Online streaming giant Netflix has quietly removed its ad-free Basic plan, forcing users to pay more or sit through adverts to keep costs down.
Netflix Pricing Shakeup Removes Cheapest Ad-Free Plan In U.K. and U.S.::Online streaming giant Netflix has quietly removed its ad-free Basic plan, forcing users to pay more or sit through adverts to keep costs down.
I guess it’s time to go back to torrenting movies and shows. I literally come from a generation that used to watch 40 part movies on youtube playlists. Bring it on Netflix.
Define successful? They were only really profitable over covid as people with nothing better to do subscribed in mass. Theyve been on borrowed time since all the content started getting pulled. Their business model stopped working 4-5 years ago and they're just trying to do anything to stay afloat now.
Forbes (2020) seems to disagree: "Viewed from the lens of net income, Netflix has been performing well, with its net profits growing 3x from around $0.6 billion in 2017 to $1.9 billion in 2019." If their profitability increased during the pandemic, as seems likely, this feels more like another naked money grab. It's almost guaranteed to drive away users, something that they can ill afford under any circumstances.
I mean, you can see their financial statements. All that stuff is public info since they are a publicly traded company. This chart shows the net profits since 2010 going from 161m to almost 5B
These companies seem to forget that the main thing holding them afloat is the ability to watch it simply at a low cost. Pirating is very easy and there are plenty of tools to achieve this same goal if prices keep going up.
I’ve already abandoned Netflix. I would rather pirate shows I hear are good than mindlessly scroll on that platform while paying $240 a year or whatever.
As soon as they reported that the plan with ads was making them more money the fate of the basic plan was sealed. This combined with the money grab with household sharing means my Plex server is getting a lot of use 🌝
Stremio + Torrentio + Real-Debrid is becoming better by the day now. I never had a Netflix subscription in the first place, but I don't think I would ever get one now.
I don't feel like this is a technology post, purely another anti-consumer business decision being levied against us.
As for the whole "piracy has rejoined the chat" "hello old friend" discourse - pirate what? The One Piece live action? Post-Cavil Witcher? TV hasn't been worth watching in a good while, netflix even longer. I barely turn mine on anymore.