Netflix and opening credits (1 Viewer)

[Jake Lipson]

At some point last year, Netflix began automatically bypassing the opening credits sequence of TV shows. I assume they think that people don't want to watch the same opening credits every time while they're binge-watching a particular show.

Does anyone know if there is a way to turn this feature off? If so, any help would be super-appreciated. I actually want to watch the opening credits every time because it's a fun part of the episode for me. I've found that I can "wind it back" with the "previous" button to get the credits to play after they've been skipped, but I don't really want to do that. I want it to just play straight through.

Thanks.

 

[Cranston37+]

What device are you using? My Apple TV will bring up a button allowing you to skip it if you choose, but it won’t do it automatically...

 

[Jake Lipson]

What device are you using?

Good question. It never occurred to me that it would vary by device. I use Netflix through my Blu-ray player which is a Sony with a model number BDP-S3700, which I bought not quite a year ago.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

My Roku also brings up a "Skip Intro" or "Skip Credits" button but plays the intros by default.

 

[Chip_HT]

I think it also depends on the nature of the show. Obviously, if the show starts with a cold open, it's not automatically skipping the credits, but it does give the option to skip the intro when it starts. The shows that start directly with credits get skipped after the first one (although you can manually skip the intro for the first one).

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I have the older AppleTV which, fortunately for me, is too dumb to know that it can skip things automatically. I guess for once it paid not to upgrade.

 

[gadgtfreek]

I have never seen anything auto bypass the credits, when they start on that particular show, a small "skip intro" pops up up for a second, and then goes away if you dont select it.

 

[John Dirk]

I have never seen anything auto bypass the credits, when they start on that particular show, a small "skip intro" pops up up for a second, and then goes away if you dont select it.

Same here. I see the "Skip Intro" button across all of my devices, assuming the content supports it.

 

[EricSchulz]

I can't even find anything about enabling/disabling it in Settings.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I can't even find anything about enabling/disabling it in Settings.

Me either, which is why I asked. You'd think it would be a super-easy thing they could just you set, like an on/off switch. That such a thing is not offered makes no sense to me. Why would they assume you want to skip the credits instead of just asking you? I also don't like how the end credits of things are regulated to the corner while an ad for some other content they want you to play is focal. I like to watch films from beginning to end, including credits.

 

[Jim*Tod]

What I hate is that closing credits go to a tiny screen within the screen and then disappear entirely. I like to watch the closing credits. Anyone know how to stop that from happening?

 

[gadgtfreek]

Me either, which is why I asked. You'd think it would be a super-easy thing they could just you set, like an on/off switch. That such a thing is not offered makes no sense to me. Why would they assume you want to skip the credits instead of just asking you? I also don't like how the end credits of things are regulated to the corner while an ad for some other content they want you to play is focal. I like to watch films from beginning to end, including credits.

I don't get your complaint. It doesn't auto skip, you have to select skip, AND, if you don't select it, goes away quickly. Why do you need to turn it off?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

What I hate is that closing credits go to a tiny screen within the screen and then disappear entirely. I like to watch the closing credits. Anyone know how to stop that from happening?

Once the end credits shrink to the little picture within the picture, you should see a countdown start for whatever Netflix has set to autoplay next. If you use your remote to select the little picture containing the credits before the timer completes its countdown and select some variation on "OK" or "Play" (depending on your device), the end credits return to full screen and play in their entirety.

I don't get your complaint. It doesn't auto skip, you have to select skip, AND, if you don't select it, goes away quickly. Why do you need to turn it off?

Jake's issue is that on his device they do auto-skip. My LG smart TV would do the same thing. One of the reasons I do all of my Netflix viewing through the Roku now.

 

[Tony Bensley]

What I hate is that closing credits go to a tiny screen within the screen and then disappear entirely. I like to watch the closing credits. Anyone know how to stop that from happening?

Sometimes, a well timed pause can prevent this, but it unfortunately isn't foolproof. On the Apple TV, I am able to navigate to the small screen with the credits and press the middle round Enter button to full screen it once again.

CHEERS!

 

[gadgtfreek]

Jake's issue is that on his device they do auto-skip. My LG smart TV would do the same thing. One of the reasons I do all of my Netflix viewing through the Roku now.

Odd. I guess it is running an older version or something. I have avoided tv apps and older blu-ray players because of that.

 

[Jim*Tod]

Thanks guys. I have a Sony blu ray player which is about a year old and I will try what you suggested. I will say this player streams Netflix in much higher quality than the old one or my tv.

 

[Chip_HT]

I have never seen anything auto bypass the credits, when they start on that particular show, a small "skip intro" pops up up for a second, and then goes away if you dont select it.

Are you watching multiple consecutive episodes of a show that immediately starts off with credits?

