# Netflix is raising their rates while their quality goes down **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 16, 2019, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649 "2019-04-16T23:22:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/21 "2019-04-17T15:55:33Z")
$16 a month is less than the cost for one two-hour movie in my area. I definitely watch more than two hours per month of Netflix. Its a bargain. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/22 "2019-04-17T16:08:31Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I really really doubt that. At least on the app, these autoplay previews are a pretty recent change, they probably just wanted to make the site more exciting/dynamic. Just took a look and the autoplay on the app atm is the Netflix original about Beyonce. Doubt they’re paying themselves to promo that. Try browsing their website for a little while. It’s awful. And, as I mentioned earlier a lot of people have complained, a lot of articles have been written, a lot of threads have been started and they’ve refused to even so much as given the option to turn it off. I want to say that actually stated they weren’t going to stop it. I haven’t used it on a phone so I can’t speak to that, but their website isn’t more exciting or dynamic. It’s a nightmare to navigate. If you do a quick google search for something along the lines of ‘netflix autopreview’ you’ll see I’m not exactly alone here. If it was simply to make the site more fun, they wouldn’t have any reason not to give all the people that don’t like it a way to shut it off. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/23 "2019-04-17T16:11:46Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I think a bigger threat is when Disney opens their streaming service and all the Star Wars, Marvel and other Disney stuff disappears from Netflix. They’ve already cancelled their Marvel shows and most of them were actually pretty good. > > I’m actually kind of annoyed with the way the whole streaming industry is going. Instead of just one cable bill, now you have this fragmented ecosystem of various streaming media channels, all with their own programming and library of movies. Plus I STILL need cable if I want to watch Game of Thrones. And for the most part, none of this has become a digital version of the old Blockbuster video store. Where you could walk in one afternoon and rent some old film you hadn’t seen in 10 years, or even the latest releases. GOT is in HBO, right? You can get HBO and stream it directly from their site without needing to subscribe to it via a traditional cable provider. You can also get it through Amazon and Hulu, I believe. And they all charge around $15/mo or so. Then, of course (with any of them) you can unsubscribe as soon as the season is over. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/24 "2019-04-17T16:27:57Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Try browsing their website for a little while. It’s awful. And, as I mentioned earlier a lot of people have complained, a lot of articles have been written, a lot of threads have been started and they’ve refused to even so much as given the option to turn it off. I want to say that actually stated they weren’t going to stop it. > I haven’t used it on a phone so I can’t speak to that, but their website isn’t more exciting or dynamic. It’s a nightmare to navigate. If you do a quick google search for something along the lines of ‘netflix autopreview’ you’ll see I’m not exactly alone here. > > If it was simply to make the site more fun, they wouldn’t have any reason not to give all the people that don’t like it a way to shut it off. Well, it may be driving traffic the way they want despite how many complainers there are. Maybe they’ll change eventually. But autoplay vids are pretty common all over the place, even though everyone hates it. CNN has autoplay vids at the top of every damn article and we can be rather certain it isn’t because someone is paying them money to do so. ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/25 "2019-04-17T16:44:28Z")
I am seriously considering cancelling Netflix because I seem to have wanted everything I am interested in. I don’t like zombies and other horror type shows. Everything they are making now seems to be very dark (and not just Netflix) I am waiting for the final season of Orange is the New Black (which has been going downhill in quality) and if don’t find anything else I want to watch on Netflix then switching to HBO Now and Showtime through Hulu. There are a few shows on CBS I would like to watch but I am not sure if subscribing would be worth it (as in do they have all the episodes of “the Good life”, SWAT etc or only the current ones) ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/26 "2019-04-17T16:53:52Z")
