Originally published at: Netflix posts good numbers, but for how long? | Boing Boing
…
1 Like
We’ll see where the sacred quarterly numbers stand nine months from now, when the pipeline of new stuff runs dry due to the strike.
6 Likes
No problem, they will use AI writers and actors. I’m sure the results will be amazing
4 Likes
I guess it will mean more Netflix ‘documentaries’ - it’s not like they have a quality threshold to worry about.
3 Likes
I watched the following documentary on The Mary Tyler Moore Show the other day. It’s very enjoyable, but in the current strike context of studio suits smugly believing any of the magic combination of those humans could be replicated by “AI” it was also a little enraging.
2 Likes
The nature of Netflix means that won’t (or doesn’t have to) happen, though. For one, they can license more existing broadcast shows (from other companies whose revenue streams are being impacted by the strikes and who might be more willing to license things they wouldn’t have, previously). Right now Netflix is pushing “Suits” hard, even though it’s a 10+ year old show.
More importantly, the strikes are US-specific, so they can continue making new shows and movies in other countries with non-WGA/SAG talent. Netflix is very much an international company and non-US shows are some of its biggest hits. For people who don’t want to watch foreign content? You can, for example, set your show in the US but film it in Europe and cast a bunch of English actors and have them put on American accents. (I watched “The Queen’s Gambit” and wondered why so many of the American characters were played by English actors. I figured out they filmed it almost entirely in Germany, so it was just easier to hire UK-based actors. There wasn’t even a strike.)
So… yeah, Netflix is actually very well situated to ride out the strikes without it impacting much.
3 Likes
They also stated shortly after the success of Squid Game that licensing foreign content for cheap was definitely a strategy of theirs. Never know what’s going to be the next hit, but they don’t need to produce it.
1 Like
Netflix did produce Squid Games, though. (Which is why it’s the one doing the reality show spin-off, etc.) Netflix has production offices in Korea (and Japan, etc.). In fact, they now produce so much stuff in Korea that they’re actually warping the local television industry - regular domestic broadcasters are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with the amount of money being put into shows for the international market made by Netflix and other streamers.
Almost half of Netflix US’s library is foreign content, and since 2019 most of their original content has been produced outside the US.
1 Like
I will never understand the stock market.
Dow jumps 100 points as winning streak continues, Netflix drags down Nasdaq: Live updates
1 Like
Not that it would necessarily drive subscriptions in any significant way, but I’ve long wondered why Netflix (and all the other streaming services) don’t include vast catalogs of public-domain movies and shows. Yeah, you can get your Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd fix elsewhere, but it would be so much more convenient to watch on Netflix, which would cost them almost nothing.
2 Likes
Amazon seems to have a few public domain films, but it is really odd that Netflix doesn’t at all. (Though weirdly they used to have “Charade” but don’t anymore.) It often feels like Netflix has a very particular audience in mind, and they pursue that to the detriment of any other potential viewers.
3 Likes
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
