Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by Uzo0312 on Friday August 06, 2021 @10:46AM (#28087872)

That's a great point. I think both things probably need to be done. We took the distribution route, because ultimately we believe it's the direct relationship with the consumer that will allow for this to work. As a production company, you're a step away from the end-user, so you're at the mercy of a distribution company that has more than just the black audience to worry about. But if a company is solely focused on a single niche, like so many tech companies out there, the economics for super-serving that niche are a lot better.

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Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by mbesto on Friday August 06, 2021 @11:50AM (#28088833)

> We took the distribution route, because ultimately we believe it's the direct relationship with the consumer that will allow for this to work.

Be honest. It's less capital intensive, with much higher valuations.

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Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by Uzo0312 on Friday August 06, 2021 @11:58AM (#28088956)

Generally, your points about capital and valuations are true. Of course, I could argue Netflix is way more capital intensive than any production company. And then, with Hello Sunshine and others, we're seeing production companies get Venture scale exits. So while I hear your point, those honestly weren't factors for us. It was more so about owning the relationship with the end-user.

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Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by jacquesm on Friday August 06, 2021 @07:12PM (#28093864)

There had to be a friendlier way to make that comment.

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Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by yhoneycomb on Saturday August 07, 2021 @08:42PM (#28103187)

Yeah what the heck lol

"Be honest" is the same as "you're a liar"

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Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by brodouevencode on Friday August 06, 2021 @11:14AM (#28088279)

But it would take Netflix just one or two demo-specific properties to win that demo back. Unless the goal is to be acquired.

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Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by swman on Friday August 06, 2021 @11:27AM (#28088453)

It’s a yc (VC backed) company. You know the goal.

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Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by dang on Friday August 06, 2021 @06:54PM (#28093702)

Hmm, interesting comment: it could mean either of two opposite things, but that makes it self-contradictory!

Just for clarity, when YC funds a company, the goal is not to have it get acquired. It's to have it go public. Acquisition interrupts that, so it's a suboptimal outcome. That said, YC supports what founders want to do.

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Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by swman on Friday August 06, 2021 @07:04PM (#28093779)

True. I was making a simple blanket statement that for most VC backed companies you can be sure the end goal is either acquisition or successful ipo.

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Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by jacquesm on Friday August 06, 2021 @07:14PM (#28093883)

How many YC companies ended up going public out of the total? And how large is that total? What is the expected timeframe from launch to IPO? How many companies still outside of that window? Those would be interesting stats to have.

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Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by dang on Friday August 06, 2021 @07:32PM (#28094037)

Sorry, I don't know the answers—but few so far (fewer than 10 I think). More in the last couple years though. It takes a long time. I'll see if I can convince someone who knows more than I do to comment here.

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Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by jacquesm on Saturday August 07, 2021 @02:32AM (#28096285)

Thank you!

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Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by yaacov on Friday August 06, 2021 @11:41AM (#28088693)

It doesn’t have to be either-or, lots of people have multiple streaming services

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Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by emodendroket on Friday August 06, 2021 @02:41PM (#28091261)

I read the average American has four. Seems like more than one person could reasonably watch but maybe I'm just not devoted enough to television.

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Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by Veen on Friday August 06, 2021 @12:11PM (#28089163)

But what are you going to distribute if no one is making high-quality media for Black people?

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Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by thisthat112233 on Friday August 06, 2021 @12:18PM (#28089253)

I think what he's suggesting is that lack of distribution may be contributing to / causing the lack of quality black programming. By setting up a distribution company, they can now create a channel for quality work that exists but isn't currently being distributed.

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[dead]

Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by Miner49er on Friday August 06, 2021 @12:30PM (#28089440)

I think we're already well past the point of return on that. It's not the 90s anymore where everyone watches the same 2 sitcoms or whatever. There's YouTube, Twitch, and like a dozen different streaming services out there. People don't all watch the same stuff anymore.

I assume you are just as critical of things like Crunchyroll?

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Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by TheAdamAndChe on Friday August 06, 2021 @02:19PM (#28091023)

Crunchyroll doesn't market itself as being by Asians, for Asians, and about Asians. It focuses on a specific genre of television that just happens to originate from Asia.

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Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by TheAdamAndChe on Friday August 06, 2021 @05:10PM (#28092772)

The reaction by the admins and community to this blatantly racist and discriminatory product have me sickened to my core. Any comment pointing out the negative impacts of profiting off of our increasing racial divisions has been suppressed.

I'm turning off of this site for a while.

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Re:Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people by tekromancr on Friday August 06, 2021 @12:15PM (#28089207)

Nothing is stopping you from consuming content that centers Black people. There has been an absolute renesance in the last few years of stories that focus on black lives in ways that haven't really been told in pop culture before, especially in TV.

And the best part is these shows are good! They are really fucking good!

Nothing is stopping you from consuming that content and incorporating into that homogeneous base upon which you build your interactions.

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