Netflix's Nickel on Apple TV's Dime
Because the device is tied to my iTunes account, every time someone in my family buys something on Apple TV, I get an email receipt. It's a fun peak into what's going on in my house while I'm away. What used to be my wife renting rom-coms has morphed over time into a lot of ridiculously-named cartoons. But something else has evolved over time: annoyance. Not at my family, at Apple and Netflix.
Today, for example, I got a receipt indicating my family recently bought two videos: an episode of Hotel Transylvania: The Series and the animated movie Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. The problem? The receipt itself. Because we paid for these even though both are actually available on Netflix to stream. And we pay for Netflix. And have for years. And Apple knows this. And has, for years.
Part of this is a Netflix problem – a big part. The service famously refuses to play nicely with other streaming services, and even just would-be streaming service aggregators, when it comes to surfacing their content outside of their apps. Said another way, they're happy to put a Netflix app anywhere and everywhere, but to see what content is available, they want you to open it. This makes it hard for Apple to know that those two pieces of content are available within an app on their own Apple TV box.
But it's not impossible because plenty of other services serve up such information. ReelGood and JustWatch are two that have done this for years and remain my go-tos when I'm trying to figure out where the fuck to stream something. Google sucks at this. AI services mainly fail here because constantly shifting streaming content requires real-time information (which is only starting to happen with search deals and capabilities). And again, the streaming boxes are bad at this because of limitations placed mainly by Netflix. For a while, it looked like Google TV may get around this limitation. Nope, Netflix snuffed it out.
But again, Apple and Google and the like could just do what ReelGood and JustWatch do – or partner with them to do it! They just need a way to showcase what content is available on Netflix. I'm not saying they even have to deep link to it, just tell you if it's there. It may be technically against a terms of service – honestly not sure – but that would be ridiculous. This is a service you pay for and an app on all of these platforms. They have to make it somewhat discoverable to you, the paying customer.
But it's so simple that I'm honestly not even sure Apple actually wants to do this. Because why tell you that you can stream something on Netflix for "free" (since you already paid) when they can easily let you buy that same content from them?
I'm sure that's too cynical, but just look at the current user experience here. On Apple TV, search for a movie or show you know is on one of the streaming services. A handful work well if they're using the right APIs and/or have an agreement in place with Apple around their "Channels" offering in Apple TV (the app, not the box – yes, it's ridiculous branding). But many do not. Beyond Netflix, Peacock jumps to mind, but there are many others. There are a lot of streaming services!
So if it's content that's in an app but not fully integrated with Apple TV, Apple knows this, but buries it in an "Open In..." button. Far more prominent is a way to buy/rent via Apple. That's bullshit.
Apple shouldn't be focused on nickel-and-diming users here to juice Services, they should be creating the best user experience. That best user experience would be telling you very prominently when content you're searching for is available on one of the services you subscribe to. Not buried behind another click. I want a big, massive placement front and center saying "THIS IS ON PEACOCK".
If they're not using the right APIs or refuse to integrate, Apple needs to take matters into their own hands and make this work for customers. Yes, even for Netflix. Sorry, Netflix, you can't have an app on a platform but not allow that platform to surface your content. It's 2024.
Again, ideally Apple would deep-link in to the actual content. Even more ideally, they'd do what they used to do with iTunes back in the day and strike a deal to host that content to make it easily and instantly available with one click, without needing to open and load another app, etc. But that's undoubtedly asking too much in our current siloed data age when customer control is key. Certainly it is for Netflix.
One day, someone will fix this. We don't need yet another streaming box, we need a new service that collects and serves up streaming content in a seamless, straightforward, and beautiful way. My family really needs this. Every family really needs this. ESPN is trying to make this for sports. It's smart. Apple should do this for all streaming content, no matter the cost. You know what that would sell? A shit ton more Apple TV hardware. And subsequently, more movies that are only available to buy or rent during certain Hollywood windows. Services, baby.
At the very least, they should tell us, very clearly, where we can stream something. Even if it means losing out on the $5 gained in tricking a parent to buy something they already have access to for a child to watch.
