I'm rather curious why they even want HBO. Yes HBO has had far, far more quality programs over the years, but it's not like Netflix hasn't had ample time and infinite money to do the same if they wanted to.
Would be a sad day. I typically equate HBO content with focused quality, and Netflix content as the opposite.
> it's not like Netflix hasn't had ample time and infinite money to do the same if they wanted to.
Yet they've failed, I think it's a culture problem. Buy HBO and hopefully carry over the culture and skills to Netflix that way is pretty much they only hope. Netflix created a few good series, but it's also clear that they don't have the writing talent to produce the volume they want.
Netflix can produce absolutely beautify shows, but they're not well written. They also can't buy content, because a large number of the license holders have their own streaming platform. Buying HBO could get them access to the content they need, if the contracts and licensing carry over.
Wasn’t there something going on with an internal battle between two content leads, one focused on “lots of content” and the other on higher quality, more risky bets (that lead to Squid Games, Ozark, Stranger Things, etc), and the one doing the higher quality content ended up losing.
I am convinced they’re hyper focused on the wrong metrics, and don’t take long term retention into consideration.
While I don't know, that sound plausible. Netflix can make incredibly technically beautiful shows, but that's getting cheaper and cheaper to do. Good writing is expensive and combined with data suggesting that people mostly look at their phone while watching their shows, why even bother making something with a complex and interesting plot.
Netflix paid $500M for the rights to Seinfeld for 5 years to give you an idea of what people are using Netflix for. Why make new content when you can sell old content?
Would be a sad day. I typically equate HBO content with focused quality, and Netflix content as the opposite.