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Comment by riskable | Hacker News Reader

Regulation might be able to fix it: Prevent streaming companies from owning content production. Split up companies that already exist like this (e.g. Comcast, Netflix, Disney, et al) then the content creating entities will be forced to pick the highest bidder for exclusive access or try to maximize profit by syndicating their content across as many platforms as possible.

It would be a better world, IMHO.

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I would go further and require content producers to sell to all buyers at the same price. Or even that content producers must sell to all buyers at the same reasonable price. Since the dawn of mass media, media has formed part of our shared shared culture. And that means that the consumers have some claim of ownership over it too.

Why would adding a middleman make anything better?

If society wants more people to be able to watch more TV, then society should just give people cash so they can buy access to more streaming services. Or reduce copyright terms to something reasonable like 10 years.

> Why would adding a middleman make anything better?

Because market competition is what makes capitalism a liveable social order for most people. Adding market competition makes everything better. Command economies (corporate or socialist) don't.

Adding middlemen increases the supply of middlemen, and hence puts pressure on the price of middlemen.

Disney can charge $15 to an individual, or $15 to a middleman, it makes no difference to them. It is just a waste of society’s resources.

Reducing copyright length so old Disney stuff enters the public domain quicker would increase supply and drive down price for the media.

This isn't middlemen providing no value. If any streaming service can pay Disney to serve Disney content, that means two might start doing it, and then people who want Disney can go with the one that manages lower prices and/or better service—more reliable, fewer compression artifacts, apps on more platforms, plays nicer with aggregators, et c, lots of ways one might be better than another. Lots more room for competition on business models and service quality.

Right now, if you want Disney content through a streaming service, you have one option. If it sucks, well, that's too bad for you, take it or leave it. And same for HBO, for Paramount, for all of them. Splitting up distribution and production creates a better competitive environment, given the existence of copyright.

I guess I never saw any difference between streaming service quality, at least using Apple TV. Though I’m not a TV aficionado either, all I is I press play and things usually start playing in sufficiently high quality.

The video quality is generally fine, but the quality of the apps is vast.

Anything that doesn't use system-provided UI elements is simply constitutionally bad. It's incredible that things that can't scroll smoothly pass basic QC.

The “golden age” started with Netflix directing its cashflow into risky content like “House of Cards” and “Orange is the new Black”.

What’s the business model for a content production company that doesn’t have such sugar-daddy?

Exactly, like they split movie theaters from the movie studios or car dealers from car manufacturers.

The paramount decree was rescinded 2 years ago, so movie studios can own theaters now:

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/07/us-judge-ends-decades-old-mo...

And as far as I can tell, the only people fighting to keep car dealerships separate from car manufacturers are car dealership owners. I would like to be able to just order a new car online and have it be delivered directly from the manufacturer.

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