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Comment by ilamont | Hacker News Reader

For consumers, now is a good time to evaluate paid streaming services. The content pipeline will be rationed and extended, leading to a decline in new programming. HBO/"Max" was already looking shaky, and we've noticed Apple and Amazon are increasingly plastered with paid options.

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I have been doing that for a long time not because of the strike, but because 90% of the content is garbage, and the few shows that have found interesting they cancel after 1 season....

I think the situation with the Witcher will be the last straw with me and Netflix..

I am probably one of the few people that still have Prime because of the shipping but as they keep increasing costs to add a bunch of things I have no interest in (like Sports, and complete Trash that is Rings of Power) the value is less and less for that as well

The Witcher wasn't really Netflix's fault though? I thought Cavill was lured by the Amazon deal to do Warhammer. Gotta love a company like Amazon producing shows and selling toilet paper all in one shop.

Cavill did not leave voluntarily. HE was pushed out because he wanted to stay true to the lore.. Netflix and their hand picked show runners disagree and want to completely change the story

OTOH, the best season of the Witcher was Season One, which Cavill had little to no control over substantively or stylistically.

Season 3 is the season in which he has exercised the most creative control...this is the Witcher as he envisions it...and it's making GOT Season 7 look good.

This is factually incorrect. Cavill had almost no control over season 3

That is factually incorrect. Cavill wanted them to be more faithful to the books, so they changed from the monster of the week setup of the 1st season to the silly political drama of the books.

The thing about The Witcher is that the books aren't very good. People like the Witcher despite the horrible writing (the same way people liked Twilight despite the horrible writing). If Season 1 had been faithful to the books it would never have taken off.

Most people seem to be basing their ideas for what the show should be like based on what the games were like, but the games are quite liberal in their adaptation of the underlying material.

Can you share any source describing that Cavill had the most influence on season 3 out of any seasons? Right now it's pure conjecture on your part and goes against what Cavill and others said themselves.

Complete Nonsense. The whole Witcher series is very well written (though I read only Czech translation, so I cannot speak of the English one) and Sapkowski is a good writer (which he later more than proved with The Hussite trilogy). The problem with the second season is that they completely butchered the story from the books. If Cavill wanted the series to be more faithful to the books, he failed.

Isn't that the Japanese model? You can get your motorcycle and your baby grand piano from the same company. It looks like it works pretty well for them so maybe there's something to it.

I don't know about Japan, but the primary force acting in the consumer's favor in the U.S. is competition. When you have conglomerates that can use enormous profits in one industry to undercut competition in other industries it really destroys the free market.

This is where the broadcasters and streamers opt for more unscripted TV and foreign dubbed content.

Consumers are savvier than ever about that stuff. People already demonstrate a strong willingness to hop on and off subscriptions for different services based on specific shows they want to watch.

I can imagine a ton of people canceling their subscriptions if all the providers put out is that crap “filler content.”

One thing we all can do is to be less entertained. But I guess this would be considered extreme measure, specially in US.

And when you do cancel, be sure to let the services know in any feedback forms they offer.

> The content pipeline will be rationed and extended

Can’t be any worse than it already is with rationed and extended, completely formulaic shoes like NCIS or Simpsons far overstaying their welcome.

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