The Rise of Netflix Competitors Has Pushed Consumers Back Toward Piracy

[HamCormier]

I know the policy about piracy here, but I thought it was an interesting article :

BitTorrent usage has bounced back because there's too many streaming services, and too much exclusive content.

Sandvine's new Global Internet Phenomena report offers some interesting insight into user video habits and the internet, such as the fact that more than 50 percent of internet traffic is now encrypted, video now accounts for 58 percent of all global traffic, and Netflix alone now comprises 15 percent of all internet downstream data consumed.

But there's another interesting tidbit buried in the firm's report: after years of steady decline, BitTorrent usage is once again growing.

According to Sandvine, file-sharing accounts for 3 percent of global downstream and 22 percent of upstream traffic, with 97% of that traffic in turn being BitTorrent. While BitTorrent is often used to distribute ordinary files, it remains the choice du jour for those looking to distribute and trade copyrighted content online, made easier via media PCs running Kodi and select plugins.

Keep in mind that BitTorrent usage numbers are likely higher than Sandvine estimates, given the high number of users that hide their BitTorrent traffic behind proxies and VPNs to not only dodge the prying-eyes of their ISPs, but avoid copyright trolls and industry lawsuits.

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More here : https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/d3q45v/bittorrent-usage-increases-netflix-streaming-sites

This quote from Gabe Newell seems even more relevant :

"In general, we think there is a fundamental misconception about piracy. Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem."

I feel like every one is trying to get their piece of the pie...

 

[ConHaki66]

not surprised, there is a guy that i know who did this

 

[Deleted member 29660]

Not surprised, in Canada so many shows are "exclusives" it can be hard to watch what you actually want to watch or it's on some service that you need to pay for and there seems to be a lot of services. No one is going to pay for each.

 

[DeadlyParasite]

Time is a flat circle.

 

[Valiant]

I mean the whole point of three or so streaming services was that you could save money doing that. Now they all want their slice of the pie and it'll be just like cable service prices if you want to get em all.

I currently stick to just Netflix and HBO and then buy whatever season I want to watch on amazon.

 

[Kevers]

When the shows you watch are spread across 30 different channels and each one requires a separate login to watch you can totally see the appeal of just downloading the goddamn thing.

 

[F34R]

meh, better services and better prices would be better for streaming services. Prices go up, bt usage goes up.

 

[Namtab]

getting the streaming services you desired to watch your shows is reaching cable service expensive

 

[KHarvey16]

The explanation is offered as a possibility by the author of the blog post yet this article declares it explicitly to be the reason for the change. Why?

 

[Deleted member 16876]

Sucks but it is the way it is.

People like convenience so when shit starts to be complicated then people will start looking for easier alternatives.

 

[Distantmantra]

Not gonna lie, I actually considered pirating Star Trek Discovery, but then I kinda forgot about it and don't really care enough to bother looking for it.

We have cable (with Starz, HBO and Showtime), Netflix and Amazon Prime. That's enough content for me.

 

[Zubz]

I don't condone piracy nor do I like it, but this felt like an inevitability for awhile now that everyone's hoping to make their own service. It sucks for the content creators but is deserved on the part of the distributors.

 

[Rygar 8Bit]

Still more big ones coming with more exclusives as well. Only going to get worst before it gets better.

 

[Jadentheman]

This is like the opposite of what gaming section is discussing about all developers leaving Steam and forming their own place.

Competition yes, but you have to pay more if you want to watch all your favorite shows and make multiple accounts.

Wouldn't be surprised to see PC gaming piracy start to rise in a few years as well

 

[Admiral Woofington]

This is not at all surprising. Everybody and their mums wants their own streaming service. Soon we'll have Farmersflix, and Farmersmumsflix

 

[IIFloodyII]

Not surprising, I know a few people who pretty much said fuck it and cancelled all their subs and got one of those little Pirate boxes (can't remember what they are called). Personally I've pretty much just stopped watching a lot of shows. I have a couple subs going, but can't even remember the last time I've personally used them.

