Netflix's Ted Sarandos Says Firefly has "a fraction of the original audience."
POSTED BY: micjwelch
UPDATED: Saturday, May 18, 2013 05:12
VIEWED: 17111
PAGE 3 of 3
Quote:A bit of a troll vid, but I replied anyway. I like a lot of the shows mentioned, but FF just puts me right in that world, and not many shows can do that.
Originally posted by two:
It is time for the Two Minutes Hate video. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Minutes_Hate
Loose your fury!
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Quote:
Originally posted by DOMOKUN1:
Yeah, they're a bunch of chumps. Everybody is entitled to their opinion - but as for the Serenity being the end of it comment? NO WAY! There is so much more that could be done pre and post-Serenity. Dude's on crack.
He's an attention whore trying to get himself and his wannabe "actors" some notoriety. He gives himself away by noting that the fandom still gets attention, then names a bunch of shows, not all of which are all that good, then says that Firefly wasn't even Whedon's best show.
So what was? The nice thing about opinions is that they can't be wrong. A post-ironic hipster with nothing to say. He's a troll, and not original, at that.
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Quote:Where's the like button?
Originally posted by SC_FF_FAN:
WOW, what a mean natured video but I can see the underlying business behind it. As mentioned, he is nothing more than a You-Tube troll trying to bump up his site's hit count by attacking various groups with avid fans and thus getting paid. This guy and his video crew tried to hit every hot button to anger the Firefly Fans. I hope these folks have some good security because there are a few extreme fans of these different venues they attack that may come after them. Unfortunately, I watched it and probably gave him another hit credit. It would ironic if this video launched a remake of the Firefly series where everything else failed.
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Quote:
Originally posted by BYTEMITE:Quote:
Originally posted by WUBWUBWUB:
I hate to bust your filter bubble, guys, but he's not an "out of touch TV executive." He's exactly the opposite – do you know how much information Netflix has access to? They know what shows you're watching, they know when you watch them, they know whether you finish the shows, and at what point you stopped watching. They have 29.2 million subscribers ( http://news.yahoo.com/numbers-netflix-subscribers-205626746.html), all of which are feeding them the above information on what shows they're watching. You have access to... your circle of friends. He's not basing this on supposition, he's basing it on cold, hard facts: he's run the numbers, and the number of Netflix subscribers who've been watching Firefly doesn't justify the expense of a series.
I actually agree that this is probably what the guy was trying to say, but it's very poorly worded. Either that or the articles quoting this took it out of context.
Fans and netflix subscribers aren't the same animal. The mistake here is saying that the number of FANS has gone down since the original broadcast. For that to be true there would have to be less new people finding that they like the series, adding to the existing base, than there are people who have grown to dislike the series and are lost from the existing base. That loss is itself different from people who have become inactive but who still consider themselves fans. All of the inactive browncoats would enthusiastically embrace new Firefly, so they're still fans, but they could only wait so long before they moved on to something else.
With Firefly you might have increasing inactivity, but you don't really have a lot of fan loss over time. People don't really start out liking the series and then grow to dislike it, the trend is that you see the series and you either love it or you think it was overhyped and hate it.
What he MEANT is that the number of netflix subscriptions for Firefly has gone down from the original numbers when they first posted it. Which is a rather obvious end result without new episodes.
But to conflate those numbers with fan numbers and conclude fan numbers have gone down is basically erroneous. Apples and Oranges.
Agreed. And, as I said before, for someone so savvy otherwise to make this assumption seems a bit silly and sad. Certainly, if Netflix (or any other source) were the only game in town, the number of subscribers viewing Firefly would jump dramatically (indeed, I suspect the number of subscribers would jump).
A few people have brought up cost as an issue, and it's likely that the average episode of FIREFLY would cost more than the average episode of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, but what about HEMLOCK GROVE or HOUSE OF CARDS? Heck, while ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT's sets are every day, there are also a lot of them, and the show features a large cast.
Joss is a master of quality on a shoestring budget, and many of the Firefly stars have publicly expressed how much they love the show and how willing they would be to sign on again. I don't imagine the per-episode cost would be dramatically high, once the set of the ship was reconstructed. And there are ways to defray that. I guarantee a "please help us out" kickstarter would produce enough fan support to cover the costs of an episode or two per season... And Joss Whedon -- the man who brought the world the highest grossing non-James Cameron film -- that's gotta count for something.
Speaking of Joss... I can't help wonder if Joss himself and some face-saving isn't a factor here, since Joss has said recently that he's locked in to other projects and there will be no FIREFLY for the foreseeable future.
Otherwise, Sarandos's comment reminds me a little of that scene in JURASSIC PARK (the book, not the movie), where the scientists insist that the dinosaurs are not breeding because their computers tell them the right
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Quote:I wonder why Dark Horse isn't producing a monthly Firefly comic. Their last one was a year ago, written by Zack Whedon, for Free Comic Book Day. I believe that TV dramas start with "I've got an idea!" from a writer, followed by "I've got money to produce your idea!" from Netflix. There is the same dynamic in comics -- the ideas come first. Maybe Zack is too short on ideas for Firefly comics?
Originally posted by GWEK:
I can't help wonder if Joss himself and some face-saving isn't a factor here . . .
If there is not enough ideas for a monthly comic, then a weekly TV series is hopeless.
Serenity Now by Otis Frampton http://otisframpton.deviantart.com/art/Serenity-Now-370737451
The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two
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Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:
The number of Netflix subscribers watching Firefly on that service and the total number of Firefly fans are two entirely different things. There is absolutely no way that the show has fewer fans now than when it was broadcast on FOX.
As Jayne would say, "That's just crazy talk."
Exactly!
These "facts" and numbers this Netflix exec makes are based solely on the number of people watching Firefly through their service, and is in no way indicative of the size of the fanbase, it's alleged loss of members, or anything else. It means quite simply that fewer people are watching it on Netflix. Period.
To assume that the browncoats are losing numbers based solely on how many people are watching the series through Netflix is laughable. Many have already seen it through this medium. Many watch the series when it airs on networks, watch it on their dvd sets, or through other means.
Is the fanbase quiet now? Sure. Not much new to discuss of late, but that does not mean the browncoats aren't lurking out there.
_______________________________________________
Holding the line since December '02!
C.O. 76th Independent Battalion
http://76thbattalion.proboards.com
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That's it, brilliant DMI.................bombard Netflix Facebook page with comments and likes, then maybe he gets the hint.
Or, campaign to have all fans of Firefly quit Netflix on a specific day, that'll grab his attention. It's all bottom line folks..........money talks and you know the rest.
I agree that the original ads and promos for Firefly wasn't enough, plus preempted and out-of-order episodes. But today's fans are different than the OGs from the TV broadcast days, but they are nonetheless passionate.
By the way, I'm an OG (original Firefly fan from Day One on Fox)
SGG
Quote:
Originally posted by DMI:
This just sounds like a challenge to me. What should we do this time? Firefly watch parties on Netflix? Send postcards that say "We're still here?" Bombard Netflix's facebook page?
-----------------------------
I pray for one last landing,
on the globe that gave me birth.
Let me rest my eyes on the fleecy skies
and the cool, green hills of Earth.
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