Competitor Research

Netflix Connect IXD1 10/9/19

Raye WatsonNatalie Todd Katie Oberlag Aldo RuizLuis Hernandez

Netflix

Pros Cons• Basic plan: $8.99 per

month w 1 month free trial• Watch on many devices• Switch plans or cancel any-

time. Global.• Netflix offers more exclu-

sives and original contentthan any other streamingservice.

• 4k, HDR, and download-able video to watch offline.

• All tiers are ad-free.• Has a bigger volume and

selection to choose from.

• Always a season behind what’s currently available from other networks.

• Not a networking site: cannot interact with other users at all

• Boasts acclaimed interna-tional films.

• Great functionality, and it’s relatively easy to find what you want.

• Thumbs up system• More diverse and much

bigger overall library.

Hulu

Pros

Cons Summary

• Get 1 month free, thenstarts at $5.99/ month.

• Watch on your favoritedevices.

• Switch plans or cancelanytime

• Extensive library of li-censed programming.

• Centered more on networkTV than movies appearingshortly after they aired.

• Offers live TV and add onsubscriptions to channelslike HBO, Starz. etc.

• Comes with ads; most peo-ple don’t want to watch adswhen they can watch ad-free content for the sameprice with Netflix, althougha more expensive planremoves most ads.

• Only available in the Unit-ed States.

• No 4k, no HDR video, cannot download content towatch offline.

• Inconsistent selectionsfrom older TV seasons.

• Not a networking site:cannot interact with otherusers at all

• Hulu is a direct competitorthat has recently gottenmore and more attentionfor its Hulu-exclusive con-tent. Considering the appfeatures, we want to makesure to include bluetoothaccessibility, video quali-ty, subtitle, and languageoptions. We don’t want toinclude ads, and we alsodidn’t like that Hulu doesn’thave 10-second rewindoptions.

Amazon Prime

Pros

Cons Summary

• Basic plan: $12 per month.• Cancel anytime.• Offers a 30-day free trial of

its Prime membership.• Students can get a six-

month trial of AmazonPrime.

• Two-day shipping, dis-counted prices on selectitems, cloud storage, andon-demand video (andmusic) streaming.

• 4K Ultra HD content withHDR comes standard at noextra cost.

• 5-star ratings

• -Offers current TV epi-sodes from other networksas they air, but usuallycharges a fee for each epi-sode or film.

• One of the more expensiveoptions

• Cannot pick and choosewhether you want just mu-sic, just video, etc

• The more complicated rat-ing system lost popularityon Netflix, and it might dothe same here

• More scattered interface• Cannot ad “users” like Hulu

or Netflix

• Amazon Prime is a directcompetitor that is slowlygrowing their video libraryand user capabilities. Con-sidering their features, wewant to make sure to in-clude an “X-Ray” bar whereusers can see what musicis playing, what actors areon the screen, and more.There is potential here toconnect with IDMB, Spotify,and more.

Twitch

Pros Cons Summary• Free to use• 2 million individual people

use it monthly• Available for desktop and

mobile• Offers cross platform bo-

nuses with amazon prime,includes such things likegames, exclusive in-gamecontent, badges, and chan-nel subscriptions everymonth at no additional cost

• Has ads that interruptstreams

• Confusing at first to nav-igate subscriptions andsetup

• The content is limited ifyou don’t pay for it fromyour favorite streamers

• Although Twitch is not a direct competitor, it has many features that we can borrow. The idea of changing a video to portrait mode once the chat is enabled ensures that the user can see all of the screen and still have enough room for a keyboard.

Instagram Stories

Pros Cons Summary• Screen scales so that you

can continue to watch thevideo while you comment

• Features a bank of com-monly-used emojis

• Offers options to like, com-ment, and share

• You are able to see aqueue of what is up next

• When the screen scales, itbecomes impossibly small

• You are not able to controlthe queue (add to it or de-lete from it)

• You cannot sort commentsso that you only see onesfrom your friends, etc.

• Although IG is not a direct competitor, this service is somewhat similar to what we will be developing. IG has a comment format that people are familiar with. For every comment, the picture of the writer is very prominent, and others have the ability to like and reply to comments.

YouTube Stories

Pros Cons Summary• Subtitles easily integrated• Ways to sort comments in-

cluding top comments andnewest first

• Cannot watch video andcomment at the same time

• No way to see what con-tent is coming next

• For our service, we want to make sure the chat doesn’t take up too much of the screen, but we also want to make sure that any pop-up messages don’t distract too much from subtitles

Similar Services• SyncPlay• Movies must be housed on hard drive• Free, no account• Dated html interface• No chat

• Watch2gether• No registration required, free• Stream videos from Vimeo or Youtube• Chat takes up a lot of the screen

• Gaze• Steams only YouTube• Focused on our target audience• Chat feature• Hard to figure out mic and camera permissions

• Kast (prev. Rabbit)• Share any browser window, including Hulu or Netflix.• Chat feature

• Netflix Party• Chrome extension• Only needs to be installed on one browser• Chat takes up a lot of the screen

• Sync Video• Lets you set up permanent room with registration• Option to make room public

• My Circle TV• Free voice chatting• Access to vimeo and you can also upload up to 5GB of your

own video

• Plex VR• A profile as well as a personal 3D character is made• Must have VR software/hardware for this to work