When Netflix cracked down on password-sharing in North America, we were so sure it would fail.
People on the social media service formerly known as Twitter galvanize for far pettier reasons. And this anti-consumer move, which Netflix used to be against, seemed like the perfect thing to come in arms over. There were viral memes about mass unsubscribing if the tactics that were being (successfully) tested in regions outside the U.S. actually came stateside.
Well, it seems they finally decided to file for divorce pic.twitter.com/xioojmZ4Ty
— Orge Castellano (@orgecastellano) February 1, 2023
Imagine our utter disappointment when it didn’t, and the streaming service’s plan worked. If you want the best subscription plan, that’s $20 a month; including two additional screens costs $35.97! At $15.49/month, even its Standard plan costs more than other ad-free subscriptions at competing streamers. But people are paying.
And for what? No live TV options? Hopes for a new season of whatever show doesn’t get axed unresolved? Access to your account beyond the scope of your home? Access to 4K quality and its full library? What’s in that library? The vast selection of available movies no longer exists since every major network now has its own streaming service. And although the Extraction films are cool, the majority of their original movies stink, and most of the good original shows they have get canceled preemptively.
There have been 16 shows canceled this year, including Human Resources, Sex/Life, 1899, and more. The year before, we saw The Midnight Club, Archive 81, Raising Dion, Warrior Nun, and 20 other shows get axed (although Warrior Nun was revived, in part responsible to us, we like to think).
Once lockdown efforts began to wane around April 2022, Netflix announced that after gaining millions of followers during the pandemic, it lost subscribers for the first time since it began creating content. It was over $50 billion lost in a single day, rendering it slowly approaching $700 stock to below $200. Netflix started to resemble one of the traditional incumbents it had sought to overthrow. It reversed its advertising approach (introducing ad tiers) and password-sharing policies (adding a $7.99 cost for extra screens) and cut hundreds of office positions.
The OG streamers, trendsetters of the binge method, who have brought us pop culture phenomena like House of Cards and Ozark, will also be losing a lot of its most well-known titles in 2024.
As we approach the new year and the end of some of Netflix’s longer-lasting series like Stranger Things, Cobra Kai (which they jacked from YouTube Red), You (which they jacked from Lifetime), and Big Mouth approach, what will represent Netflix? Disney has Star Wars and Marvel, and Hulu has several shows like The Bear and Only Murders In The Building, and Max has every HBO show and Discovery+ hit you can think of. Netflix shows struggle even to get a third or fourth season, so it’s hard to tell which of the streamer’s newer shows are up to the task.
Are you willing to spend $20 a month to find out? Maybe Netflix needs another show to jack in its infancy and prop up as one of its accomplishments again. Yeah, One Piece is doing great, and I’m happy about it, but I highly doubt One Piece will be the series to represent Netflix. Will it be Black Mirror (also jacked by BBC)? Although it has a few well-received episodes, its latest season (the fourth produced by the streamer) had a mixed reception overall. The Witcher, starring Liam Hemsworth and his lace-front wig? A sequel to Interceptor starring Chris Hemsworth‘s wife, Elsa Pataky? Which will see her character cross over into the upcoming third Extraction film? That’s what’s going to happen, isn’t it?
Where’s the incentive to stay, I suppose, is our point. Or are we just comfortable paying whatever the price may be to keep it with all your screens intact since you’ve had it for so long and will watch whatever is in the top 10 most viewed category?
That said, we can’t wait for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off!
Sound off in the comments below and try to change our minds!