Welcome to the blog of Dr. Lisa Burns' Media Studies senior capstone class (3:30 pm section) at Quinnipiac University. If you're looking for the latest on media industry trends and insightful media analysis, you've come to the right place!
Thursday, January 20, 2022
Media Economics Blog 1, Question 1 (Feb. 1)
Which major media conglomerate is
best positioned to succeed and which organization will face the most challenges
in 2022? Limit: 14 responses
Gage Kilborne The major media conglomerate that is best positioned to succeed in 2022 is Disney. The reason for this is because Disney has almost complete control of the media industry following their recent purchase of 21st Century Fox Studios. Marvel is expected to be coming out with some more blockbusters in 2022 following the new Spiderman film that came out in December 2021. A few other titles that should be big hits for this franchise is "Turning Red", "Thor: Love and Thunder", and "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever". Alongside the mainstream films from Disney studios, the sports industry has started to transcend upward following the pandemic's beginnings in 2020. With ESPN covering many marquee matchups throughout 2022 including The Masters, College Baseball Tournament, the 2022 NFL Draft, and the Wimbledon Championships to name a few. With the pandemic coming to an end and we start to see our world go back to a sense of normalcy, many consumers are going to slow down how many streaming services they own. As a result of this, I believe Amazon is going to struggle in this as they will find a lot of problems with MGM, more than they can handle. This will result in a big time loss for Amazon this year in 2022 from last year. Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart. Sherman, Alex. “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” CNBC, CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021, www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html. staff, THR. “The High Highs (and Lower Lows) of Hollywood in 2021.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Jan. 2022, www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hollywood-2021-highs-and-lower-lows-1235062740/.
The days of scanning TV Guide are over, as streaming has ushered in a new wave of television. For the price of a pretty penny, consumers can omit advertisements from their favorite shows and binge watch all 10 seasons of Friends if they desire. While some media companies are on the up and out, like AMC Theaters, others like Disney, have continued their relevancy in the digital age. It was only a matter of time before Disney produced their own streaming platform, giving Netflix and Hulu a run for their money. The media conglomerate has been a dominate force in the entertainment industry and the streaming service realm is no different. Not only has Disney accumulated more subscribers, “Disney announced added 2.1 million subscribers for its fiscal fourth quarter” (Sherman, Subin), but has also acquired ESPN, making it the most viable streaming service. Sports have largely contributed to ratings and have kept television channels afloat. “…sports programming is said to be “keeping the lights on” at ABC, CBS…” (Serazio 15). Meanwhile, ESPN has proven itself as a cash cow for Disney. “ESPN is, by far, the “worldwide leader” in cable revenues…at one point, the “principal cash spigot” for parent corporation Disney, when it topped out with some $10 billion in earning” (Serazio 14). While Disney will flourish as a top competitor within the streaming service sphere, it’s the movie theaters that are shaking in their boots. The pandemic turned the 21st century upside down, but none more so than the movie industry. According to a New York Times article, “Over the weekend, ticket sales in the United States and Canada stood at roughly $96 million, compared to $181 million over the same period in 2019” (Barnes). While the theater can blame the pandemic for poor ticket sales, as people are less prone to gather in crowds, there is also the issue of rising ticket and concession prices. People do not find the movies as enticing as it once was especially for its price-point. From a financial standpoint, AMC Theaters are only producing about $2.2 billion worth of content, according to Vox. Comparatively, Disney is producing $321 billion worth of content. The pandemic has also experimented with movie releases on exclusive platforms. In 2020, after several delays, Christopher Nolan’s film, Tenant, was released on HBO Max in conjunction with theater releases. As the world continues to find a normal within the pandemic, streaming services are certainly here to stay, with Disney leading the pack and holding its position as adaptive organization. Meanwhile, AMC Theaters will have to reconsider its position and think strategically as to how to attract movie-goers. The next couple of years will be vital for the movie theater industry as it will determine whether it can adapt like Disney or is destined to be left behind as the digital world moves forward.
