WWTBAM Bored

Netflix now has nearly one-third fewer titles available for streaming than it had in January 2014. Back then, there were 6494 movies and 1609 TV shows. As of last week, there were 4335 movies and 1197 TV shows, down by about 31% total.

Of course, Netflix does have more independent, exclusive programming than it did two years ago. But with Amazon and Hulu bidding more aggressively on titles, Netflix is paying more per title, so it's had to scale back.

https://www.allflicks.net/netflixs-us-c ... 2-5-years/

I don't subscribe to Netflix or any of its direct competitors, but are all these movies available exclusively on only one streaming service? I don't see why a film can't be licensed to multiple competitors. That seems like a win for both the subscribers and the owners of the films. If I want to stream music by Pharrell or Roy Orbison or whoever, I assume I can find the same stuff on Pandora, Spotify, Rhapsody, and all the others.

TheConfessor wrote:I don't subscribe to Netflix or any of its direct competitors, but are all these movies available exclusively on only one streaming service? I don't see why a film can't be licensed to multiple competitors. That seems like a win for both the subscribers and the owners of the films. If I want to stream music by Pharrell or Roy Orbison or whoever, I assume I can find the same stuff on Pandora, Spotify, Rhapsody, and all the others.

I have never run into a movie being available only on one service. My TiVo shows Xfinity, Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu when I search. I can compare prices too.

TheConfessor wrote:I don't subscribe to Netflix or any of its direct competitors, but are all these movies available exclusively on only one streaming service? I don't see why a film can't be licensed to multiple competitors. That seems like a win for both the subscribers and the owners of the films. If I want to stream music by Pharrell or Roy Orbison or whoever, I assume I can find the same stuff on Pandora, Spotify, Rhapsody, and all the others.

There's an incentive to each service to negotiate for exclusive rights. But I don't subscribe to any of them so I can't speak to how it plays out in the marketplace. --Bob

With the exception of material they develop themselves like House of Cards, most new content is widely available on multiple platforms. However, that means that they each pretty much have to get the "hot" titles to remain competitive. If Amazon Prime has the latest Hunger Games movie and Netflix doesn't, that doesn't look good for Netflix. It's the same as it used to be when Blockbuster was competing with Hollywood Video.

Where this really plays out is in the secondary titles, where Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu can get an exclusive by outbidding everyone else. Here are some examples from the latest Sundance Film Festival:

http://www.businessinsider.com/netflix- ... als-2016-1

None of these are likely going to be mainstream hits, but they could get mid=level acceptance or Oscar nominations or both. Manchester by the Sea, one of the titles on this list, is already attracting Oscar buzz for Casey Affleck.