Can you tell me Netflix Vs Disney+ Vs Apple TV: Who is the Best? I think Netflix is still on the best streaming platform. Disney+ and Apple TV also doing very well work. But You know Netflix is facing a lot of challenges these days. We’ve got Disney, Apple, HBO Max, NBC Universal. Lots of competitors. So Who is the Best? Well ya, of course, it can it’s Netflix. But what does survival actually look like the beast of binge?
Well, it won’t look the same as it does now that’s for sure. Or to put it another way Netflix today would be perfectly recognizable to a Netflix user from five years ago but Netflix five years from now. I’m not sure that’s gonna be the case.
I think it could look pretty different and I’ll tell you way let’s dive in. Now let’s go on and talk about the future of Netflix. First of all let’s talk about its strengths and what Netflix has going for it going forward. First of all speaking of going forward, they have massive amounts of momentum. Worldwide they’ve got 151 million subscribers 158 if you count the free trials but even just in the US 60 million subscribers.
Disney+ releasing episodes week-by-week is actually kind of insidious if you consider their motives.
A weekly dripfeed for even just an 8-ep series requires you to be subbed for 2 months minimum in order to watch as it airs, vs. subbing just to binge like some do with Netflix.
— Minataur @ NaNoWriMo‼️ (@MightyMinataur) August 31, 2019
It’s gonna take a massive effort to stop something that huge. A massive effort like oh I don’t know say three or four near-simultaneous challengers that could do it. Now the second thing that they have going for the mis the content. So much of it so much content I can’t even adequately express exactly how much content it is so I’m just gonna throw it all up on the screen right now.
It’s so much so many hours so many episodes and seasons of shows and all the original movies and so even if we’re talking about getting rid of the licensed stuff. I’ve been talking for weeks now about how all these companies all the Disneys and the NBCs. They’re taking all of their toys and going and playing in their own sandbox even without that licensed material Netflix has a ton of stuff.
Even stuff that you enjoy ya you have to admit it. Now Netflix does have some problems going forward as well. First and foremost is that the binge model that they’ve created has turned into a beast. An insatiable beast. They have to keep feeding that beast more and more of that content. That’s why they’re putting in 15 billion dollars a year right now of new content cause they have to feed that beast. Every time you see a new show and you get the whole season right away.
You watch it in three days well they’ve then got to fill the rest of your weekend all of the following weeks so that’s why they’ve had to put in so much time and money into creating new content. And it all adds up if you add up the marketing costs and the content production spending Netflix has spent well like I said billions upon billions of dollars.
In 2012 they were spending $308 per new subscriber and that’s risen now so that in the last 12 months $581 per new subscriber.
So if you do the math on that at 13 bucks a month that’s the kind of middle of the road subscription for Netflix every new subscriber would need to stick with Netflix for at least 45 months to make it worth Netflix’s while for that new subscriber. That is probably unsustainable. So speaking of the price on Netflix. This brings up the second problem that they have the pricing is high especially these days compared to the new services.
You think about Disney+ coming in at $7 a month Apple TV+ at $5 NBC Universal’s Peacock network because yes they did name it that is rumored to come in around that $5 or $10 range and so Netflix is going to struggle with that price. They’ve talked about no they’re not going to lower the price. The third one is that no one is left to buy Netflix. Now this is something that is popular to do in Silicon Valley you drive your value way up as high as you possibly can and then sell.
And there were some market analysts who said that was what Netflix was trying to do they were eyeing Disney or Apple as potential buyers for their business and well we see how that’s going. Disney and Apple are doing their own streaming thing. Nobody is left to buy Netflix. So it could be that moving forward. They’re in trouble that way. So what’s Netflix gonna look like when this new regime kind of turns over? Well this is just my opinion I don know what it’s going to look like but I suspect that they’re going to switch to weekly releases no more binging eventually.
You’re not going to see that happen overnight but we’ve already seen them pilot that with “The Great British Baking Show” very popular show that they’ve started to release on a weekly basis instead of releasing it on that binge model. What that does is it makes it like I was saying earlier so they don’t have to produce so much content at once. It’s gonna keep you around if you find a show that you love maybe it’s “The Great British Baking Show”maybe it’s the new season of “Altered Carbon”maybe it’s “Stranger Things” whatever that case happens to be if they can stretch that out over 10 weeks instead of releasing it all at once it’s gonna keep you around longer.
Now the next thing that’s gonna happen is Netflix is not going to spend the way that they have. Like I said 15 billion dollars a year and they just announced that they are doing 2 billion more but they’ve also said that 2019 is going to be the peak of their spending their cash burned is going to start to taper off after this year. Now, Reed Hasting’s CEO of Netflix said in an investor letter in July this is pretty official stuff he was addressing whether Netflix would ever have ads and he says “We, like HBO, are advertising free.
And he goes on and on you know it’s a deep part of our brand we’re focusing on viewer satisfaction whatever it is CEOs say, but I want to focus in on something here. He says that we’re like HBO there’s no reason to mention HBO there unless it’s to lay the groundwork for changing the perception of what Netflix is. So right now Netflix is everything to everyone they are pouring money into all sorts of content. And that’s what’s happening now but I think down the road we could see a shift toward that HBO model where ya the price is higher than Disney at 7 bucks or Apple TV+ at 5 bucks but you’re getting premium content for that premium price.
I suspect that maybe where they end up going. So the bottom line here is we’re gonna have to get used to the idea of a different type of Netflix. You can kind of compare Netflix right now to Facebook in 2009 or the Bulls in the mid 90sor the Yankees forever. The point is it seems like they are too big they have so much power and influence and nobody can take them down. It’s unimaginable that they would ever not be great. Now though things will probably change Facebook has obviously fallen the Bulls suckTom Brady won’t be around forever with the Patriots that sort of thing Netflix eventually will have to make peace with being a different type of player in the streaming arena.
They won’t be the dominant player the way that they are now but they will still probably be a major one. And so with that will come some changes but I think we’ll all get used to that and frankly I’m looking forward to having a lot more competitors to go along with Netflix and a lot more content for us to enjoy on different platforms. But let me know what you think hit the comments below if you enjoy what we do here again. Are you excited for Disney+ if not go away well no I don’t no maybe stick around you might find this exciting Reviews? org the site behind this website is hiring up to 5 people to watch Disney+ when it comes out on November 12th.