Barnes, B. (2021, November 29). Movie theaters must 'urgently' rethink the experience, a study says. The New York Times. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/29/business/movie-theater-attendance.html Molla, R., & Kafka, P. (2018, January 23). Here's who owns everything in Big Media today. Vox. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart Serazio, M. (2019). The power of sports: Media and spectacle in American culture. New York University Press. sherman4949. (2021, November 11). Disney makes the trend clear: Growth is slowing for streaming services. CNBC. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html
Amanda Perlin, Question 1 In today’s world, it seems like there are endless options for entertainment. From television to video game consoles, there’s something for everyone. I believe that the major media conglomerate that is best positioned to succeed in 2022 is Disney. The Walt Disney Company is a media giant that has the ability to be successful through its various divisions. One of these is its Board of Director. “During its fiscal fourth quarter, Disney added 2.1 million subscribers.” (CNBC). This figure is down from the previous quarter’s 11.8 million. Although Walt Disney is known for its theme parks and movies, the company also has divisions that are focused on various other areas, such as publishing and television. It is one of the most successful businesses in the world. Disney completed its acquisition of 21st Century Fox's media assets for $71.3 billion on March 20, 2019. Disney already had various mega-brands such as Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars. With the acquisition of 21st Century Fox, it now has the whole Marvel Entertainment, including the X-Men and Deadpool franchises. The acquisition also gave Disney former TV networks such as National Geographic, as well as Hulu, which is owned by Fox. Disney+, its own streaming platform, took on Netflix in a blow to the latter's business model. Its market cap is approximately $238.9 billion. The Walt Disney Company is the third-largest multi-national company in the world, with annual revenues of around 20 billion. Disney is a stable company that maintains its place at the top of the industry. Its rival, CBS, is also on a similar standing as it relates to media conglomerates in the US. Although Disney will be best positioned to succeed, I feel as if Netflix will face the most challenges in 2022. It's no secret that the streaming industry is very challenging. When Netflix reported weak subscriber additions during the first quarter, the market was worried about the company's growth. The stock price of Netflix dropped 19% on Friday after the company revealed disappointing subscriber numbers. It continued to slide on Monday. The rise of new competition, which includes Disney+ and HBO Max, has caused Netflix to face a tougher time attracting new subscribers. Sherman, Alex. Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services, CNBC, 10 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html. Adalian, Josef. “The Great Netflix Panic of '22.” The Great Netflix Panic of ‘22, Vulture, 28 Jan. 2022, https://www.vulture.com/2022/01/netflix-panic-of-22.html?utm_source=Sailthru&%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_campaign=Vulture+-+January+28%2C+2022&%3Butm_term=Subscription+List+-+Vulture+%281+Year%29. Beattie, Andrew. “Walt Disney: How Entertainment Became an Empire.” Walt Disney: How Entertainment Became an Empire, Investopedia, 26 July 2020, https://www.investopedia.com/articles/financial-theory/11/walt-disney-entertainment-to-empire.asp.
Sarah Lefkowitz Media consumption has only gone up due to the pandemic. The media conglomerate that is best positioned for success in 2022 is Disney. Disney has dominated multiple industries for years, and recently have added streaming to the list, giving huge corporations like Netflix and Hulu another strong competitor. Although according to the diagram from Vox, Netflix has more subscribers than Disney Plus, for example. However, Disney makes up for that subscriber difference in other areas (Molla and Kafka). Disney’s main lines of business include huge money-makers such as ESPN and Marvel. According to Johnston, “Acquisitions are a major vehicle of growth for Disney—and have been over the past three decades.” Disney has done the unimaginable time and time again. Their acquisitions have granted them prestige that no other company has. Two examples from Johnston are, “Disney became the first media company to have a presence across filmed entertainment, cable television, broadcasting, and telephone wires after it bought Capital Cities/ABC,” and The company became the owner of the “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” franchises following the purchase of Lucasfilm in 2012” (Johnston). Not only does Disney own two of the most successful movie series of all time, they also own Marvel, which is home to plenty of its own successful movie series, and ESPN, which is home to tons of different sports channels and stations. These are just a few of the companies that Disney has a stake in and just a few of the companies that contribute to its undying success. The article titled, “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth is Slowing For streaming services,” by Sherman and Subin, introduces a possible bump in the road for Disney. “Disney announced added 2.1 million subscribers for its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Oct. 2. That’s down from 12.6 million added the previous quarter…The slowing growth among most streaming services may suggest pandemic gains are waning as more people return to outside activities and out-of-home work” (Sherman and Subin).
