# Why doesn't Netflix offer premium movies at extra cost? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** netflix\ **Created:** [August 8, 2022, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-netflix-offer-premium-movies-at-extra-cost/969280 "2022-08-08T02:28:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-netflix-offer-premium-movies-at-extra-cost/969280/41 "2022-08-09T18:15:43Z")
Given the way Amazon describes their streaming rental in the stuff I linked before, while there are licenses involved, it’s not Amazon going around asking people to please let them put movies on Amazon’s site. Rather Amazon opens the door and studios _come to Amazon_ to submit stuff to be shown. Assuming this holds true for sites like YouTube or Apple that also do streaming rentals, it’s very possible that Netflix could get into the same business and get a lot of the same titles under their rental umbrella. After all, if I’m Paramount or Disney, every 8-10 rentals elsewhere netting me $2 is worth a month’s subscription without the overhead of someone streaming Encanto 24/7 or sharing accounts with half their extended family. And, if it isn’t costing you anything to put your product on Amazon’s shelf (or Youtube, etc) then why not? So I don’t really think that the reason why Netflix doesn’t do this is really “licensing” in the same sense as “How come I can’t stream Marvel movies on Netflix as part of my sub?” There might be some level of Netflix’s more direct competition not wanting to assist Netflix in a new cash-making avenue but I don’t think it’s the biggest reason. Rather Netflix just doesn’t want to get into that marketplace for brand reasons or overhead or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-netflix-offer-premium-movies-at-extra-cost/969280/42 "2022-08-09T18:28:55Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Good point. I guess this is the modern analogue of requesting the ability to pick and choose which cable TV channels you got. The current situation is close to being able to choose your cable channels. Even in the “needing multiple services to get everything you want” . Sure before streaming and video rental , I would have had no services other than cable - but even then, it was pretty common to have “In order to get Channel A you have to have the Silver package and to get Channel B you need the Gold package and to get both A&B you need Platinum” or where certain channels such as HBO were purchased as add-ons so you would pay for your package plus HBO and any other “premium” channels you wanted. So even though I had only one actual provider and paid only one bill , I would still have to choose my package to get the channels I wanted. Which isn’t all that different from me wanting Hulu for some shows and HBO Max and Disney for others. In fact, to some extent I _can_ have only one bill - there are a bunch of Prime Video Channels , so you can subscribe to Paramount + and discovery+ through Prime and have it all on one bill in one place. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-netflix-offer-premium-movies-at-extra-cost/969280/43 "2022-08-09T20:52:37Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > If you want to watch a particular thing, you can search for it on your Apple TV or Roku or whatever device, and it will show you a variety of ways you could watch it, some via subscription, some via pay-per-view. Well, that’s ideal. My smart TV isn’t smart enough. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-netflix-offer-premium-movies-at-extra-cost/969280/44 "2022-08-09T21:25:08Z")
Google will give you the same information. Google the name of a movie and it will tell you what streaming services include it with a subscription, which ones you can rent it from, etc. That does have the slight disadvantage of not being able to jump straight to the movie on your TV. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-netflix-offer-premium-movies-at-extra-cost/969280/45 "2022-08-10T02:52:49Z")
I think maybe one of the reasons Netflix is leaving the digital rental money on the table is because there isn’t a lot of it to pick up in the fist place. Across the entire industry, digital video on demand (non-subscription) revenue in the US has remained remarkably flat over the past 10 years. There have been ups and downs, but it’s pretty consistently been in the $2 billion per year range ($1.97 billion in 2012, $1.76 billion in 2021). That isn’t exactly a growth industry. And it probably shows that most consumers don’t care to rent digital content. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-netflix-offer-premium-movies-at-extra-cost/969280/46 "2022-08-22T14:39:27Z")
I use [justwatch.com](http://justwatch.com) on a separate device to figure out where something is available. It would be nice if it were integrated into the TV itself or streaming box, but I really don’t want it integrated into the Netflix app. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-netflix-offer-premium-movies-at-extra-cost/969280/47 "2022-08-22T15:50:37Z")
I doubt that Netflix wants justwatch integrated into its app, given that the app will often point the user at a service other than Netflix. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-netflix-offer-premium-movies-at-extra-cost/969280/48 "2022-08-22T17:06:27Z")
That’s not quite what I meant, but it is what I wrote. I agree they don’t want it. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-netflix-offer-premium-movies-at-extra-cost/969280/49 "2022-08-22T18:50:29Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > That isn’t exactly a growth industry. And it probably shows that most consumers don’t care to rent digital content. Digital rentals have always been priced at a point where they’re a pretty bad value proposition. They’re like $5, which doesn’t compete favorably with streaming services since it’s like 1/3 of the whole month, nor with physical video rental services like Redbox or (for we lucky few) Blockbuster. This has sort of always been the case. When they first started and brick and mortar video rental shops were still fairly plentiful, they were priced higher than physical rentals, and physical rentals have gotten cheaper. My impression is that the execs looked at the $3/rental blockbuster price in the early 2000 and either didn’t want to upset that apple cart or decided to try to capture most of the consumer surplus from not having to drive to the store, but it didn’t work well because Netflix and Redbox came along and undercut them anyway, and people either mostly don’t think about the saved trip to the store and just see $5 \> $3, or they go pick up a rental at the place next to where they buy groceries or pick up their Friday night pizza anyway, so there really _isn’t_ $2 in transport saved. I occasionally digitally rent movies, but I’d do it a lot more (and probably cancel some streaming services) if they were priced lower. If Redbox can make money with actual physical disks and vending machines and all the nonsense involved at $1-2 a rental, VOD should be able to do so in spades. Server and bandwidth costs are way lower. They just… don’t want to, for whatever reason. