

You're right, apologies. It hadn't occurred to me that someone would invent a non-existent problem to whinge about, so I filtered the OP accordingly. My optimism appears to have been misplaced.

 

[Janx]

...snip...

Define "complete series" - The Good Place is ending after four seasons, because that's the story they set out to tell. Supernatural is ending after 15 seasons.

Do you want to pay up front for several seasons of a show whose quality is not yet known?

good point in the snipped section, but to address this part.

With the streaming companies offering original programming, the paradigm has shifted from advertising funded television to customer funded.

So a case could be made that I, as a subscriber to Netflix, am paying for a story. So when Netflix starts one (ex. The OA) and cancels it on a season 2 cliffhanger that even actor Jason Issacs wants to know what happens next, they have failed to produce a complete story and therefore, didn't give me what I paid for.

That's different from The CW, which is advertiser funded. I didn't pay for their 15 seasons of Supernatural. They make it to trick me into watching advertisements which is the unspoken contract.

Once the customer directly pays, the deal is different

 

[Umbran]

With the streaming companies offering original programming, the paradigm has shifted from advertising funded television to customer funded.

Sometimes. Some packages do include some advertising. Hulu, for example, has tiers with ads.

So a case could be made that I, as a subscriber to Netflix, am paying for a story.

At the moment, no, not in any way, shape, or form. Technically, you are paying for access to a library,. They don't make promises as to exactly what will be in that library.

You may want to be paying for a story. But that really would be a different funding model than they are currently using. Amazon Prime allows you to pay for a season of many shows - but that content is already in the can when you pay for it. Currently, nobody promises you a full story - not even novelists. George RR Martin may never finish a Song of Ice and Fire, and his estate is not liable to the audience if he doesn't finish.

So when Netflix starts one (ex. The OA) and cancels it on a season 2 cliffhanger that even actor Jason Issacs wants to know what happens next, they have failed to produce a complete story and therefore, didn't give me what I paid for.

If you are really so annoyed at that to cancel your subscription, you can do that. But don't present it like The OA appeared anywhere in your agreement with Netflix. 'Cause it didn't. Your personal motivation for entering into the subscription is not binding on them. They were clear about what they offered.

What you suggest may be possible in the future - Kickstarter for TV. But it isn't what we have now.

 

[Janx]

..snip..

What you suggest may be possible in the future - Kickstarter for TV. But it isn't what we have now.

That is ultimately, the point of any the ideas I presented here. It COULD be like that.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Capp gets it. The current situation is some vendors like releasing one episode a week because it keeps customers around AND it simulates the traditional TV model, the practice is defeated at the end of the run when all episodes are available at once.

My idea is that they can tag the date you watched an episode and make you wait a week before unlocking the next one. Period. Thus limiting to one week at a time, regardless of original date of release.

It's not a great idea. Perhaps best used on new members/new seasons, rather than stuff that's a couple years old. It's a way to stop the wait a year, subscribe and binge for a month that cuts the profits off a 12 episode series from 3 months to 1.


Another idea in my back pocket is that vendors who make original content that we pay for, owe us a complete series. Unlike NBC, who is paid by advertisers, so if a show tanks, they cancel it. I paid Netflix to make The OA. They Owe Me.

In case it is a great business idea, find a way to patent, copyright or whatever this idea so you get at least stinking filthy rich ruining streaming for the rest of us.

 

[Umbran]

That is ultimately, the point of any the ideas I presented here. It COULD be like that.

You still have the issue of asking folks to pay up front. If you want to pay up front for several seasons (a "complete story"), we are talking tens to hundreds of millions of dollars for a premium TV show. That's.. a very large investment for crowdfunding.

And, now that you are adding a sense of entitlement - what do you do when folks start saying, "I didn't pay for the story to go in this direction! I didn't pay to see my favorite character die!" or what have you?

 

[Ryujin]

[ ... ]

What you suggest may be possible in the future - Kickstarter for TV. But it isn't what we have now.

Ever heard of "The Fantasy Network"