Sarah Lefkowitz (cont.) As the pandemic rapidly changes, so do streaming numbers. The amount of subscribers Disney Plus added quarterly, has begun to go down. It is important to look at more than just subscriber count however. For example, Netflix has around 212 million subscribers while Disney only has 118 million. However, Disney is able to make up for that in its acquisitions and other companies it owns. According to the article, ESPN+ brings in 17 million subscribers while Hulu brings in about 44 million subscribers. Even though streaming numbers might be going down, Disney has plenty of other markets to make up for that loss, as mentioned earlier. The organization that will face the most challenges in 2022 is AMC. Despite theaters making a comeback in 2022, people are definitely still skeptical about going out to theaters, and a lot of movies are debuting exclusively on streaming services. On the graph from Vox, AMC is very low, having only brought in $2.2 billion. Comparatively, even though ViacomCBS is also pretty low, they brought in 18 times what AMC did. Disney on the other hand, brought in over $300 billion (Molla and Kafka). Despite streaming numbers going down according to Sherman and Subin, streaming platforms are definitely going to be better off than movie theaters in 2022.
Johnston, Matthew. “7 Companies Owned by Disney.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 18 Aug. 2021, https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/102915/top-5-companies-owned-disney.asp.
Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart. \
Sherman, Alex, and Samantha Subin. “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” CNBC, CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html.
As a result of a nation in lockdown, nostalgia has taken the world by storm. People want to watch their favorite Disney movies and shows, and with nothing to do but sit inside all day, Disney+ created the perfect remedy. Currently Disney is predicted to be the most successful media conglomerate of 2022, and this is for a variety of different reasons. Though Netflix and Hulu have dominated the streaming game for years now, Disney+ has achieved similar success in a much smaller time frame. As mentioned in an article posted by CNBC titled “Disney makes the trend clear: Growth is slowing for streaming services”, Disney has successfully “added 2.1 million subscribers for its fiscal fourth quarter” (Sherman and Rubin, CNBC, p1, 2021) and though this article discusses the downwards trend that these streaming services are falling into, these numbers still reflect a rapid growth that has only been seen by platforms that are now considered the OGs such as Netflix and Hulu. Which means that Disney+ is growing at a similar speed, has comparable numbers, despite existing for much less time than the other two conglomerates. Disney+ has created a demand for Disney movies and shows, and has made huge strides towards success in the past two years that will soon put them in the lead.
But Disney has not only shown success through Disney+ and their nostalgic films and tv shows. According to the article “Here’s who owns everything in Big Media today” posted on Vox.com, the Disney company owns Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox Studios, ESPN, Marvel Studios, and has a 67% stake in Hulu (Molla and Kafka, Vox.com, p 2, 2021). This means that Disney as a conglomerate essentially has a finger in every pie. They own one of the largest sports networks, Marvel Studios which has a cult following behind every film they put out, and are able to put shows from 20th Century Fox Studios that provide their Disney+ subscribers with more than just nostalgia, and allow them to stream more adult shows such as Family Guy, The Simpsons, and American Dad. From sports, to comedy, to children’s shows, to action movies, Disney has successful covered every generic basis of everyone in one household, which makes it practical to subscribe for everyone. According to an article posted on seekingalpha.com titled “Disney: World’s Largest Media Company Becoming Even Stronger” Disney has made the right choices by investing in different realms of media and television. As stated by the author “The acquisition of Fox further widens Disney’s ecosystem of content with popular titles such as Deadpool, Avatar, X-Men, Fantastic Four, This Is Us, Modern Family, The Simpsons, etc. Disney saw its profit soar in the first three months of merging with 21st Century Fox in 2019. The entertainment behemoth says that its net income had increased 85% to $5.4 bln in that quarter”. These numbers prove that Disney is in the best position to succeed.
