stephen.news

hypertext, words and more

Growth

  • Reddit is sunsetting coins and community awards

    •

    2 min read

    •

    From the u/venkman01 on Reddit’s Product Team:

    TL;DR: We are reworking how great content and contributions are rewarded on Reddit. As part of this, we made a decision to sunset coins (including Community coins for moderators) and awards (including Medals, Premium Awards, and Community Awards), which also impacts some existing Reddit Premium perks. Starting today, you will no longer be able to purchase new coins, but all awards and existing coins will continue to be available until September 12, 2023.

    Many eons ago, Reddit introduced something called Reddit Gold. Gold then evolved, and we introduced new awards including Reddit Silver, Platinum, Ternium, and Argentium. And the evolution continued from there. While we saw many of the awards used as a fun way to recognize contributions from your fellow redditors, looking back at those eons, we also saw consistent feedback on awards as a whole. First, many don’t appreciate the clutter from awards (50+ awards right now, but who’s counting?) and all the steps that go into actually awarding content. Second, redditors want awarded content to be more valuable to the recipient.

    While I never fully understood Reddit Gold as a product (and neither did Reddit it seems), it was much beloved by the community. Gilding fellow redditors comments felt good and was honestly pretty novel at the time. It was also an awesome indicator of high-quality content. Seems like Reddit is likely killing off this feature because gilded content would otherwise identify high-quality content to would-be web crawlers, and Reddit wants a piece of the pie.

    I think coins and micro-transcations certainly can be a successful model for creators (see Twitch). But Reddit, has historically never understood their general userbase and has historically never leaned into empowering creators/powerusers. Each year, they shed more and more classic nostalgic features while product inherits tech debt. Coins and Rewards were certainly more useful than RPAN (yikes). Honestly, some of the best features are user-generated, maybe Reddit is making a grave mistake here.

  • HBO Max Finds Its Lobster

    •

    2 min read

    •

    Kinsey Grant for Morning Brew:

    HBO Max, the streaming service AT&T’s WarnerMedia revealed yesterday, is paying a reported $425 million for the exclusive rights for Friends when the show’s deal with Netflix expires in 2020. At least Monica can finally afford that apartment on her own.

    AT&T, though, can’t afford to watch other heavyweights like Disney and NBC invest in their own direct-to-consumer streaming services without planting its own flag. So it’s launching HBO Max next spring with 10,000 hours of content—both originals and classics.

    This is so interesting. Like, really really interesting. The deal kicks off with Friends which will catalyze thousands (if not a few hundred thousands) of subscribers alone. The real crown jewel will be the original programming such as Pretty Little Liars (including other works in the HBO pipeline I’m sure), and featured content from other networks. The Verge reports:

    The service will feature content from “Warner Bros., New Line, DC Entertainment, CNN, TNT, TBS, truTV, The CW, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth, Looney Tunes, and more.”

    Rooster Teeth? That’s new. I would have expected that from YouTube TV but HBO Max? Fascinating. It’s a pretty generous package to kick-off with. The direct-to-consumer streaming services well hasn’t dried up yet, but the options available aren’t the panacea we had hoped for. I suppose this is the future we wanted, and at least they’re competitive options. None of these services lock us in via expensive rented-hardware like cable-box providers. If anything, the programming is the lock-in. I think Netflix has learned that the hard way:

    I wonder how many subscribers Netflix will lose post-Friends? Or better-yet, how will this affect their growth strategy?

  • Why Netflix Cancels So Many Shows

    •

    2 min read

    •

    You ever wonder why bombshell shows like Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, The Get Down or any of the other shows get cancelled after 2 or 3 seasons? Charlie Ridgely at comicbook.com writes:

    To put it plainly: New shows are cheaper. When a series launches, everyone involved gets paid a certain amount of money. After two seasons of that series being considered a success and being enjoyed by fans, it’s usually time for new contracts with a pay bump for those involved. Sounds fair, right?

    Well, for Netflix, the costs of those raises aren’t exactly worth the return of the show’s traffic. The third season of a series will see dedicated fans tuning in, but likely doesn’t have the same return as a new show that everyone can start from the beginning.

    To put it another way — Netflix doesn’t care about current subscribers. They have pivoted their efforts to growth. New shows attract new subscribers.

    Like trimming a growing sapling, Netflix is surgically kicking off new shows, and canceling them a la carte. Which really sucks. But the alternative is pilot-producing which can be even more costly, can ruin careers, and often never makes it to public airing.