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Comment by martibravo | Hacker News Reader

I have been a Netflix customer for 5+ years, and I've switched services to Disney+ for two reasons:

- Netflix with 4K and 4 streaming devices costs 17.99€ here ($19.50), while Disney+ only costs €8.99 with the same features.

- Netflix made and continues to make good content, but since major producers have been removing their content from Netflix and into their own services, Netflix here almost survives on old local shows and new in-house content. Feels like there's almost nothing new to watch. I have rewatched Gilmore Girls 4 times. Disney+ gets you Marvel, Disney, Pixar, FOX, NatGeo, StarWars, Star (lots of ABC content)

-Netflix decided to crackdown on password-sharing: my brother moved away some months ago and has been using our Netflix account, and we don't want him to pay Netflix for himself.

-There have been some rumors of ads on the platform to boost revenue. Hell to the no.

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>There have been some rumors of ads on the platform to boost revenue. Hell to the no.

oh geez, that would be the death knell for netflix. that was one of the big benefits they had over cable ten years ago when streaming was still new. i cant imagine paying $18 a month and still being forced to watch ads.

on a side note, im extremely pissed at paramount because their "ad-free" plan was updated to force viewers to watch a 30 second spot at the beginning of every show. if star trek strange new worlds doesnt turn out to be a million times better than picard and discovery i just might cancel because im so pissed i have to watch ads on the premium plan.

>There have been some rumors of ads on the platform to boost revenue.

It's been stated elsewhere here but worth reiterating: the current description of this idea is to give customers the option to have ads in exchange for a lower overall subscription cost and not just shoehorn them into the existing plans.

At least that's the stated intent. I can definitely see where it can lead to a slippery slope where it's easier to just give ads to everyone when they need another revenue bump.

That's how it starts..... it ends with you paying for ad free hulu and wondering how you're still watching unskippable ads.

theres also a high probability of misinformed (or well-informed but adversarial) twitter users getting #CancelNetflix to trend because people will only read the headlines and not understand that they wont be seeing ads unless they want to save money.

Whether ads are a discount or ad-free is a premium is just a matter of framing.

I think their point is that people are missing the fact that the ad-revenue model (as proposed) would have no impact on people already subscribing.

I appreciate that you're being positive but with media companies I'm much more cynical.

I think we're going to see a price increase to stay ad free or an option to have the same price with advertising. So it will be a price increase to keep your same service ad free.

I understand, I'm only going off of what they've publicly stated as their intent as reported by the WSJ and elsewhere. I'm also skeptical.

"Reed Hastings said Netflix is exploring ways to add lower-priced advertising-supported subscription tiers"

https://www.investopedia.com/netflix-q1-fy2022-earnings-repo...

I've had Netflix for years. I will cancel immediately if I see something close to an ad.

> Netflix decided to crackdown on password-sharing: my brother moved away some months ago and has been using our Netflix account, and we don't want him to pay Netflix for himself

So you're upset that you are no longer able to freely breach a conract you agreed to, and have to pay for services you consume?

Yes I’m upset because even Netflix’s exec Reed Hastings said some time ago that account-sharing is “a good thing”. They are well within their rights to change their policy from looking the other way to actually prevent password-sharing, and I as the customer I’m well within my rights to cancel my subscription when the company changes a policy.

except the company haven't changed their policy, which is stated in their terms; contract; conditions of carriage and small print inter alia, which has always been that: account sharing is not allowed.

now, they may have previously ignored breaches of this contract, but that didn't stop them being breaches. you are well within your rights to cancel your contract, all i point out is that it is unreasonable of you to be upset. this is business as usual, and to be expected, therefore a good thing.

lol, lmao, et cetera.

The 4k pricing was always a sore spot for me. Netflix’s content was never worth $20, so for a long time I was subscribed for mediocre standard def content. I regret not unsubscribing sooner.

I also find the 4k catalog very... lacking. (In Canada at least). Movies outside of Netflix originals are just not available in 4k.

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