As for challenges, it is clear based on the conversations had in class and recent news of box office sales dropping, that AMC is a company that has been suffering as a result of the pandemic. AMC was recently dropped by its former conglomerate, Dalian Wanda Group, and the sales continue to suffer despite the efforts to return to normalcy amid the pandemic that still impacts our daily lives. AMC has been working hard to get people back to the theatres, but it seems they still have a lot of work to do before people feel fully comfortable returning to such large and crowded spaces.
Work Cited:
Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart. Investments, Khaveen. “Disney (DIS): World's Largest Media Company Becoming Even Stronger.” SeekingAlpha, Seeking Alpha, 17 Aug. 2021, https://seekingalpha.com/article/4450008-disney-worlds-largest-media-company-becoming-even-stronger. sherman4949. “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” CNBC, CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html. Rubin, Rebecca. “Wanda Group No Longer Majority Shareholder in AMC Theatres.” Variety, Variety, 13 Mar. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/film/news/china-wanda-group-amc-theatres-1234929145/.
Streaming services have become incredibly popular over the past couple of years, leading to heavy competition, massive earnings, and even bigger losses for major media conglomerates. Some streaming services are owned by those same media conglomerates, which could mean large earnings or large losses for them. The year 2021 was very telling for the media conglomerates’ success right now and in the future. Disney/21st Century Fox not only owns Disney+, 21st Century Fox Studios, ESPN, Marvel Studios, and Lucasfilm, but it also owns 67% of Hulu. Disney has huge stakes in streaming services as well as other media. The majority of Disney+’s early success is thanks to Disney’s purchases of Lucasfilm, Marvel, and Pixar which happened prior to the 21st Century Fox purchase (Molla & Kafka, 2022). On top of all of that, ESPN’s new deal with The National Hockey League is set to earn Disney $400 million dollars annually (Bisnoff, 2021). Disney is the organization best positioned to succeed in 2022 because of all its past successes. In addition, it owns many major media and streaming services that are projected to grow in 2022. Overall, Disney has everything in place to grow its already successful media conglomeration. Netflix is credited for being the original successful streaming service. Netflix is its own entity, meaning it is self-owned and operated. Netflix started off buying content from different studios, but now the conglomerate also produces its own content (Molla & Kafka, 2022). Netflix saw more growth in the third quarter compared to the second of 2021. Netflix gained 4.4 million new subscribers in the third quarter compared to earning only 1 million new subscribers in the second (Sherman & Subin, 2021). Netflix’s biggest threat is the multiple streaming services being added each year. Netflix was the lone screening service for a while but now the competition has grown vastly (Bisnoff, 2021). Despite the above, Netflix is not going anywhere. While I do not think it will be the most successful streaming company of 2022, I believe that it will continue to grow as it has in years past.
AT&T/WarnerMedia is another major conglomerate in the media world. WarnerMedia owns Warner Brothers Studio, HBO, HBO Max, CNN, TNT, TBS, 71% of Discovery+, and 70% of DirecTV (Molla & Kafka, 2022). Going by the numbers, it looks as though it has been a rough year for WarnerMedia. WarnerMedia lost 5 million subscribers in the third quarter of 2021. While this seems like a huge loss, this was due to WarnerMedia removing HBO from Amazon channels in 2020. Things actually seem to be looking up for WarnerMedia with a projection of 120 million to 150 million subscribers by the end of 2025 (Sherman & Subin, 2021). I believe that WarnerMedia will be moderately successful in 2022. The success of HBO, HBO Max, and Discovery+ will help them immensely with revenue. However, I do not believe that it will come close to Disney in revenue. Though it will continue to grow. Comcast is a media conglomerate originally known for media distribution, however, it now also has stakes in content and streaming. Comcast owns Peacock, NBC, E!, Bravo, CNBC, Sky, Universal Studios, and a 33% stake in Hulu. Comcast has not released its quarterly numbers so it is hard to compare it to the other major media conglomerates. Since Comcast relies heavily on cable and broadcast for its revenue, the conglomerate could face major issues in the coming years. Streaming services are continuing to grow and many households are choosing streaming instead of cable. I believe that Comcast will face the greatest challenges in 2022 as a result.
