This might be satire.

Where the hits are streaming in 2011

bg5000:

I’ve seen links to this article pop up a few different places recently. It’s purpose is to see how the four biggest streaming movie providers (Netflix, Amazon, iTunes and Vudu) stack up to each other at streaming the top 100 movies of last year. Long story short, Netflix does not do so hot, with only five of the hundred available. Amazon does the best with 45.

There are a few things that frustrate me about this piece, though. First, the comparison is a little disingenuous. If you pit an unlimited subscription service versus individual movie-on-demand services, the former is always going to come up short. That’s just the way the industry is. It also seems a little leading to say “Netflix only offers 5 of the top 100 movies” when 24 of those 100 aren’t available in any format at all, including DVD.

The main thing that frustrates me, though, is that this mediocre at best post has gained enough traction that it will probably add to the “Netflix in decline” narrative, which makes me sad. You may ask why i both to feel sympathy for a multi-million dollar company, well, i’ll tell you. Netflix was the best hope* we had for a singular service that would provide all, or at least most, of our streaming needs. But after a few poor business decisions and tons and tons of bad press, that hope is pretty much gone. Now we’re looking at a future with who knows how many different services (Netflix, Hulu Plus, HBO Go, etc.), which means multiple subscriptions, sorting out which services are on which devices, just more hassle in general.

All i’m saying is the more inconvenient it is to stream stuff, the more likely i am to end up watching Moonshiners cause it’s easy. And i’d much rather be watching more quality programming.

*To be sure, it wasn’t a huge hope. Once the studios realized how much money they were losing out on, they were definitely going to fight against it. But every subsequent ”Is Netflix Doomed” blog post certainly didn’t help their bargaining position.

Yep.