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DarylM
Legend 5
Legend 5

Churn rates

A "churn rate" is the percentage of users of a service who will cancel their subscription in a given period (usually annually). 

 

These leavers will usually be replaced by new customers - so a churn rate of 10% doesn't mean that the overall subscriber base has decreased by 10%.  If you have enough new subscribers coming in, it's possible to have a churn rate of 100% and still show overall growth.

 

In the US, Netflix is estimated to have a churn rate of 9% - meaning that 91% of subscribers just keep their subscriptions going, even though there is no contract.

 

Smaller services, such as Hulu Plus, have a churn rate of 50% or more.

 

Sky currently has a churn rate of 10.1%

 

We will probably never find out what the churn rate for Now TV is, because those figures aren't released.  I'm sure it must be significantly higher than 10%.  But there may be some protection against higher churn because of the different passes on offer.  Someone cancelling a Movies Pass might choose to change straight away to an Entertainment Pass instead, for example.

 

Existing customers know what to expect from Now TV (duration of box sets etc), so churn may be relatively low there.  But churn will be higher among new customers who compare the service to Netflix.  One of the main reasons for new customers not continuing with a subscription may be lack of subtitles.  If subtitles were introduced in the future, I think churn rates among new customers would drop.



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Those little green stars by my name mean that I'm a Community Contributor - not Now TV staff. I just try to help out if I can.

24 REPLIES 24
Anonymous User
Not applicable

@Anonymous User yep! Sky have more adverts then Hulu ☺️

 

(Watching WWE on skysports is horrendous) 👀🔫

Anonymous User
Not applicable

hey i was wondering if now tv will be bring in subtitles im hard of hear and girlfriend is profoundly deaf,

i dont mind watching my sport but surely if sky is a parent company of nowtv then they should act up on it. My friend has sky she watches programs and some films which includes subtitles. please please sort it out .

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Hi @Anonymous User

 

We don't have any updates in regards to subtitles, however we do hope we can implement them in the future.

 

Birgit

NOW TV Team

DarylM
Legend 5
Legend 5

@Anonymous User wrote:

@DarylM I think one look at the ideas section suggests that subtitles is the big one & because it's been on there for 3 years or so,  to me it gives the impression that NOW TV just aren't bothered.  It would be better if they said it's not going to happen or ideally some sort of time frame if it is.


Subtitles seems to be the big one.  I'm aware that Tom's explained the reasons why it's difficult to do (variable bit rates would result in blurry subtitles).

 

It's clearly possible since other services have them.  But I believe it would require wholesale change to the system which Now TV delivers video by.  I'm sure they'd prefer to have subtitles.  I'm hopeful that the new box will make any potential change more viable.



If this has solved your issue please mark this as an accepted solution.

Those little green stars by my name mean that I'm a Community Contributor - not Now TV staff. I just try to help out if I can.

SeeMoreDigital
Legend 5
Legend 5

@DarylM wrote:
Subtitles seems to be the big one.  I'm aware that Tom's explained the reasons why it's difficult to do (variable bit rates would result in blurry subtitles).

If the subtitles are 'graphics' based then yes, they could look blurry under certain circumstances. But if they're 'text' based, they wont.

 

Of-course, the NOW TV Box would have to offer text based decoder support too. I'm not sure if the Roku devices offer this level of functionality...

Anonymous User
Not applicable

@SeeMoreDigital  I would've thought the Roku box would be OK given that the unmodified version has a Netflix app

DarylM
Legend 5
Legend 5

@SeeMoreDigital wrote:

@DarylM wrote:
Subtitles seems to be the big one.  I'm aware that Tom's explained the reasons why it's difficult to do (variable bit rates would result in blurry subtitles).

If the subtitles are 'graphics' based then yes, they could look blurry under certain circumstances. But if they're 'text' based, they wont.

 

Of-course, the NOW TV Box would have to offer text based decoder support too. I'm not sure if the Roku devices offer this level of functionality...