Work Cited: Bisnoff, J. (2021, May 13). The world's largest media companies 2021: Comcast and charter lead as streaming disruption looms. Forbes. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbisnoff/2021/05/13/the-worlds-largest-media-companies-2020-comcast-and-charter-lead-as-streaming-disruption-looms/?sh=780c5085117f Molla, R., & Kafka, P. (2018, January 23). Here's who owns everything in Big Media today. Vox. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart Sherman, A., & Subin, S. (2021, November 11). Disney makes the trend clear: Growth is slowing for streaming services. CNBC. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html
Jordon Bennett Part 1 Since the COVID pandemic, streaming services have made major profits like Netflix, Disney plus and Hulu. This is due to the business decisions like buying other competitive companies, as well as buying rights to popular shows and movie. For example, Netflix has 208 million subscribers, making $223 billion. Netflix does this by purchasing rights to popular TV shows like Lucifer, as well as making their own popular shows like the successful Squid Games and Outer Banks. Disney dominates the media scene with Disney plus having 100 million subscribers, as well as owning major broadcast company, ESPN, the highly popular MARVEL Studios and 20th Century Fox. Other sources of media that thrive and will continue to profit are distribution companies like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon. These companies offer internet, and video with Comcast owning Peacock with 42 million subscribers, Sky and Universal Studios. The two most popular media sources, Comcast and Disney both share stake in popular streaming service Hulu with Disney owning 67% and Comcast 33%. Netflix is a streaming service that will continually bounce back from slow quarterlies will announcements of major shows coming back for more seasons. Popular shows like Squid Games, Outer Banks, and Money Heist make and add seasons which brings in subscribers if a slow quarterly count happens. HBO Max is another streaming service that succeeded in 2021, and going into 2022, HBO Max is set to accompany Disney plus and Netflix for top streaming services with HBO Max being the most downloaded streaming video entertainment app in the US, topping Disney Plus and Netflix. Additionally, HBO Max, charges $15 a month, which is a significantly more than other services, which means a higher revenue per user. 2022 was set to be a huge year for cinema, with ticket sales and profits at an all time low in 2020, and even with an increase of profit in 2021 thanks to movies like Spider-Man, ‘No way Home’, profits were still down 61% from 2019. Before the Omicron variant hit the US, things were getting closer to pre pandemic, but the cinema business was still able to struggle bringing back audiences. One reason for the drop is the older demographic still staying at home and seeing cinema as a risk not worth the reward. This begs the question about the future of cinema, not just for 2022 but long after. Actor Ben Affleck, believes that movie theatres will soon be exclusively reserved for Marvel blockbustes and some event-based films. Affleck starred in critical acclaimed film Argo which won countless awards like the Academy Award for Best Picture. Affleck stated that, “a drama like Argo would not be made theatrically now. I think movies in theatres are going to become more expensive, event-ized. They’re mostly going to be younger people, and mostly and ‘Hey, I’m so into the Marvel Universe, I can’t wait to see what happens next”. 2022 is a major year for cinema with blockbusters like The Batman, Doctor Strange and Black Panther all set to be released in 2022. Cinema is one media source that suffered from the pandemic and 2022 could be the year where people return to the cinema or it could be the year that changes cinema for an extended period of time.
The global entertainment industry has changed so much over the past decade. One organization is in the best position for 2022 and the near future. That organization has to be Disney. Disney has been expanding the organization for a long time, and they seem to be slowing down. They have some top brands like Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, Pixar, Fox, and ESPN. All these brands combined make Disney the empire of the media industry. The great part about it is these brands were not bought recently, so they continue to expand off each one of them. For example,” The Marvel Cinematic Universe propelled Disney to the top of the domestic box office in 2021 (Whitten).” 2020 and 2021 were not great years for the box office worldwide—the fact they were able to put great content out there like the new Spiderman movie. You also have the agreement between ESPN and the NHL for several years. Having the rights to one of the four or five major professional sports leagues in America is a great move. Finally, you have the expansion of Lucasfilm from the creation of the “Bad Batch” to “The Book of Boba Fett”. There is so much with Star Wars, and you can keep building off of small things within the trilogies. Those are just a few small examples of what Disney has accomplished because Disney has much more greatness.
