Since the launch in Germany, star-Editor Malte Mansholt has a Netflix subscription without interruption. But now it’s over. This is partly due to the ever-increasing prices – but above all to Netflix itself.
The email came while I was sitting on the subway on a Friday evening. “Hello, thank you for being a Netflix member since 2014. We are pleased that you like the wide range of Netflix offerings,” it said. Of course, the streaming giant didn’t just write to me. It was about money, I quickly realized. “If you accept, your premium subscription will increase to 19.99 euros.” I was taken aback. Without hesitating for long, I clicked on the link provided. And canceled my subscription after ten years.
I wasn’t really concerned about the price increase itself. The email made me realize what had been brewing inside me for quite some time: if I’m honest, I don’t like what Netflix has to offer that much anymore. At least not enough to pay 20 euros a month for it.
Netflix was a promise
It was different in the beginning. When Netflix finally came to Germany in 2014, I took out a subscription on the first day. The streaming service, which was completely unique in Germany at the time, was a truly magical experience. For just 12 euros, I got basically everything I wanted to watch – and it was convenient and available at any time. Before that, only pirated copy portals in this country had a similarly fast, convenient and extensive offering.
And my family and I made full use of it. Whether it was classic series like “Arrested Development” or “How I Met Your Mother,” lots of Hollywood films and tons of documentaries: on Netflix, you could always find something you wanted to watch with just a few clicks.
I was particularly impressed by the in-house productions. “House of Cards” changed the way I watched series. Almost all of the originals were worth watching. Even if the women’s prison in “Orange is the New Black” hadn’t appealed to me on its own, the Netflix logo in the opening credits was enough to guarantee quality for me. The fact that we were able to get my best friend on the subscription and split the costs made Netflix a great deal. It was a culture flat rate at a reasonable price.
The end of the streaming dream
But over the years, this enthusiasm disappeared. This was not necessarily Netflix’s fault alone. As more and more studios and media companies launched their own streaming services, more and more titles disappeared from the Netflix library. For a while, competition fueled the quality: Netflix and Co. invested billions in new series and films. And the quality continued to improve.
One disadvantage: If you wanted to see everything, you needed multiple subscriptions. And even though we diligently switched between services, Netflix remained our firm favorite.
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Pearls in the flood
But the flood of new content has increasingly turned out to be more of a curse than a blessing, especially for Netflix. In the hope of triggering the next super hype like “Squid Game” or “House of Money,” the streaming giant is now pushing a wave of new productions onto the internet, literally overwhelming its users with new content month after month. And the few gems among them are becoming increasingly difficult to discover.
Paradoxically, this is precisely why it is often not worth starting new series: if there are not enough viewers, Netflix cancels series more and more quickly. While in the early days almost every project was given two to three seasons to find an audience, even prestige projects like “1899” are now being canceled after one season. And the fans who did find them are left unsatisfied.
The dark side of binge-watching
The model that made Netflix a success at the time also played an important role. Netflix was the first service to release new seasons on the day they were released – and thus made the famous binge-watching possible, which had previously only been possible with DVD seasons.
But the joy of always being able to just keep watching can quickly turn into a misfortune. Because you get through new content quicker. Many streaming services are therefore going back to offering new episodes every week. Netflix has also recognized this – and now often shows half seasons in order to be able to offer new material on a more regular basis. Currently, for example, with the hit “Bridgerton”.
The amount of content is simply overwhelming. In recent months and years, we have increasingly found ourselves spending more time scrolling through endless lists of content instead of watching it. Only to end up getting annoyed and turning on classics like “Seinfeld” even though we have already seen them three times.
The competition never sleeps
The competition shows that things can be done better by emulating Netflix’s recipe from the early days. Apple TV+ or Disney+, for example, have significantly fewer new series per month – but they are usually of high quality. This automatically gives material a chance that you might not have watched otherwise. And you might be surprised.
The fact that there are new episodes every week means that you can look forward to something new instead of watching everything in one go. And the competitors are usually cheaper too.
Netflix wants to make profits
Because let’s be honest: the price increases of the last few years were just too much of a good thing. When it was launched in 2014, you paid 12 euros for the subscription with particularly high picture quality (UHD) and could share it with up to three other people – including other households. Today, the standard subscription costs 14 euros, and you have to transfer 20 euros a month for the UHD version. And that’s without being allowed to share the account.
The quality of the content is not the issue, as Netflix admits in its financial statements: After investing for years, the company now simply wants to increase profits. Of course, customers don’t have to go along with this.
No final farewell
Nevertheless, we probably won’t turn our backs on Netflix forever. When there are great series like “Better Call Saul”, “Mindhunter”, “The Queen’s Gambit” or “Beef” again, we’ll definitely subscribe again. And then maybe discover something new. But Netflix will probably no longer be the standard service that we’ve always subscribed to. Instead, it will just be one of several that we switch back and forth between. It’s a shame, really.