I don’t want to steer this away from the OP, but I watch primarily OLD movies, foreign movies, silent movies. I loved the old Netflix that would mail you things like _Cabiria_ (1914), _Island of Lost Souls_ (1933), Murnau’s _Sunrise,_ Lon Chaney Sr flicks, and any Luis Bunuel movie. When I go to Netflix on my teevee, they offer me crap made during the past 20 years. I am not interested in watching TV shows, either. What’s the best way to stream the kind of archaic, pretentious, B&W shit I like? There’s got to be SOMETHING out there for people like me. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/27 "2019-04-17T17:00:26Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > You’re in the minority. I, like many others, don’t want it to play at all. Just present me with a list of still images and if I click on one, take me to a page about that show/movie, don’t start playing it. There’s countless articles on the internet about their current website design (and how awful it is), their reddit page tends to be full of people complaining about their website, there’s a facebook page out there somewhere that IIRC is called ‘stop netflix auto preview’, there’s a change . org petition to get them to knock it off, a twitter page called Stop AutoPreview and netflix’s facebook page was, at one point, more people complaining about their website than the typical banter between netflix and it’s users that they’d likely prefer. None of that demonstrates I’m in the minority. What are the absolute number of complaints relative to users? Really, some people get annoyed about some pretty trivial things. I barely notice the autoplay videos since I have the audio turned off. Maybe you need to switch to decaf.😉 > [@CarnalK](#): > > Well, it may be driving traffic the way they want despite how many complainers there are. That would be my guess. Companies like Netflix do market analysis. They probably have found that the number of complaints don’t warrant changing the practice. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/28 "2019-04-17T17:07:55Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > You’re in the minority. I, like many others, don’t want it to play at all. Just present me with a list of still images and if I click on one, take me to a page about that show/movie, don’t start playing it. There’s countless articles on the internet about their current website design (and how awful it is), their reddit page tends to be full of people complaining about their website, there’s a facebook page out there somewhere that IIRC is called ‘stop netflix auto preview’, there’s a change . org petition to get them to knock it off, a twitter page called Stop AutoPreview and netflix’s facebook page was, at one point, more people complaining about their website than the typical banter between netflix and it’s users that they’d likely prefer. > [@Colibri](#): > > None of that demonstrates I’m in the minority. What are the absolute number of complaints relative to users? Really, some people get annoyed about some pretty trivial things. I barely notice the autoplay videos since I have the audio turned off. Maybe you need to switch to decaf.😉 Ya know, it could be that just being in the habit of routinely browsing with your audio turned off PUTS you in the minority. No worries, I’m right with you in that habit. Just sayin’. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/29 "2019-04-17T17:17:51Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I loved the old Netflix that would mail you things like _Cabiria_ (1914), _Island of Lost Souls_ (1933), Murnau’s _Sunrise,_ Lon Chaney Sr flicks, and any Luis Bunuel movie. [Cabiria (1914)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOWicOwtHa8). [Murnau’s Sunrise](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnho0OY1k6Y) [Hunchback of Notre Dame with Lon Chaney Sr](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v6go_2MaZk). [Un Chien Andalou by Luis Bunuel (1929)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfyzOxaMKts) > [@](#): > > What’s the best way to stream the kind of archaic, pretentious, B&W shit I like? There’s got to be SOMETHING out there for people like me. Most significant movies (and a lot of minor ones) that are now public domain can be found on Youtube and other sites for free. This goes for most movies up until the 1950s. Youtube has a whole channel of [Timeless Classic Movies](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOg0aMAXmF3o5m243PxhE5g). There’s also sites like [Free Classic Movies.](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOg0aMAXmF3o5m243PxhE5g) There’s lots of others. To the best of my knowledge these movies are public domain and legal. (Youtube seems to do a pretty good job of removing anything posted where there is a copyright issue.) I used to get such movies on DVD from Netflix. Once I realized they were generally available for free I stopped wasting a pick on them. The main reason to get the DVD would be the commentary or extras, but increasingly rental versions of DVDs no longer contain these. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/30 "2019-04-17T17:19:09Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Ya know, it could be that just being in the habit of routinely browsing with your audio turned off PUTS you in the minority. If so, it probably means that most people aren’t bothered by the audio.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/31 "2019-04-17T17:26:12Z")
Thank you, **Colibri.** ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/32 "2019-04-17T17:50:22Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Thank you, **Colibri.** Tip: search for “full movie” so you don’t just get a lot of clips and trailers. Sometimes you have to go to later pages on Google to find the actual movie. And check that the running time is about that of the original movie. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/33 "2019-04-17T17:55:35Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Tip: search for “full movie” so you don’t just get a lot of clips and trailers. Sometimes you have to go to later pages on Google to find the actual movie. And check that the running time is about that of the original movie. Now…about porn… ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/34 "2019-04-17T17:56:36Z")
