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Stephen Pickering

Category: Video

  • Why Netflix Inc (NFLX) Won’t Raise Prices and What Their Real Endgame Is.

    I don’t think Netflix is interested in raising their subscription price or tiered pricing. I think they look at the subscription like Magazines and Newspapers in the pre-digital days looked at subscriptions: a validation of intent and also to show the content creators the legitimacy of their audience. I think Netflix’s endgame is to become the “de-facto” global distribution network for digital motion pictures, tv, and entertainment. When that happens, then so many other options for revenue enhancement open up. Paid placement at the top of the page when you sign in, al lá “House of Cards,” for instance, and then also one can imagine theaters dying altogether, and Netflix being THE place the next big James Cameron or Ridley Scott release. That kind of thing is what I envision, and I think* that’s what they are shooting for.

    If one wants to dream hard, since we are on the heels of it, wouldn’t a Global audience paying a modest but fair price, not only sufficiently finance the Super Bowl, but perhaps bring the NFL even more money and exposure, in a more satisfying and efficient way for both the content creators and the audience?

    I think so.

    The CEO of Citigroup at Davos said that the main economic themes right now are Globalization, Digitization, and Urbanization. It would seem to me that a company like Netflix is not only the beneficiary of, but leading the charge in at least two of the three of those trends.

    Addendum: In Response to the article:  What if Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) Is Wrong? from InsiderMonkey.com

    I think it makes the medium better and more enduring overall. It can be consumed more like a novel. And if the medium is strengthened that gives more leverage and incentive to make a better product. At the end of the day I think it comes down to whether the show or movie is good or not. That’s the value proposition. What this is, is an innovation in the distribution proposition. All business comes down to two variables: Value + Distribution. This new model is, of course, aimed at greater viewer satisfaction, which of course leads to subscriber growth and more distribution leverage. But is also interesting to think how innovation in Distribution could possibly also affect, in a positive way, the quality, i.e. ‘value’, of the content, the product itself.

  • Why Netflix Will Become THE Global Distribution Channel for Filmed Art & Entertainment.

    House of Cards Promo(Editor’s note: I wrote this piece originally in response to this article from TheStreet.com:  Amazon vs. Netflix: Jeff Bezos Could Squash Reed Hastings Like a Bug)

    A) I’ve been an HBO subscriber since the 80’s, watched almost everything on it, and “House of Cards” is totally as good as anything that has ever been on HBO, better than most. (I’ve seen the first three episodes, and wait until you see Spacey’s mind blowing performance in #3). B) Netflix is not competing against Amazon, nor HBO. I’m a subscriber to Netflix and Amazon instant, and even together their cost is 1/10th of my DISH bill. And if HBO had a stand alone $10/mo app, I’d sub to it too, and my cost would still be way lower, but more importantly my value would be greater. Think about the power of that: Greater Value and Much Less Cost. Netflix is competing against cable & satellite TV. And they are going to crush them. C) It’s about distribution. Hollywood cares as much about distribution as it does cash money. Perhaps even more so. Netflix has 30 million subs and growing. How many “Instant” subs are there? 30 million people all seeing “House of Cards” promoted on the front page of Netflix. That’s powerful. How much is that worth? And it’s growing. And it’s Global. Being released Globally at the same time as its being released in the US. I think that is a first ever for any TV show or Motion Picture. That is very attractive to the best writers, actors, producers and directors. Netflix and it’s model are the future: Digitization, Globalization, and Urbanization, and their endgame is to be THE Global distribution channel of filmed digital arts and entertainment, and they will succeed. They’ve already entered escape velocity. 5 years from now they’ll have at least 100 million subs, but more likely closer to a quarter billion. And once again, it’s not the $8/mo from those subs that’s the real power. It’s the distribution and reach of the platform and brand.
    You see, at the end of the day, it’s all about distribution. Yahoo Finance gives you distribution for this article about Netflix. Google Finance doesn’t. Luckily, Finance is one category Yahoo does lead in. I leaned this from Dave McClure on Twitter: Business = Value + Distribution. There’s no question about Netflix’s value proposition. So, all these years it’s main focus of energy has been in building distribution, and now it has succeeded and will continue to grow massively.

  • How to Share a Youtube Video At a Certain Point During the Video

    This is so cool! I didn’t know you could do this. All you have to do is hit the button “Share” and below the URL link that they give you to share the video there’s a link called “Options.” If you click that it will give you the option of sharing the video to start at a certain point within the video. The time displayed is defaulted to where the playhead is at, but you can also manually enter the time. This is so useful, especially with longer and longer videos being allowed (The ‘Producer’ Accounts) because, say, there is an interesting segment within a much larger video that you find interesting or funny or both, now you can choose simply to share that segment. Very cool Google, very cool Youtube, and very useful!

  • Elephant Plays with a Galaxy Note!

    This is so cool, funny, and almost surreal. You think, “It must be a trick, prosthetic limb they are using!” But actually it’s real! There’s raw footage somewhere showing in fact it’s all real!

  • 3 Song Mini Concert on My Patio

    Did this today out on my back patio featuring three songs: “Your Love Chases After Me,” by Mindy Smith, “Another Bad Night’s Sleep” by The Silver Seas, and “Kuzbass” by Josh Rouse. I used the new iPad video Camera and I used the FiRe field recording app on my iPhone for vocals and on my iPad 1 for the guitar. Then I brought those wave files into Logic for some mixing and used iMovie on the iMac to edit and add titles as well as the Logic mixed audio track. I think it sounds and looks good!

  • My First New iPad 1080p Video

    Well, except I cut my head off, but I guess you can see the guitar clearly! If you have enough bandwidth you can select the HD option for viewing, although Youtube apparently just supports 720p? I thought it went up to 1080p. Did I really shot this in 1080 or is that something you have to select on the new iPad? I’m performing “Kuzbass” by Josh Rouse. I guess I should print the lyrics because I couldn’t find them anywhere on the internet.

     

    Kuzbass – Josh Rouse – Lyrics

    I got so tired
    didn’t have the heart to say
    Woke up side my skin and
    Couldn’t find the cap to slap back in
    Couldn’t see past
    Pretending that I’m ok
    Cuz I got so tired

    I could walk a thousand miles
    Never see your soul and aim for north
    I could walk a thousand miles
    All that remains is on that track
    Like the cold
    Cold from the Kuzbass…

    I’ve killed memories of people we know
    Got a lot of things I
    Things I would like to show
    But I know that it’s wrong and
    Cuz things seem very cold
    Out here where it’s older

    I could walk a thousand miles
    Never see your soul and aim for north
    I could walk a thousand miles
    Disappear into the black
    I could walk a thousand miles
    Never see a soul and aim for north
    I could walk a thousand miles
    All that remains is on that track
    Like the cold
    Cold from the Kuzbass…
    Cold from the Kuzbass…