Cord Cutting - which box? Some comparisons

[lparsons21]

and yet-

Look for 7.6 million member additions in Q4
During the first three quarters of 2019, Netflix added a total of 19.1 million new subscribers.After adding 9.6 million paying members in Q1, Netflix whiffed on its member growth in Q2 and missed its own guidance for the period: Net subscriber additions in Q2 were 2.7 million. But member growth picked back up again in Q3 as the company added 6.8 million new paid memberships.

Netflix's Subscribers May Have Hit 166 Million in 2019 | The Motley Fool

That's up 27 million from last year.

www.fool.com

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Netflix with its mix of shows ranging from “it sucks” to “it’s great” is hard not to sub to.


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[Zookster]

Yeah, I’ve been reading articles here and there about the slowdown/loss of traditional subscribers not picking up streaming versions of cable/sat.

Other articles have even talked about the growth of ad-supported free sites and there have been comments indicating that after all these years of bitching about ads, we’ve nearly come full circle. I know that for me during the day, ads or no ads just isn’t a big deal and I find myself watching free ad-supported sites for reruns of shows that are not on cable/sat/OTA but that I haven’t seen in a very long time. L


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That's the problem now with traditional pay TV: you have to pay a premium price for ad-supported content. Even without DVR capability, a traditional pay TV service (MVPD) can get quite expensive. Sure, customers need to subsidize the delivery system and infrastructure, and some kind of equipment rental fee isn't in itself unreasonable. But things have gotten out of hand to the point these services have become a luxury in an era when wages aren't keeping pace with housing and medical costs.

For me, Netflix is still a very good service. It's just not the only thing out there anymore, so I rotate to keep up with favorite shows on other streaming services and premium cable.

 

[harshness]

Netflix with its mix of shows ranging from “it sucks” to “it’s great” is hard not to sub to.

I've found it pretty easy to not subscribe to Netflix. As they lose some popular programming (Friends, the Disney stuff they haven't already given up), it gets easier yet.

I think one of the big draws they have left is probably some of the UHD programming but even that gets thin from time to time.

 

[smokey982]

I’ve read through this thread and it’s been very informative. I have a 4K tv capable of HDR. I’ve narrowed my choices down to the Apple TV 4K and the Roku Ultra. Which box would be the best choice for 4K programming? I subscribe to Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney Plus. I realize box boxes offer those services in 4K (not sure about Disney). But what about beyond those services? Does either box offer apps that would have 4K programming that the other box may not offer? Does either box process 4K better than the other box?

 

[harshness]

I’ve read through this thread and it’s been very informative. I have a 4K tv capable of HDR. I’ve narrowed my choices down to the Apple TV 4K and the Roku Ultra. Which box would be the best choice for 4K programming? I subscribe to Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney Plus.

Either device should do well. The price difference looms large for the Roku and since you don't subscribe to Apple TV+, you'd be kind of cutting yourself off at the knees without the service that really shines on the Apple TV. If you don't have a lot of Apple stuff now, the ATV is probably going to be wasted on you.

Since there are four notable flavors of HDR, it is becoming important to keep track of which versions your devices and services support. At the bottom end, there's HDR10 and its not-too well supported (but giving much better results) HDR10+ stablemate. I think Hybrid Log Gamma is going to play a much bigger part going forward (as it is the basis for Next-Gen TV) and finally there's Dolby Vision.

 

[lparsons21]

I've found it pretty easy to not subscribe to Netflix. As they lose some popular programming (Friends, the Disney stuff they haven't already given up), it gets easier yet.

I think one of the big draws they have left is probably some of the UHD programming but even that gets thin from time to time.

Oddly none of the stuff they are losing that seems to make the news now and then are of any interest to me at all. Didn’t care for Friends when it was live on TV so watching reruns of it would be no big deal to me.

With Netflix I don’t find myself watching much of the reruns of old shows as I do watching their originals and movies I never heard of, some of which are actually pretty good.