Moviewise the streaming has never been about the movies … its the tv shows that you can binge that support the streaming Actually the whole things a happy accident …see when they started the streaming a lot of places said “you can’t stream the movies” but they negotiated standard tv rerun deals for cheap but put the whole series on at once and discovered people didn’t mind watching all 4 seasons of the original roswell or their favorite canceled/finished series and since there wasn’t enough episodes for syndication cw/wb ect gladly dumped all their flops for whatever they could get Netflix to pay for them there was a Netflix service like that ike but apparently, it went out of biz … in a thread about the disney+ i mentioned that TCM should make a streaming thing and someone said they and someone else had a partnership service but it was considered expensive and flopped… personally id pay for it tho … ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/35 "2019-04-17T17:58:53Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I believe we’re moving towards a more a la carte business model in streaming services. And contrary to some predictions from those clamoring for greater choice( “down with cable packages!” ), I strongly suspect it is going to end up biting the average consumer in the ass. > [@D\_Odds](#): > > I’m hoping it bites the streaming services in the ass. > > I’d watch Star Trek Discovery, but I won’t pay another monthly fee just for that one show. > I’d watch Teen Titans and Doom Patrol, but again it would be yet another monthly fee. > Soon, Disney+ will have Marvel content I would have otherwise watched. They are promising movie tie-ins. I’ll stop watching the movies before I pay another exclusive content subscription. It is going to drive people back to piracy. The availability of easy and inexpensive methods to get the media people want led to a decline in piracy rates. Exclusive content across a wide range of services will push people back to piracy. Most of the news articles which discuss the explosion of streaming services, and the consumer frustration with them, fail to acknowledge that one of the biggest competitors the streaming services face is pirating. > [@adhemar](#): > > I am seriously considering cancelling Netflix because I seem to have wanted everything I am interested in. I don’t like zombies and other horror type shows. Everything they are making now seems to be very dark (and not just Netflix) One major advantage of the streaming services over cable is the ease which you can start and stop subscriptions. I think staying on one for a while, watching what you want, cancelling and switching to another, and coming back in six months or a year is a good strategy. I’m sure if it becomes common the streaming services will start doing contracts, discounts, and other things to try and stop the behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/36 "2019-04-17T18:00:58Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Most significant movies (and a lot of minor ones) that are now public domain can be found on Youtube and other sites for free. This goes for most movies up until the 1950s. Youtube has a whole channel of [Timeless Classic Movies](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOg0aMAXmF3o5m243PxhE5g). There’s also sites like [Free Classic Movies.](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOg0aMAXmF3o5m243PxhE5g) There’s lots of others. To the best of my knowledge these movies are public domain and legal. (Youtube seems to do a pretty good job of removing anything posted where there is a copyright issue.) Those are the same link. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/37 "2019-04-17T18:10:10Z")
I’m waiting for someone to get the idea of: “hey I can put all of these on a box/chip all at once and then figure out a way they can pay me every month for it then I can figure out how to get them to lease access to me for the various sites…” And someones going to make millions for guess what? flippin reinventing the cable company and no one will realize it for about 15 or so years … ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/38 "2019-04-17T18:21:25Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > Those are the same link. Sorry. [Free Classic Movies.](https://free-classic-movies.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/39 "2019-04-17T18:22:20Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Now…about porn… Hey, pal, do you really want to admit you can’t find free porn on the internet?😉 ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649/40 "2019-04-17T19:38:24Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > What’s the best way to stream the kind of archaic, pretentious, B&W shit I like? There’s got to be SOMETHING out there for people like me. Get yourself a Roku. Last time I scrolled through the channel list, there were several free channels for that sort of thing that didn’t require a cable subscription. [_B&W Theater_](https://channelstore.roku.com/details/201909/bandw-theater) is one example. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-is-raising-their-rates-while-their-quality-goes-down/832649.md?page=3)