Disney might have an easier time in 2022, but Netflix will probably have a more difficult time. Netflix is not gaining a significant amount of new subscribers to their platform. There are several factors that have to deal with lack of subscribers. A big one has to be the increased price in membership for people in the U.S. For example,” American subs, the standard two-stream HD plan is going up to $1.50 (about 11%) from $13.99 to $15.49/month (Spangler).” Consumers never like to see a spike in the price. This may keep them from continuing to subscribe to Netflix. Another big challenge Netflix faces is building back to normalcy from the pandemic. During 2020 and 2021, people were sitting on their couches and enjoying their time. During that time, streaming platforms were having the time of their lives. We are coming close to when we don’t have to think about COVID 19. That means the profits from the pandemic will decrease, and there won’t be a higher subscriber count for the company. With fewer people subscribing, they have to find the best way to engage people. They have to decide to put more effort into making original content or buying content from the studios. With all those factors, it is safe to say that Netflix will have a difficult time in 2022.
Works Cited: Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. "Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today." Vox. Vox, 23 Jan. 2018. Web. 01 Feb. 2022. Sherman4949. "Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services." CNBC. CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021. Web. 01 Feb. 2022. Spangler, Todd. "Netflix Falls Short of Q4 Subscriber Target, Stock Tumbles on Weak Forecast." Variety. Variety, 26 Jan. 2022. Web. 01 Feb. 2022. Whitten, Sarah. "Marvel Heroes Propelled Disney to the Top of the 2021 Domestic Box Office." CNBC. CNBC, 07 Jan. 2022. Web. 01 Feb. 2022.
Catherine Weber The streaming service industry has been a major highlight in the developing media world for the past few years. With numerous streaming services battling the post pandemic phase of VOD, Disney+ is in the best position to succeed in 2022 due to the numerous positives that lie within their collection of Intellectual Property and their production/release process. Disney has their streaming service with 118 million subscribers plus their subscribers from other owned streaming platforms such as Hulu and ESPN. Their subscriber count has increased over the past year due to the niche content that draws people to pay for the platform such as Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars. This type of content brings in the subscribers. These are huge fan bases that are loyal to their content and Disney+ benefits from the ownership of these collections. The collection of series and movies that Disney+ has to offer keeps the subscriber using the platform and “once you’re there, the deep archive probably keeps you” (Kline). The content Disney owns is abundant and has been collected for years. The overall decline in people subscribing to streaming platforms is referenced in the CBNC article to the pandemic ending and people returning to different activities. Although the subscription rate is slowing down, it does not mean that it is stopping. Disney+ had an additional 12 million subscribers in Quarter 3 of 2021 and it then dropped to 2 million in Quarter 4 (Sherman & Subin). This is a major decrease, but it is consistent among all streaming services including top platform, Netflix.
Disney+ content is produced almost like a big event while a service like Netflix produces an abundance of content all at once and they do not bring in tons of viewership. Disney+ creates, releases, or produces VOD that they know will create viewership. Creating a family style animation movie such as Encanto, which was made by Disney and released on Disney+ a month after theater release, is a perfect product for the families that subscribe to their platform. Creating and producing content that is considered a ‘hit’ is easier for Disney+ than Netflix. Even Netflix admits that these ‘big legacy entertainment companies’ have made their way up in the streaming industry (Adalin). Netflix needs to be aware of their steps in competing with other streaming services. A major concern for Netflix is the numerous originals they release that do not do well in viewership. Cancellations of series after one season leaves viewers confused and left questioning their investment in the overall product, in this case the service they are paying for (Gimmel). Netflix will face the most challenges in 2022 with obtaining more paying subscribers and creating that ‘hit’ content that generates virality.