In the UK we have the opposite problem too, where too few options to watch the football (soccer) has made piracy rampant. Cost a fortune when there's only a couple big players too.

 

[DoggosPuppersWoofers]

That's why we need communism. Same movies for everyone. 2 new movies a year.

 

[ultracal31]

Not surprised, in Canada so many shows are "exclusives" it can be hard to watch what you actually want to watch or it's on some service that you need to pay for and there seems to be a lot of services. No one is going to pay for each.

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Pretty much

As I recall trying to watch game of throne legit in Canada is difficult no?

 

[Jecht]

Not the least bit surprised. Especially for CBS and other major network streaming services.

The Simpsons being locked behind an FXX cable sub is still incredible.

Wouldn't be surprised to see PC gaming piracy start to rise in a few years as well

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If GPU prices stay as high as they are, you will definitely see that. There was a sweet spot for PC gaming hardware pricing and we are way past that.

 

[shnurgleton]

what is the logical solution here? direct sale of shows? or monopoly? I don't think it's getting better

 

[Border]

Gee who would have guessed that a $10/month subscription is not enough to cover every form of media everyone wants to watch?

You can blame exclusives if you want, but the Netflix model was not sustainable. You could snap your finger and kill off every other subscription service available, but they still would not be able to carry all the TV/films you want to see.

 

[Galkinator]

I barely justify paying for 1 service, let alone 3-4. They gotta drop the prices, the competition is only going to get harder and with each subscription costing a few tens of dollars a month eventually people are gonna say fuck that and cancel them all.

 

[CitizenVectron]

what is the logical solution here? direct sale of shows? or monopoly? I don't think it's getting better

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I think having 3 major competitors would be okay. As it is, my house plans to have Netflix and Disney Play. But beyond that, I am not paying $10/mo for a service that only has a few shows on it, like CBS or whatever.

 

[timmbp]

Kodi boxes are everywhere.

 

[Deleted member 1248]

Maybe I'm weird, but I've never cared enough about a show to pirate it. I just skip it if it's not on Netflix.

 

[see5harp]

There will always be those pirates that understand bittorrent who will host their entire library of pirated stuff on their private servers but I'm fairly sure the people with amazon fire sticks are doing way more damage.

 

[Slayven]

I don't know what the solution is, but I been saying for years all these streaming services are looking like a cable package in all but name. There is no reason Stargate should have a streaming service just for stargate, same with Boomarang classic cartoons.

 

[Distantmantra]

Soon enough it will cost just as much as cable to access all these shows across multiple streaming services.

Netflix and Hulu and Amazon and Disney and The Other Disney and CBS OH MY!

 

[Deleted member 31817]

I still have a lot of backlog on Netflix and Amazon Prime but I can see if more shows and movies get separated in to different services (like Disney movies leaving Netflix to go to their exclusive service etc.) me being fed up with Netflix.

It's still much much more convenient than cable for a million reasons though.

 

[HStallion]

I'm waiting for the new cable package which is like $50 to 60 a month for like 30 different major streaming services. Not sure how that would work but it almost feels inevitable with every major content producer wanting their own subscription service.

 

[Deleted member 1759]

People don't want to subscribe to ten different services. Shocking.

I'm paying for Netflix and Prime (and Sky Ticket when they have a good offer). Anything I can't watch through those services, I'll get somewhere else.

Wouldn't be surprised to see PC gaming piracy start to rise in a few years as well

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What

 

[Septimus Prime]

Sucks but it is the way it is.

People like convenience so when shit starts to be complicated then people will start looking for easier alternatives.

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I think this is it, too, moreso than cost. It becomes a big enough pain in the ass to have to figure out which service provides the show you want, sign up, sign in, and maybe cancel later, that it's just easier to pirate and be done with it.

It's even worse when you consider that not every hardware supports every service (for example, PlayStation doesn't support love TV on Hulu).

