3/20/2024 0 Comments Netflix raising prices againIt will only get worse now that streaming services have to actually make sure each show makes its money back. The days of Andor and high-production TV shows that run for a season or two before getting canceled regardless of how many subscribers they bring in aren't long for this world, and many popular shows are already getting axed even now. Higher fees, more ads, and lower production-quality content. So in the end, streaming services will have to become just like cable companies. They do it because it's the only way it works in practice. Like cable companies have been doing for decades. Now that interest rates are going up to combat inflation, however, every company has to scramble to actually have to make a profit on its actual business, and the only way to do that in media of any kind is to run ads and charge higher subscription fees. All those great shows and movies that Netflix produced? Fueled by free money from the US government. In itself, it's controversial, but it's not a bad thing categorically, since it helps companies create a bridge to profitability that might not otherwise exist in the free market. This fueled rapid expansion in the tech industry as companies that struggled to make profits off their core business model were able to stay afloat because of this government-backed debt. If there's one thing we now know about the tech industry, it's that the vast majority of tech companies can't survive without negative interest rates, Netflix included.įollowing the Great Recession, the US government's response was to let companies borrow money with a negative interest rate so that companies actually made money just by borrowing. In the end, too much choice is a burden that I'm not willing to pay this much for I'm going to go crawling back to whatever cable provider services my pre-war apartment building in Brooklyn supports and sign up for a TV package that has a mix of sports, movies, and premium-ish TV (nothing prestige, but whatever). Unfortunately, the answer is right there in front of me. I have a life now, full of long hours, family commitments, relationships, and friendships, and in the end, I couldn't even tell you how much I'm paying for all the different streaming services I'm signed up for and only use maybe once or twice a week. I shouldn't have to think this hard about what I'm going to watch, which service I'm going to browse through, and what my password was for this service or that because I keep getting logged out when I sign in on another device. I just want to watch TV when I come home from a long day, maybe catch a Yankee game or a NYCFC match (it's been a tough year on both counts, sadly), and the last thing I really want at this point is any more choice. You know, back when Netflix cost you $9.99 and you could form your own cartel with your friends and pool your streaming services together like we were all still in Zuccotti Park.īut with the end of password sharing and the inability of most streaming services to land on a reasonable price point for their products, I can't help but feel like we are right back to where we were when this all started, and it's frankly exhausting. This way of doing things is a huge part of why I left cable TV behind a decade ago and switched to streaming services to begin with. Your cable company sucks? Too bad, you get what you get. Cable TV plans are still expensive, customer service is generally awful, and the we-can't-call-it-a-cartel carve-ups of US states, cities, and even neighborhoods by cable providers who get exclusivity agreements from landlords means that what cable company you get in the US is entirely dictated by your street address. The things that drove me away from cable TV in the 2010s still exist.
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