Notebook

Why Netflix hasn't replaced my Cable TV

12 Jan 2012 at 7 AM

Netflix has not replaced my family's cable television and it won't until it stops asking us what we want to watch every thirty minutes. This is a serious first world problem!

My family's television viewing habits go about like this:

Get home from work
Eat dinner
Turn on TV
Tune into HGTV, Discovery, Disney, A&E, or Comedy Central
The TV stays on as background noise during household activities such as cleaning, browsing online, playing games, etc.

Aside from Survivor, which my wife watches consistently, we don't really care what's on. We just want networks which interest and entertain us.

The problem I have is that Netflix doesn't provide "networks" they provide "shows". So every thirty minutes or so we have to make a decision. In practice we end up watching entire seasons of Barney, or switching back to cable. Cable is just a better fit for our viewing habits.

My proposed solution is for Netflix to provide Pandora style stations or networks which broadcast a tailored selection of shows. Netflix already has a recommendation engine which could be refined with a Pandora like, "skip this show" feature.

Quickly looking through the Netflix catalog I found the following shows which represent the kind of stuff that's commonly on our TV on a Saturday afternoon.

Clean House (94 episodes)
Hoarders (42 episodes)
Beautiful Homes & Great Estates (52 episodes)
Cash in the Attic (55 episodes)
Say Yes to the Dress (78 episodes)
Hoarding: Buried Alive (9 episodes)
Wedded to Perfection (6 episodes)
Take Home Chef (125 episodes)
Cake Boss (73 episodes)
Designers, Fashions & Runways (26 episodes)
Bridezillas (23 episodes)
Intervention (131 episodes)
Deadliest Catch (104 episodes)
L.A. Ink (63 episodes)

Something like 450 hours of content in that brief selection of shows. We watch a lineup of something like this about 4 hours every weekend. This brief selection could provide us with two years of background television. I'm sure Netflix could suggest some other titles we would enjoy as well. Similar collections exist for crime dramas, another household favorite, and of course Netflix could provide a nice collection of movie channels.

This would go a long way toward Comcast losing us as a customer. A live streaming news network might seal the deal.