Similar gripe, finding out that only the sequel or the last movie in a trilogy is available: why Netflix, why?
I used to watch a lot of Monty Python sketches on YouTube, and in the past few months they've been removed. Last time I looked it was impossible to find the super popular Parrot Sketch!
They're not on Archive.org, no decent results on alternative sites such as DailyMotion, just disappeared.
That's absolutely shocking to me, a huge piece of popular culture is unreachable unless you specifically go pay for it or are lucky to find a collection on a torrent site.
Even content that is constantly marketer directly to me by ESPN is US only (ESPN plus) despite my Canadian geo. It’s annoying.
This is only possible in a world where nonsensical bullshit is rewarded with a big pile of money.
In a world we'd all want there would be ONE SERVICE on earth that has EVERYTHING. As long as they don't get that I'll be a pirate.
At least the big companies don't suffer from the loss of my money as a little band would do. That's why I still buy vinyl and visit concerts but I have no choice to do that with movies/series I'm afraid.
To the people who always argue for the "free market": Is this what you meant by "competition is good for the consumer"?
I wonder how many content providers see the popularity of old shows and think they can pull in the audience, without realising that a big part of the appeal is having all the shows in one place with one subscription?
Couldn't agree more. Besides a very few "tentpole" features, and a small number of standup comedy specials, that Netflix Originals logo up the top left may as well mean "do not watch". If I could exclude them at the UI level, I would. I pay to see top-range feature films and high quality productions, not an endless bargain bin of third-rate filler.
I suspect the "endgame" is that after all the studios have tried out their little walled garden plan and most have failed, they will band together and finally create some kind of unified system, same as the RIAA has done. It'll probably take a good few years, though.
I prefer to use the third option as few as possible, but I find myself having to use it more and more often as the years go by - geolocked content, huge swathes of content being removed on the whims of providers (The Office comes to mind), and 'originals' that are beyond even the so-bad-it's-good category that cannot even begin to fill the void left by the good content leaving.
I cannot ever see myself subscribing to a plethora of services - the best case is subscribing to a service when it's absolutely necessary (HBO/Hotstar) and then unsubscribing when you're done, which is not at all conducive to fulfilling long-term revenue plans of such services.
So what is the endgame of such services? Is it simply to build a huge catalog of content that you'll mindlessly devour whenever you're bored? Or something else?