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-netflix-offer-premium-movies-at-extra-cost/969280/50 "2022-08-22T23:51:39Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > If Redbox can make money with actual physical disks and vending machines and all the nonsense involved at $1-2 a rental, VOD should be able to do so in spades. Server and bandwidth costs are way lower. I don’t really know the economics of the supply side of content rental. But I do know that Redbox can buy a DVD, rent it as many times as they can until it won’t play any more, and the only cost (other than their fixed costs of distribution, machines, and administration) is a one-time charge to buy the DVD. No licensing, no royalties, they don’t even need permission. Streaming is whole other animal. I don’t know if a service pays a fixed license fee or if they have to pay a royalty per viewing. Redbox can pay maybe $20 for the DVD but Amazon might have to pay $1 every time they stream a movie. And I’m not so sure server and bandwidth costs are so low. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-netflix-offer-premium-movies-at-extra-cost/969280/51 "2022-08-23T03:02:29Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > … the only cost (other than their fixed costs of distribution, machines, and administration) … I think Redbox pays a percentage to the owner of the kiosk’s location. They also need to pay for an internet uplink for each kiosk (e.g. mobile data). > [@CookingWithGas](#): > > … a one-time charge to buy the DVD. No licensing, no royalties, they don’t even need permission. Are you sure they pay retail for the DVDs and do not need to pay a licence for commercial use? In ye olden tymes I thought legit video stores paid a commercial price for VHS tapes that they rented. Maybe that has changed? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-netflix-offer-premium-movies-at-extra-cost/969280/52 "2022-08-23T03:21:04Z")
No, the first sale doctrine says that once I have legitimately bought a work on physical media, i control that copy and can rent, lend or resell it. I think what you are remembering is the time when VHS tapes were initially released at a high price and only video stores actually bought them at that price. The video store was free to wait a few months until the price dropped from $100 to $20 and rent out the copy bought for $20 except of course by the time the price dropped no one wanted to rent it anymore, ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-netflix-offer-premium-movies-at-extra-cost/969280/53 "2022-08-23T11:55:31Z")
Thanks, that was exactly what I was remembering. My mistake. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-netflix-offer-premium-movies-at-extra-cost/969280/54 "2022-08-23T12:30:24Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Redbox can pay maybe $20 for the DVD but Amazon might have to pay $1 every time they stream a movie. That’s true, but the other side of it is that the $1 that Amazon has to pay isn’t written in stone. It’s set by the rights-holder who it seems like should have _some_ incentive to not constantly be out-competed by a vending machine. One possibility here is that the licensing mess involved in movies and tv is so bad that the rights-holders can’t actually be very nimble, which is one reason why Netflix and Amazon and Disney and Apple are being more successful at vertical integration than anyone ever was at horizontal, and why legacy technology like physical disks in physical machines continues to be more relevant than it seems like it ought to be. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-netflix-offer-premium-movies-at-extra-cost/969280/55 "2022-08-23T12:55:18Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > And I’m not so sure server and bandwidth costs are so low. I don’t have accurate inside-industry information here, but a little back of the envelope math using publicly available Amazon AWS prices I think supports my claim that they are likely pretty low. Amazon HD streams are ~2GB/hour, so let’s say 5GB for a full movie. Retail Amazon S3 storage is $0.021/GB/month at the cheapest tier, which makes that movie cost a bit over $0.10/mo to store. Data transfer is $0.05/GB at the cheapest tier, so the movie would be about $0.25 per stream. And those are the prices charged by a _very_ profitable wing of Amazon. Their actual costs are lower. And while the disk in a Redbox kiosk can in theory be rented an infinite number of times, in actuality the disk will be physically damaged at some point, and of course the market for a given movie falls off quite quickly. A given copy might be rented… 50 times? That seems pretty optimistic, honestly. I bet it’s lower on average. If we assume the disk is $20, that makes the per rental cost $0.40. And the machines themselves have to be serviced. I found a claim that the kiosks are serviced each week, with a tech servicing about 60 kiosks a week. So you’ve got an employee costing, I don’t know, $1000 a week for each 60 \* 700 or so disks. That works out to around $0.10/mo per disk in costs aside from the kiosks, the rent, or the disks themselves. Which is all to say: it’s complicated. But I’d be extremely surprised if the physical infrastructure for streaming video at scale was more expensive per viewing than the physical infrastructure to distribute and service little disks to machines in grocery stores at scale. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-netflix-offer-premium-movies-at-extra-cost/969280/56 "2022-08-23T17:13:33Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I started with Netflix as a DVD subscriber and they had almost anything on DVD, probably still do, but I can’t bother with that anymore. I just gave up on Netflix DVDs since I like old content, and it appears that they are not replacing any DVDs that get worn out or broken. I had about 20 things on my queue that were listed but which they didn’t really have. So you’re not missing anything. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-netflix-offer-premium-movies-at-extra-cost/969280/57 "2022-08-23T17:17:34Z")
Same here; I was a Netflix DVD-by-mail subscriber for, I think, 18 years but cancelled earlier this year. They had few new movies and their back catalog had lots of holes. Somewhere I have a list of movies that I wanted to see but weren’t available on the service and many were older titles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-netflix-offer-premium-movies-at-extra-cost/969280.md?page=2)