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[smokey982]

Either device should do well. The price difference looms large for the Roku and since you don't subscribe to Apple TV+, you'd be kind of cutting yourself off at the knees without the service that really shines on the Apple TV. If you don't have a lot of Apple stuff now, the ATV is probably going to be wasted on you.

Since there are four notable flavors of HDR, it is becoming important to keep track of which versions your devices and services support. At the bottom end, there's HDR10 and its not-too well supported (but giving much better results) HDR10+ stablemate. I think Hybrid Log Gamma is going to play a much bigger part going forward (as it is the basis for Next-Gen TV) and finally there's Dolby Vision.

I noticed on Apples website that if you buy the Apple TV they give you Apple TV + free for a year. Although none of the original shows they’re offering look appealing to me personally. They’ll also ship it for free and you’ll receive the next day.

As for the type of HDR. I have no idea what my tv will do. It’s a 2015 model Samsung. Model #UN65JS8500.

 

[harshness]

As for the type of HDR. I have no idea what my tv will do. It’s a 2015 model Samsung. Model #UN65JS8500.

Samsung SUHD TVs support HDR10 (it was called "Peak Illuminator Pro"). It is widely supported by the streaming services so you should be okay for the time being. Going forward, it appears that Amazon is going the HDR10+ route while Netflix is heading towards Dolby Vision. Neither of these is widely implemented in TVs release prior to 2017 and streamers released prior to 2018 (Roku still doesn't support dynamic HDR in their streamers but most new Roku TVs support Dolby Vision). TCL, Hisense, LG and Sony seem committed to Dolby Vision and some of the streaming devices are going there as well. HDR10+ is not widely implemented outside Samsung TVs in the US so Amazon's choice seems odd.

Given that your TV doesn't support dynamic HDR, I'd go with a Roku Premier or better or a Fire Stick 4K.

 

[smokey982]

Given that your TV doesn't support dynamic HDR, I'd go with a Roku Premier or better or a Fire Stick 4K.

And I don’t know if it makes much difference. But we are an Apple family. We all have iPhones, iPad, and an older iMac that rarely gets used anymore. But my biggest concern is getting the best picture possible.

 

[lparsons21]

And I don’t know if it makes much difference. But we are an Apple family. We all have iPhones, iPad, and an older iMac that rarely gets used anymore. But my biggest concern is getting the best picture possible.

It doesn’t make much of a difference, but if your family is an Apple family the ATV would make more sense because it fits into the Apple ecosystem very well. And, IMO, I think the quality of the video and audio from the ATV4K is better than Roku though not by very much.


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[wormil]

Are there people who just watch Friends and Disney on repeat? Over and over I read comments everywhere about people dropping Netflix because of Friends or Disney or whatever popular show. If I wanted to watch Friends, or anything else, over and over I'd buy it. I like to watch new things. One of the things I love about streaming is getting to watch stuff that I would never see on cable, like Norwegian crime dramas, new seasons of The Expanse, new shows like Lost in Space.

 

[harshness]

Are there people who just watch Friends and Disney on repeat? Over and over I read comments everywhere about people dropping Netflix because of Friends or Disney or whatever popular show.

Friends ran for the better part of ten seasons so it usually isn't about watching it over and over again.

I suspect that people look for reasons to have Netflix and long-running series like Friends is an easy target. I'm watching Stargate SG-1 (also ten seasons) on Amazon Prime but I don't think I'll do it again.

If you're reading the comments over and over again, it must be a thing. I can't get my head around why people would want to watch TV shows from the 50s; too much anachronism.

 

[lparsons21]

LOL! It isn’t about watching episodes over and over again? Quick tell all those cable channels that have been rerunning the same episodes of NCIS, various L&O shows and others all these years!

One of the bigger reasons I’m going to shift to streaming+OTA is so I can pick which damned reruns of shows NOT on the blasted cable channels every day! As to Friends, well WGN is running that now.