 

[Kalentan]

They sung songs of being a gateway to be free from Cable. Little did they know they were leading to the future with Cable 2.0. :/

 

[Deleted member 6949]

Everyone parrots that it is as bad as cable, but these services aren't bundled together and sold under contracts. I keep 2 streaming subscriptions at a time, and switch around every couple of months so that I can catch up on exclusives. It's nothing like having to pay for tons and tons of useless channels to get the 2 I like watching. The people still pirating are either too broke to pay for cable anyway, or just feel entitled to see every possible thing right now.

 

[Woolley]

They all see that Netflix is successful but don't understand why it became successful in the first place. It's not just that you can stream shows but that you could stream all of the shows.

 

[Hollywood Duo]

what is the logical solution here? direct sale of shows? or monopoly? I don't think it's getting better

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People pay for entertainment instead of expecting it for free?

 

[Deleted member 4021]

This is like the opposite of what gaming section is discussing about all developers leaving Steam and forming their own place.

Competition yes, but you have to pay more if you want to watch all your favorite shows and make multiple accounts.

Wouldn't be surprised to see PC gaming piracy start to rise in a few years as well

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The difference is Steam and GOG and such don't demand subscription payments, you just buy what you want.

 

[KHarvey16]

Where is the conclusion justified?

 

[TheBeardedOne]

I don't torrent, but I do agree that there are far too many streaming services now and it's a shitty situation. So many of them are only available in the US, and you have to subscribe to them all to see all of the good shows. It's ridiculous.

 

[TheIlliterati]

what is the logical solution here? direct sale of shows? or monopoly? I don't think it's getting better

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Ideally a solid handful that contain everything IMO. Amazon Netflix and Hulu will get you a huge amount, but then of course you probably need a selection of HBO, Showtime, Starz, etc on down depending on your viewing habits. I'm okay with this amount, but there's more and more coming, and it will definitely be impossible to keep up.

 

[Deleted member 29660]

Pretty much

As I recall trying to watch game of throne legit in Canada is difficult no?

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I watch it from HBO. There are a lot of crazy deals done up here, one service shut down several months back. That service had a few shows that are not anywhere else. In a few cases I remember hearing a network or group having the rights but doing nothing with them. What shows those are I can't say, I only watch select shows these days.

 

[Randomly Generated]

This quote from Gabe Newell seems even more relevant :

"In general, we think there is a fundamental misconception about piracy. Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem."

I feel like every one is trying to get their piece of the pie...

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That quote jumped to mind as soon as I saw the thread title. I don't really know what the solution is but it does seem like consumers are increasingly annoyed at having to use all these different services to get what they want.

 

[SpottieO]

I pay for Vue, Netflix, Amazon Prime (mostly for shopping) and Hulu (discounted heavily through Spotify). Not paying a penny more for any additional streaming services (looking at you Disney).

 

[Dust]

Noticed it too.
It doesn't help that every service is going quantity over quality (especially Netflix) and it can be hard to justify paying just for those few actually good shows.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I'm not surprised. Too many companies all fighting for their own piece of the pie sectioning off all the content once again was bound to recreate the issues that contributed to the rise of streaming in the first place.

There's just too damn many subscription services now, and none of them on their own are worth subscribing to.

 

[thewienke]

There's probably some chart out there that predicts the maximum profit yield versus subscribers and pirates.

I'm guessing the solution isn't to offer a service that's so great that nobody pirates but rather where you can milk subscribers the most without a significant portion turning to piracy.

 

[subpar spatula]

A shit tonne of people are poor and media is abundant. People are going to pirate just because of that. A single content delivery sysyem is more enjoyable for the consumer.

 

[HamCormier]

Pretty much

As I recall trying to watch game of throne legit in Canada is difficult no?

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You can watch up to Season 6 now on CraveTV, but the streaming service kinda sucks (it's basically the worst one available right now).

Season 7 on demand is exclusive to Bell members or something.

 

[Chirotera]

People also don't want to pay a fee to watch the one somewhat decent show on your otherwise shit service. Looking at you, CBS.

 

[Blue Sky Noise]

I miss Blockbuster