A few years ago I subscribed temporarily to HBO to watch “Game of Thrones.” I’m thinking of doing the same with Hulu to watch “Shogun” once the series is complete. I already have Amazon Prime (with an add-on for KOCOWA, the Korean streamer) and Netflix and don’t want to add another streamer.
Seems others have the same idea. This could impact the revenues (and stock prices) of entertainment companies.
Americans’ New TV Habit: Subscribe. Watch. Cancel. Repeat.
Many more people are jumping from one streaming subscription to another, a behavior that could have big implications for the entertainment industry.
By John Koblin, The New York Times, April 20, 2024
…
Americans are getting increasingly impulsive about hitting the cancellation button on their streaming services. More than 29 million — about a quarter of domestic paying streaming subscribers — have canceled three or more services over the last two years, according to Antenna, a subscription research firm. And the numbers are rising fast…
Among these nomadic subscribers, some are taking advantage of how easy it is, with a monthly contract and simple click of a button, to hopscotch from one service to the next. Indeed, these users can be fickle — a third of them resubscribe to the canceled service within six months… [end quote]
I borrowed “Game Of Thrones” on DVD, from my local public library, free.
Didn’t know they are remaking “Shogun”. My local library has the original, Richard Chamberlain version on DVD too. I have “Centennial” in my personal collection.
The reviews say that the remake focuses more on the Japanese than the English character because Americans are more accustomed now to Asian programming than they were in 1980.
I would say that’s about right. I’ve seen every episode and each is opulent, well-acted, and interesting in its Machiavellian Warring States life and death intrigue.
ummm…Roger Ebert died in 2013. I watched him and Gene Siskel in the original “Sneak Previews” 45 years ago.
Meanwhile, I have been wading through the remake of “Dune”. Can’t believe how they are dragging that out. Over five hours in, over two parts. They have knocked off the occupying Harkonnen force, which is where the 84 version ended. Now, they tell us the other houses do not accept Paul’s becoming emperor, so the Fremen army takes off to make war on the other houses. How long are they going to milk this story?
Hopefully quite a bit longer! I love these stories, the visuals, and the CGI, in general. I find it difficult to get bored even with their lengthy storylines. Maybe they will milk it until the cows come home.
That was how I felt about the books. The original “Dune” was excellent, still my fave sci fi of all time. The subsequent books were just milking the franchise.
Wendy
I enjoyed all the Clavell novels but all the adaptations are quite bad with maybe the exception of King Rat. I’m up to episode 5 so far on this version and it’s very good. I’m hoping it does well enough for them to do the rest of the books.
I never read it. Heard it was a doorstop, ie big. Didn’t know there were sequels to the book.
Weird Al did a “Star Wars” themed parody, decades ago. There is a line about doing those movies to the end of time. In full snark mode, I suggested they picked such a young guy to play Paul this time, so he would not die of old age, before they run out of sequels. Have you noticed how gnarly Harrison Ford looks these days? They killed him off in a “Star Wars” segment a while back, but I went to see the latest “Indiana Jones” movie last summer, and enjoyed it.
You can be sure that “churn” is one of the highest topics for discussion in the marketing meetings at all the streaming services, and that bonuses will be focused on that particular topic in the next couple years.
Churn has always been an issue, whether it’s newspapers, radio, TV (especially local news), magazine, or any other subscription or “free” media that’s ever been. There are lots of strategies to be employed, everything from contests to discounted prices for longer contracts to… well, dream a couple up yourself. Get them implemented, have them be successful, you’ll get a piece of the pie.
Here are a couple to get you started: Waste Management offers a significantly reduced rate if you sign up “for a year’, and will short-rate you if you cancel early. Likewise Comcast and other cable providers. Radio stations run contests so you have to listen every morning at 7:40 (or whenever) to keep you attached regularly, instead of turning over (churning) to a competitor. Local TV news runs weeklong series (coincidentally during ratings weeks) so you watch 5 days instead of 4. Magazines bombard you with terrific savings offers months before your subscription runs out to keep you on the mailing list.
I’m not saying all of these work, but they’re all attempts to fight this sort of thing. Personally, I’d expect “longer contracts” with somewhat more onerous cancellation privileges. But then I’m a cynic at heart.
Churn (percent subscribers lost each month), ARPU (Average monthly Revenue Per User), and SAC (Subscriber Acquisition Cost) are the 3 main measures of EVERY subscription-based business. The higher the churn, the higher your total SAC rises because not only do you need to acquire new subscribers, you also need to replace those subscribers that left the service. And when you give teaser rates, the longer the teaser rates last, the lower your reported ARPU. And when you give “stay-with us” cut rates, your ARPU also declines. It’s a delicate balance.
This is exactly what we are doing. Checked the price to buy all seasons of Big Bang Theory. The cost for a subscription to MAX was less. So we took MAX, canceled Paramount, (Since we already binge watched Ghost) Binge watched all the seasons of Big Bang Theory, then canceled MAX, ordered Peacock, so we could watch the newest season of Resident Alien. Finished binge watching Resident Alien and am considering dropping Peacock and resubscribing to Paramount because the newest season of Ghost is almost finished.
Sounds complicated. I’d rather have my DVD library at home. Watched “Conan the Barbarian” last night, and didn’t have to unsubscribe/subscribe/resubscribe to anything. Arnie didn’t have much dialog in that one. Lots of grunting tho. Apparently, he didn’t speak much English when he moved to the US. Started taking English classes at Santa Monica College in the early 70s.
I’m watching “Shogun”, I think the last episode drops tonight. Haven’t watched the original nor read the book so don’t know how closely it follows. I think a good drama.
As far as people signing up for a show then deleting, seems to be very common place and I know several that do that. My BIL does it for football season, that is the only sport he watches and not interested in any other live broadcasts. Me, don’t care for the hassle. We do Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu Live.
I am not sure on all the other platforms, but Netflix retains your previous account and profile for 10 months so you just need to reactive it and pick up where you left off. You don’t go through the process as a new customer. I am on a Netflix break for now as there just wasn’t anything interesting to watch and Hulu is working for me.