 

Yes, that's what slightly surprised me about the latest explanation.   I think that, using Now TV's current method of delivering video, a second video stream would need to be created specifically for the version with subtitles.  Since the subtitles would be inlaid in the picture, they would go blurry during those moments when the user's connection slows down a bit.

 

It seems that Now TV currently does not have the functionality to support text-based subtitles.  And introducing it would be more complicated than it sounds because it's likely that every aspect of delivering the video would need to be changed (i.e. the methods used to upload the video and the software used to play it).

 

That's my understanding of it anyway, because I am in no way technical.

 

Does Sky Go have subtitles?



If this has solved your issue please mark this as an accepted solution.

Those little green stars by my name mean that I'm a Community Contributor - not Now TV staff. I just try to help out if I can.

SeeMoreDigital
Legend 5
Legend 5

@DarylM wrote:

Yes, that's what slightly surprised me about the latest explanation.   I think that, using Now TV's current method of delivering video, a second video stream would need to be created specifically for the version with subtitles.  Since the subtitles would be inlaid in the picture, they would go blurry during those moments when the user's connection slows down a bit.

 

It seems that Now TV currently does not have the functionality to support text-based subtitles.  And introducing it would be more complicated than it sounds because it's likely that every aspect of delivering the video would need to be changed (i.e. the methods used to upload the video and the software used to play it).

 

That's my understanding of it anyway, because I am in no way technical.


The 'video' delivery method does not have to change in order for the playback device to support subtitles, whether they be 'text' based or 'graphics' based. All that's required is an additional file (stream) placed within the delivery container. 

 

In order for the subtitle stream to be displayed, the relevant file parser and subtitle decoder needs to be incorporated within the playback device...

DarylM
Legend 5
Legend 5

I think one problem might be that Now TV offers live streaming channels - something which Netflix and Amazon do not.

 

Would it be acceptable for Now TV to offer subtitles for on demand content (catch up and box sets) but not live channels?  Or would everyone be perfectly happy and say that it was a good start?

 

I don't know of any live streaming channels which offer subtitles.  At least, the live internet channels via the iPlayer, ITVPlayer and All4 do not.

 

I guess there may be difficulty in synching up the text files with the live stream when there's the potential for buffering.

 

Does Sky Go have subtitles for any of its content - live or on demand?



If this has solved your issue please mark this as an accepted solution.

Those little green stars by my name mean that I'm a Community Contributor - not Now TV staff. I just try to help out if I can.

commanda6
Legend 5
Legend 5

@DarylM wrote:

@Anonymous User wrote:

@DarylM I think one look at the ideas section suggests that subtitles is the big one & because it's been on there for 3 years or so,  to me it gives the impression that NOW TV just aren't bothered.  It would be better if they said it's not going to happen or ideally some sort of time frame if it is.


Subtitles seems to be the big one.  I'm aware that Tom's explained the reasons why it's difficult to do (variable bit rates would result in blurry subtitles).

 

It's clearly possible since other services have them.  But I believe it would require wholesale change to the system which Now TV delivers video by.  I'm sure they'd prefer to have subtitles.  I'm hopeful that the new box will make any potential change more viable.


Hi @DarylM and @Anonymous User

 

In theory subtitles would be  visible enough. If an individual has a good enough connection to receive the maximum bit rate that people with a slow Internet connection would have a hard time as they of course wouldn't receive the Max bit rate

 

Hi @SeeMoreDigital

 

As far as I know vast majority of now TVs devices use H264.

With Roku/nowTV box I believe now TVs files are in MP4 format using the H264 codec


I do not work for Now . I am simply a Now customer trying to help I am a Community Contributor This means that I know a lot about the service. But just like you I am still a customer. This means I cannot help you with issues that would involve looking into your account directly. A member of the now TV forum team or live chat will need to assist you with these issues.