Live viewing online - The reason I stopped being a Netflix customer after a decade.
Hey there, I received an email on a Friday evening while I was in the subway. It read, "Hello, we appreciate you being a Netflix member since 2014. We're happy that you love the wide range of Netflix programs!" Of course, Netflix didn't send me a message just like that. It had to do with money. The email continued, "If you agree, your premium subscription will go up to 19.99 euros." I hesitated for a moment before clicking on the link provided. Later, I decided to cancel my Netflix subscription after 10 years.
The price hike wasn't the only reason for my decision. That email made me realize something I'd been feeling for a while - if I'm being honest, I didn't enjoy Netflix as much as I used to. I wasn't willing to pay 20 euros a month for it.
Netflix was a promise
In the beginning, it was different. When Netflix came to Germany in 2014, I signed up for an account right away. This streaming service, which was unique in Germany at the time, was like a magical experience. For just 12 euros, I could watch almost all the content I wanted - on-demand and at any time. Previously, piracy video-sharing websites were our only option for quick, easy, and comprehensive entertainment.
And my family and I made full use of it. From series like "Arrested Development" and "How I Met Your Mother" to many Hollywood movies and numerous documentaries, Netflix had everything. We even convinced our best friend to join our subscription and split the cost, making Netflix a great deal. It was the cultural flat rate at an affordable price.
What impressed me the most were the original productions. "House of Cards" was revolutionary and changed the way I watched series. Almost all originals were worth watching. Even though the women's prison in "Orange is the New Black" didn't appeal to me at first, I was still confident in Netflix's quality. And we managed to persuade our best friend to join our subscription and share the cost, making Netflix the ultimate deal.
Netflix's End
However, as time went on, I started losing interest. It wasn't Netflix's fault alone. Other studios and media companies started their own streaming services, which led to many titles vanishing from Netflix's library. For a while, the competition even improved the quality: Netflix and others spent billions on new series and movies. But the downside was that you needed multiple subscriptions to watch everything. And Netflix remained our preferred platform.
Pearls in the flood
But the influx of new content became more of a curse than a blessing. In a bid to find the next superhit like "Squid Game" or "House of Cards", Netflix now floods the platform with new productions, leaving viewers overwhelmed and struggling to find anything worth watching. Even though we switched between the services regularly, Netflix remained our go-to platform.
However, the abundance of content causes us to spend more time browsing through endless lists of content than actually watching anything. Eventually, we get tired of it and revert to old classics like "Seinfeld", even though we've seen them several times.
The competition isn't idle either. They mimic Netflix's early success formula. For example, at Apple TV+ or Disney+, there are significantly fewer new series per month - but they are mostly high quality, making Netflix, an early adopter of the binge-watching model, seem like the flood of content can turn into a curse. Now, they're making weekly episodes like the old days. Also, their price point is generally cheaper.
But let's face it: The price increases over the past few years were just too much. In 2014, 12 euros got you the highest video quality (UHD) and the option to share your account with 3 other people - even if those other people lived in different households. Now, the standard subscription costs 14 euros, and you need to pay 20 euros a month just for UHD quality. And you can't share your account with others anymore.
Netflix aims to generate profits, as stated in their financial records: Following years of spending, they now plan to boost earnings. As a user, you don't need to contribute to this.
Nonetheless, it's unlikely we'll quit Netflix for good. Particularly when there are excellent shows like "Better Call Saul," "Mindhunter," "The Queen's Gambit," or "Beef," we'll likely rejoin. And then maybe find something fresh. The classic service we've always been familiar with won't be Netflix anymore; it'll just become one of several platforms we switch between. That's a shame, though.
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- Despite the price increase, I still enjoyed watching shows like "House of Cards" and "Orange Is the New Black" on Netflix, which originated in the United States.
- Malte Mansholt, a German film critic, mentioned in an interview that Netflix's interruptions during streaming could harm their user experience in Germany.
- In an attempt to keep up with the competition, Netflix released a German series called "Dark," which garnered significant international attention and acclaim.
- After canceling my Netflix subscription, I discovered that many popular series, such as "Better Call Saul" and "The Queen's Gambit," were also available for streaming on other platforms like Amazon Prime at a lower cost.
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