NETFLIX STILL DOMINATES

I've recently watched a lot of Netflix.  Haven't been to a movie theater since the opening of Barbenheimer weekend almost two years ago.  Saved a lot of money.

• I pay Netflix $17.99/month, the standard rate without ads.  I also am a member of Amazon Prime, which costs me $15.70 with ads.  But I buy a lot from Amazon, providing for free shipping, so Prime is almost free to me.

• 
  To compare, consider that when you go to a movie theater, you need to drive there, then back home.  There is a tendency to make this an outing, so you have lunch or dinner.  If not, you buy popcorn and a drink.  Skipping a restaurant, just the theater cost will set you back $25/person.  That's already more than a month of Netflix.
• 
  With Netflix/Prime, you pick what you want and when.  You sit in a more comfortable environment.  You don't need to wear a mask.  Of course you don't need to wear them anymore in theaters, but you are in a cold/flu/COVID enclosed environment where people are coughing, etc.  You eat and drink for almost free.  You won't get mugged going home.

• 
  BuzzFeed rating of the best streaming service has HBO Max at #1, #3 Netflix and #7 Prime.  But this is just one guy doing it for himself.
• Top10.com.
• #1 Sling TV.
• But costs $40-$55/month.
• 85,000+ titles and 200+ live channels.
• But is rated poorly by past customers.

• 
  #2 Hulu.
• $6.99-$75.99/month.
• 3000+ titles.
• 75+ live TV channels.
• #3 Netflix.
• $6.99 to $19.99/month.
• 6000+ titles.
• No live channels.
• Rated as the best overall movie streaming service.  Huh?  Why, then, at #3.
• Is moving into sports specials too.
• #6 Amazon Prime Video
• $6.99-$14.99/month.
• 20,000+ titles.
• Optional access to live TV channels.
• 
  Exploding Topics (2025).
• The video streaming market is now valued at over $670 billion, and will grow to $2.49 trillion by 2032.
• Around 800,000 unique  titles in the U.S. alone.
• Today, 36% of all TV usage is dedicated to streaming.
• There are 1.8 billion subscriptions.
• 26% of viewers binge-watch at least once/week.
• Why stream?

• Membership:
• Netflix  260 million
• Amazon Prime  168 million

Streaming Service	Monthly Visits	Unique Visitors
Netflix	1.2 billion	146.6 million
HBO Max	178.9 million	27.4 million
Hulu	77.5 million	16.5 million
Paramount +	43.1 million	10.1 million
Peacock	28.3 million	7.2 million
Prime Video	218.1 million	55.1 million
Disney+	240.1 million	43.1 million
Discovery+	6.6 million	1.6 million
Apple TV	27.2 million	13.8 million

Eight of the top streamed programs came from Netflix and Prime.  In other words, Netflix and Amazon Prime pretty much still dominate, so those are the only two to which I subscribe.  I can't find time to catch up with these two, so why add anything else.  Today I'll focus on Netflix.

By the way, are you familiar with Netflix Tudum?  It brings you up to date on the latest Netflix offerings.  As for example, Season  3 of Squid Game arrives on June 27.  Here is Netflix's Ten Most Popular shows, and most are series.

Top 10 Most Popular Netflix Shows of All Time:

1. Squid Game (Season 1): 265.2 million views
2. Wednesday (Season 1): 252.1 million views
3. Squid Game (Season 2): 192.1 million views
4. Stranger Things (Season 4): 140.7 million views
5. DAHMER: Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: 129.7 million views according to Netflix
6. The Night Agent (Season 1): 98.2 million views
7. Fool Me Once: 98.2 million views
8. Bridgerton (Season 3): 106 million views
9. Bridgerton (Season 1): 112,800,000 views according to Netflix
10. The Queen's Gambit: 112,800,000 views according to Netflix 

Also, several shows already left Netflix last month, especially important if you watch Spider-Man.  Here are the programs that are now gone from Netflix from June 1.

So these are Netflix titles I watched this weekend.

• 
  I'm Still Here.
• Rotten Tomatoes, 97/97.
• From Brazil, so no one you recognize.
• A 2025 series.
• About Eunice Paiva, a mother of five, who reinvented herself and her family when authorities abducted her husband.
• La Palma, from Norway.  Rotten Tomatoes:  100/29.  I'll report on this series tomorrow, titled, Megatsunamis.

• 
  Now You See Me.
• Rotten Tomatoes, 51/70.  Not well rated, but I liked it.  Splashy and sophisticated.
• Stars Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, etc.
• About magicians conning the public.

• 
  How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies.
• Rotten Tomatoes, 98/95.  Best scores I've ever seen from a movie from Thailand.
• However, it just did not have the verve of those great South Korean productions.  It was somewhat plodding and depressing.  Family spats and devious feelings.
• So when his grandma is told she has only a year to live because of stomach cancer, a scheming grandson, observing how his cousin took care of her grandad and got most of the inheritance, tries to do the same.  
• An example on how feelings can change.
• He was left out of getting her house which went to a cheating uncle, but the surprise ending saved the film.

Whoops, I only recorded the pre-discussion of George Clooney's Good Night, and Good Luck on CNN.  Missed the Broadway show.  It's now being streamed on Max, which I don't get.  Here are some reactions.

Barbara just became a hurricane.  In the East Pacific, now headed for Hawaii, Hurricane Barbara will meet cooler ocean temperatures and swiftly dissipate.

George C

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