Julia Handra

This is a really interesting topic especially as Netflix is fighting its customer share on many battle fronts. Historically I wouldn’t have considered Youtube a main competitor for Netflix, Hulu or HBO but the data you provided regarding the Gen Z customer segment is very compelling. I question if the tastes and tendencies of the Gen z to prefer low budget productions will change as they get older and their lives become more complicated.

I find this topic so very interesting as well. My first foray into “cutting the cord” was due to my last apartment offering free basic cable with rent. I found I did not miss the DVR or clunky box experience and I augmented my movie fanaticism with streaming services within Roku. I paid for Netflx, Amazon Prime, Google, Hulu and Vudu and STILL paid a fraction of the Cable price. Then, I found myself adding specific channels like HBO and Starz; still remained under budget.
Now, in my new home, 98% of my movie watching is through these services (I’ve cut back on a few of them). The only purpose for me in having Cable, is my mom and the Internet bundle scam, lol. In speaking with folks my age, they and their families are gradually moving away from box cable as well. It will be interesting to see how the Cable companies step it up to maintain their [perceived] waning market share!

For me, they’re two different services. Netflix gives you the ability to kick back and watch the same series uninterrupted. Youtube is much more active. I go there to learn something specific for 5 minutes.

This is really insightful. I didn’t realize Spotify had a social component to it. I have never used the service. Right now, I just stream on Google’s Music with restrictions. Much like Apple Music is archaic, I feel the same can be said about Amazon as well. I have seen folks that are away from internet for long periods of time cannot access their music on Spotify since they cannot confirm their subscription. How do you think Spotify can combat this?

Julia, it really does seem that companies are more focused on making profit more than anything else. I’ve had similar experiences with googling something and immediately receiving ads for it. At this point I can just expect that anything I’m interested in and look up… I will soon after, receive ads or “suggestions” for it on various websites and my social media news feeds. This type of target marketing just seems too invasive to be ethical. There needs to be clear ethical standards for companies to abide by. I like your idea of providing setting controls to opt in and out of certain ads. It would be nice for websites to have privacy settings or controls that allows a person to select exactly what data they’re ok with sharing. Hopefully these type of privacy controls are whats to come in the future.

I would love to see ethical standards for companies to follow. But it certainly does seem more about making a profit than protecting privacy. Personally, I’ve never been given the option to adjust security settings on my phone or apps, I’m sure there’s an option though. It’s just not as clear as it should be and with all the apps I download, I don’t think I’d have the patience to go through and adjust each one separately. But like Angelica said, I would love to see easier privacy options offered to consumers in the near future.

Honestly, I forgot for a bit about YouTube Red. It’s been awhile since they’ve promoted the service. Plus, I realize they’re cutting the cord on their web/TV interface. That being said, I’m curious to know thoughts on YouTube TV. I know a number of people within the St. Louis region have begun to converge to that service with attractive pricing tiers, DVR capabilities and ease of use. It seems to be giving Sling and Hulu, among others, a run for their money. https://www.cnet.com/news/at-t-now-vs-youtube-tv-vs-sling-tv-vs-hulu-and-more-live-tv-channels-compared/

They both have entirely different value propositions to their customers. Netflix offers premium content – or at least until all the 3rd party go exclusive – with well funded professional studios for a small monthly fee. . On the other hand you have Youtube who’s value proposition was to have novice content creators post for free, and viewers watch for free at the expense of watching advertisements. Youtube is trying to offer the best of both worlds, but their content producers are not as the same quality as Netflix or as widely known. .