Adalian, Josef. “The Great Netflix Panic of '22.” Vulture, Vulture, 28 Jan. 2022, https://www.vulture.com/2022/01/netflix-panic-of-22.html?utm_source=Sailthru&%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_campaign=Vulture+-+January+28%2C+2022&%3Butm_term=Subscription+List+-+Vulture+%281+Year%29. Gemmill, Allie, and Allie Gemmill (193 Articles Published) Entertainment Features Writer at Screen Rant. More From Allie Gemmill. “The Real Reasons Netflix Is Suddenly Losing Subscribers.” ScreenRant, 19 July 2019, https://screenrant.com/netflix-subscriber-loss-reason-why/. Kline, Daniel. “Netflix's Problem Isn't Membership. It's What Disney Has That It Doesn't.” TheStreet, TheStreet, 24 Jan. 2022, https://www.thestreet.com/investing/netflix-has-a-content-problem-not-a-membership-problem. Sherman, Alex, and Samantha Subin. “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” CNBC, CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021
Kimberlyn Bouley The end of January brought media conglomerates fourth-quarter reports that displayed a mass change with streaming services’ rankings. Netflix has kept its ranking as the number one streaming service with the highest subscription revenue for years but with more competition appearing with the new year, that could all change. In Variety’s article, Spangler states that “Netflix shares fell more than 20% in after-hours trading, as the company forecast 2.5 million net subscribers adds for the first quarter of 2022. For Q1, Wall Street analysts had been projecting a gain of 7.25 million subscribers, per FactSet.” (Spangler) This fast-paced drop worried competitors and stakeholders as more streaming subscriptions grew in rate, services will keep trying to pull out strategies to be the best. Although Netflix made a graceful recovery by gaining stakeholders’ back, this might not be the company’s only hard fall during this coming year. Netflix may have a more challenging time this year as competitors keep adding content and features to withstand the attention of their subscribers and allure more people to join. While Netflix has its original and exclusive content, HBO Max’s same day-and-date releases have increased both the subscription and revenue rates. Competition watched closely and are now following HBO’s footsteps. There is a possibility that Disney + will be next to conform with this new age of media and add Pixar to same day-and-date releases exclusively on their subscription service. Doing this can also give reasons to increase their subscription amount, therefore increasing revenue rates. Disney’s quarterly report showed that Disney +’s subscriber rate is still growing after hitting a milestone of 100 million subscriptions but their growth rate is appearing to slow down. This media conglomerate has been dominating the entertainment industry for centuries and continues to do so today. Ryan Faughnder wrote in Los Angeles Times, “The binge-and-burn nature of online viewing, coupled with the growing rivalries between the major streamers, is driving companies to spend even more on content.”(Faughnder) Disney has a plethora of content and the money to keep producing new content. Disney is excepted to be the most successful media conglomerate in 2022 as the company plans to spend $33 billion on content investments for the growth of the direct-to-consumer business. Disney CEO, Bob Chapek, has explained the company’s reasoning for increased content investments is for the streaming service to hit its Q4 2024 goals of reaching around 230-260 million new subscribers. The company has come up with this plan as a resolution for their slowed growth of subscriptions. The Value Pendulum wrote an article reviewing Disney’s business outlook, stating that another reason for this expensive decision is that, “The company targets to launch Disney + in 50 new countries in fiscal 2022,” (Pendulum) Doing this will bring opportunities for new subscriptions as well as new content fulfilling consumers needs in respective regions. While other competitors have to come up with new ideas to stay current and relevant during this new age. The Walt Disney Company is and will always be the most successful entertainment and media conglomerate.
Works Cited Faughnder, Ryan. “HBO Max Is Doing Fine. but Is Streaming Actually a Good Business?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2022, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/newsletter/2022-01-11/hbo-max-is-doing-fine-but-is-streaming-actually-a-good-business-the-wide-shot. Pendulum, The Value. “Is Disney's 2022 Plan to Spend $33 Billion on Content Good for Its Outlook? (NYSE:DIS).” SeekingAlpha, Seeking Alpha, 15 Dec. 2021, https://seekingalpha.com/article/4475332-disney-2022-plan. Spangler, Todd. “Netflix Falls Short of Q4 Subscriber Target, Stock Tumbles on Weak Forecast.” Variety, Variety, 26 Jan. 2022, https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/netflix-q4-2021-earnings-subscribers-1235158494/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7.