 

[gadgtfreek]

Are you watching multiple consecutive episodes of a show that immediately starts off with credits?

We generally watch two in a row of each show when it is time to swap from my DVR to Netflix queue.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Netflix is REALLY dumbing itself down to appease those with short attention spans. I don't want to see that "Skip Intro" indicator pop up onscreen, just put indicators on the menus and such that you can hit Enter to skip intros and be done with it. (Note that I'm NOT begrudging giving those the OPTION to skip any parts, it's just that they need to do it without annoying those who do want to watch things all the way through. My DVD players don't show an indicator onscreen telling me that I can skip chapters using the chapter-skip buttons, I already know that and can decide whether or not to use them.)

What's ridiculous is that they're applying this to shows made specifically FOR Netflix- I've heard that "Bojack Horseman" has different opening and closing themes tailored to each episode, but they STILL prompt you to skip over them.

I tried out Netflix on my LG TV and promptly cancelled it because of this and the ending credit interruption, which in some cases RUINS the ending of some movies. I don't want to have a promo for another show or movie take up the screen as I'm absorbing the ending. Even if I can bring the screen back with the remote, it's already been interrupted by that point. During a good movie I often forget where the remote even IS. Those with short attention spans likely already have the remote in their hands, so let THEM hit some buttons if they want to exit out during the credits. I shot these videos of some of the worst offenders I saw:


Quite frankly, Steven Spielberg should be furious about that. Projecting this movie in the theater we never even turned the lights up that early, but here Netflix cuts off this CLOSING SHOT for a trailer. A movie THIS serious certainly shouldn't have promos shoved in your face right away- it's the sort of movie that some may not only want to let play to the bitter end, but then sit in silence for a bit after that.


These aren't even boring white-on-black credits, it's the school yearbook- but it yanks you out so fast you can hardly even tell what's happening.


Stuff goes on in this right til the last second, but because those awful words are scrolling, they figured you want to be kicked out of it. This one doesn't even go into a preview, so if you do nothing the end of the movie plays in that tiny box, which likely NOBODY wants to see- you have to pick up the remote to either bring it back or start something else.


If you know this movie, you KNOW why Netflix shouldn't be ENCOURAGING people to leave this one early.

Here's an explanation of how this "feature" works- because if you think reading movie credits is a waste of time, you'll certainly want to spend a few minutes reading this: https://medium.com/netflix-techblog/extracting-contextual-information-from-video-assets-ee9da25b6008

I let Netflix's customer service people know that I'd be a lifetime subscriber (paying extra for 4K access) if there were a way to disable this- I even sent a printed letter to Reed Hastings, but as of now it's still going on. Netflix started out pretty well, but I can no longer support them if they think that this is the optimal way to show a movie. At the very least they need to make the interface CUSTOMIZABLE so that you can actually watch everything beginning to end, or choose to have all the interruptions and skipping that they want to throw at you.

I do have an older Roku 2 XD hooked up, which thankfully still gives me Netflix's older, more primitive interface WITHOUT any annoyances. It can't give me 4K, but I'd rather have an uninterrupted viewing experience than an upgraded picture on select material. I'm leeching off my parents' subscription with that so they're not getting a dime from me; I'd gladly pay full price for 4K though if they didn't have such an intrusive interface on everything that supports that.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I have never had a program interrupted on either the AppleTV (I have the older version) nor on the Netflix app on my Oppo BD-103 player. So I guess I'm lucky on that front.

On the other hand, Netflix doesn't do things like this by accident. They have an enormous amount of viewership data, and I imagine that something in that data showed them that users continually skipped over movie end credits and/or TV show episode main titles, otherwise they wouldn't offer these features. If I'm going to watch three or four episodes of the same show in a row, I will likely watch the main title sequence for the first episode, and then skip it for subsequent ones, so I'm not surprised to hear that apparently other Netflix users do the same.

But also - Netflix isn't an ownership site, and it's not a movie rental service. It's a non-linear subscription, the 21st century equivalent of being subscribed to a premium cable service like HBO in the 1990s. For viewers who want to have more control over what they watch, and who want the most optimal presentation, that's never going to be Netflix - that's either going to be disc ownership, or digital ownership or rental. It's not surprising to see a service that is equivalent to a TV station behaving like one. Netflix needs to promote their latest offerings to keep you watching. The second you feel that Netflix has nothing left to offer is the second you cancel, and their business model depends on having subscribers who continually pay a monthly membership fee. It's in their interest to point out the next movie or show on their service that you might enjoy. And they must have data showing that viewers are more likely to watch an additional episode or movie if it starts playing immediately rather than giving the viewer an opportunity to get up and do something else. I have less of a problem with a subscription service like Netflix doing these things than I would if something I had specifically purchased from iTunes behaved like this.