Andrew Orr and John Martellaro join host Kelly Guimont to talk about Barry Diller’s backward stance on Netflix, and (say it with me) Facebook’s latest user data kerfuffle.
Netflix
With Roma, Netflix Could Become Hollywood Royalty
Netflix film Roma is hotly tipped in the best picture category Oscar at Sunday night’s Academy Awards. Were it to win, it would mark a significant moment for digital media in general, and Netflix in particular. Lucas Shaw wrote on Bloomberg News that it would be proof that the company has gone from being a techy outsider to Hollywood royalty. With increased investment in original content, it looks like a tech company will be winning an Oscar in the very near future.
“Roma” is the first nominee for best picture that was essentially a digital release — though it had a limited theatrical run — and Netflix would be the first technology company to clinch Hollywood’s top prize. Whether or not Netflix wins, an online movie will certainly be crowned best picture sooner or later, said Rich Greenfield, an analyst with BTIG LLC. Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. are both spending billions of dollars on programming, and even Walt Disney Co. plans to release digital movies that won’t appear in theaters.
How Netflix Makes the World Smaller With International Culture
An opinion piece by Farhad Manjoo caught my eye. He writes how, instead of Netflix exporting American culture, it shares international culture with everyone.
Despite a supposed surge in nationalism across the globe, many people like to watch movies and TV shows from other countries. “What we’re learning is that people have very diverse and eclectic tastes, and if you provide them with the world’s stories, they will be really adventurous, and they will find something unexpected,” Cindy Holland, Netflix’s vice president for original content, told me.
Mr. Manjoo also mentions the difference between Netflix and other tech companies. Netflix sells subscriptions, not advertising. I think this is an important difference, in case foreigners get a negative impression from our typically garish ads.
Remember Bandersnatch? Netflix Saved Your Choices
Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch is a choose-your-own-adventure game that went viral. As it turns out, Netflix saved the choices you made.
He found that Netflix is tracking the decisions its users make (which makes sense considering how the film works), and that it is keeping those decisions long after a user has finished the film. It is also stores aggregated forms of the users choice to “help [Netflix] determine how to improve this model of storytelling in the context of a show or movie.”
This doesn’t seem like a huge issue to me. This is standard analytics the platform keeps.
Netflix Smart Downloads Come to iOS
Now when you finish watching a downloaded episode it will be deleted and the next episode will automatically download.
Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop Pseudoscience Coming to Netflix
Goop, a lifestyle company regarded as pseudoscience and founded by Gwyneth Paltrow, is coming to Netflix.
Netflix Joins Hollywood Lobbying Group MPAA
The move makes sense given Netflix’s gradual move to original content, and it seems closer to traditional movie studios than tech companies.
Netflix Added 8.8 Million Paid Subscribers Last Quarter
Netflix added 8.8 million paid subscribers last quarter, but Wall Street was worried its results did not justify heavy investment in content.
Netflix Announced its Biggest Ever Price Increase
Netflix announced its largest price rise since it launched its streaming service. All U.S. customers will be hit by the increase.
'Tidying up With Marie Kondo' - the New Best Thing on Netflix
A Netflix show about tidying up might not be an obvious hit, and yet, I’m hooked. So are millions of others. Marie Kondo, the author of a bestselling book on tidying, travels around America with the intention of “sparking joy” through cleaning up. In each episode, Ms. Kondo helped restore order in people’s lives and reignited family relationships through her KonMari method. Seriously. If readers are anything like me, you will have cupboards filled with old devices, cables, and boxes, along with everything else. This show gives great tips on how to sort it all, and, more importantly, explains why you should.