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[wormil]

Licensing deals are a real thing. No one else's feet are being held to the fire for not perpetually running old shows. It seems silly to try and hurt Netflix's reputation because they're not going to (or can't) carry some old tv show in perpetuity.

 

[harshness]

It seems silly to try and hurt Netflix's reputation because they're not going to (or can't) carry some old tv show in perpetuity.

It isn't about hurting Nexflix's reputation. It is a reason given by some for dropping Netflix.

 

[wormil]

It isn't about hurting Nexflix's reputation. It is a reason given by some for dropping Netflix.

Oh come on, it is though. On every single forum where I participate there's always those few posters who constantly run down Netflix because it doesn't carry some old popular TV show or some other thing that they want to watch over and over. It's inevitably phrased in a way that runs down Netflix's reputation by stating they don't have any good TV shows and the person can't find anything at all to watch since TV show XYZ left Netflix, as if the only reason Netflix ever existed was to show friends and office reruns.

 

[harshness]

It's inevitably phrased in a way that runs down Netflix's reputation by stating they don't have any good TV shows and the person can't find anything at all to watch since TV show XYZ left Netflix, as if the only reason Netflix ever existed was to show friends and office reruns.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and/or their reasons for dropping Netflix. If someone seems bitter about it, that is their problem as it is pretty widely known that Netflix cycles many of their syndicated offerings (I was in a blind panic to finish My Name is Earl).

I dropped Netflix because I had lost interest in much of what they offered that I couldn't get elsewhere but I'm certainly not insisting that they can't possibly have significant value to others (especially those who refuse to partake of other streaming services for reasons of their own). I'll probably subscribe for a while in the future to catch up on The Ranch and Lucifer.

 

[smokey982]

Are there people who just watch Friends and Disney on repeat? Over and over I read comments everywhere about people dropping Netflix because of Friends or Disney or whatever popular show. If I wanted to watch Friends, or anything else, over and over I'd buy it. I like to watch new things. One of the things I love about streaming is getting to watch stuff that I would never see on cable, like Norwegian crime dramas, new seasons of The Expanse, new shows like Lost in Space.

I agree completely. I hate watching repeats of any show. With the possible exception of Seinfeld and Big Bang Theory. But even those shows I don’t really care about. Those just happen to be the shows that I’ll turn on if I can’t find anything else to watch that I haven’t already seen. Now my 17 year old daughter watches Friends everyday and she’s seen every episode already. I think the only thing I’ve ever watched on Netflix are their original programming.


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[Bruce]

The one thing that I am amazed at is all these complaints about Netflix that I read here and elsewhere yet their sub numbers continue to go up, I posted this already once but here it is again-

Look for 7.6 million member additions in Q4
During the first three quarters of 2019, Netflix added a total of 19.1 million new subscribers.After adding 9.6 million paying members in Q1, Netflix whiffed on its member growth in Q2 and missed its own guidance for the period: Net subscriber additions in Q2 were 2.7 million. But member growth picked back up again in Q3 as the company added 6.8 million new paid memberships.

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[TheForce]

There is fear that as more media sources continue to open up their own streaming services, they will pull a Disney and yank their content from Netflix. This will not destroy Netflix, but rather limit its growth. In order to sustain the current business plan of producing their own original content Netflix will be spending more money than ever before. They need their own content to keep subscribers on an annual basis. It was just announced that NBC is entering the streaming business. All these media sources pulling their content will reduce the lure of the service which to sustain the budgets for Netflix quality, they will have to raise rates. How high can they go and stay number 1?
I've been a stock holder and subscriber of Netflix for many years. But with the Disney+ announcement, I reduced my holdings by 50% last year and so did many other investors. as the remaining Disney content is removed, I see the stock price falling even more. Nobody knows what the survival formula will be but currently the future for Netflix to sustain it's number 1 position looks threatened. If they can fix the content threat then I can stop worrying over the value of my investment, but right now, it's no longer going up, it's falling.