Chief Brand Officer at OpenX Dallas Lawrence talks about which content provider will win the streaming wars.
Director Judd Apatow has a problem with Netflix letting people speed-watch shows on their mobile devices. Or digest them in slow motion.
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“Don’t make me have to call every director and show creator on Earth to fight you on this,” Apatow, the 51-year-old creative force behind TV shows such as “Freaks and Geeks” and movies like “The 40-Year-OId Virgin,” wrote in a Twitter post. “We give you nice things. Leave them as they were intended to be seen.”
Netflix says it’s sensitive to such concerns in its testing of the speed options. The trials, which don’t include larger screens such as televisions, were prompted by requests from members who have used similar features on DVD players for decades, Vice President Keela Robison said in a statement. Members who want the speed variations must choose them each time they watch something, she added; Netflix doesn’t maintain the setting.
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“We have no plans to roll any of these tests out in the short term,” Robison added. “And whether we introduce these features for everyone at some point will depend on the feedback we receive.”
Netflix’s decisions in such cases are particularly significant to Hollywood, since the Los Gatos, California-based company is a leader in streaming, a viewing option that’s rivaling traditional cable, broadcast and film. Its developments in products and services often influence the decisions made by competitors.
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Netflix isn’t the only company to look at varied viewing speeds. YouTube already allows users to speed up or slow down what they’re watching.
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It’s a trend that Apatow, the co-creator of a romantic comedy on Netflix called “Love,” expects will disturb many of his peers.
“Distributors don’t get to change the way content is presented,” he said on Twitter. “Doing so is a breaking of trust and won’t be tolerated by the people who provide it. Let the people who don’t care put it in their contracts that they don’t care. Most all do.”