Shannon Flaherty 2022 is shaping out to be a great year for all the major media conglomerates, especially those involved in streaming services. A Forbes article stated, “With SVOD offerings from all the major media companies solidly in place, 2022 will usher in the next phase of the ‘streaming wars.’ “(Adgate), which is something I greatly agree with. Though the streaming wars soared during the pandemic, they are very much still prevalent in the “post-pandemic” society we have fallen into today. Society as consumers and has audience members are content hungry, the world is going back to work and needs something to mindlessly binge. The Forbes article also mentions, “Audiences will have access to more content (and more formats) than ever before,” (Adgate), there is a whole market for just subscription streaming or just streaming services in general. However, some could argue the streaming market is oversaturated, with every major media conglomerate wanting to dip their hands into the pot. While Netflix has always been on top for this category. I believe the major media conglomerate that is best positioned to succeed in 2022 is Disney. Disney is unique, in that it is not 100% based around streaming, yet Disney+ is very successful- second just behind Netflix in a CNBC ranking (Sherman). Disney is also unique because not only does it encompass Disney+, but also ESPN+ as well as Hulu (Sherman). Hulu used to be Netflix’s No.1 competitor when the streaming wars were just starting out, but now that times have changed- Hulu falls short for a lot of consumers due to subscription fees for no ads. Disney also is able to come back from flops at the box office, for example their “mediocre $71M” made off of The Eternals (staff), and that is not a small sum for some other major media companies. Disney also is open to success with their purchase of 21st Century Fox, (in addition to their previous purchases of Lucasfilm, Marvel, and Pixar), which will greatly benefit the content options on Disney+ (Molla). For example, “New Girl” is a binge-worthy show on Netflix, is owned by Fox and being removed from Netflix with rumors of moving to Disney+. Disney also has great original content, although it’s been said “catalog shows like ‘Friends' and ‘The Office’ have often out-performed originals on streaming platforms” (Adgate), I don’t think Disney qualifies due to the impressive performance and quality of content for their original series.
Shannon Flaherty cont. Conversely, the organization that I believe will face the most challenges in 2022 is HBOMax. WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, has a higher subscription price, “slightly higher than Netflix’s most popular plan” according to the Los Angeles Times (James). HBOMax is also currently in the middle of a deal with Discovery, which is currently available on Amazon Prime Video. Meanwhile, Amazon is currently in the works to purchase MGM (Molla). HBOMax is not taking the dives in the right directions, Netflix is out there buying from the studios and on top of that producing their own content all while selling straight to their audience (Molla). HBOMax has barely created anything new besides “And Just Like That…”, which is already on a down-fall following Chris Noth’s allegations. HBOMax also failed in this “Sex and the City” reboot by not including Samantha, which drove away some viewers after knowing the off screen Samantha/Carrie controversy and were not pleased that SJP was chosen over Kim Catrall. Not to mention the chief executive for WarnerMedia doesn’t even have a guaranteed position following the Discovery deal, so the fate of HBOMax is very shaky in 2022. Adgate, Brad. “Outlook 2022: What We Can Expect from Advertising & Media.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 16 Dec. 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2021/12/15/outlook-2022-what-we-can-expect-from-advertising--media/?sh=7393f50671e3. James, Meg. “After a Turbulent Year, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar Touts HBO Max Gains.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 2022, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2022-01-05/jason-kilar-how-many-hbo-max-subscribers-2021. Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart. Sherman, Alex. “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” CNBC, CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html. staff, THR. “The High Highs (and Lower Lows) of Hollywood in 2021.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Jan. 2022, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hollywood-2021-highs-and-lower-lows-1235062740/.
Robert Fritz The best positioned media conglomerates to succeed in 2022 is Disney. It comes to the shock of no one with that as Disney seemingly owns just about everything and anything at this point. Disney has their fingers on the pulse of a lot of things. The acquisition of Marvel to put that content on their streaming platform in Disney+ has been huge in the popularity of Disney+. Disney also has ESPN and that is huge considering other media conglomerates don’t have something to the level of that. ESPN is the nationwide leader in sports and considering the events that ESPN has the right to with Monday Night Football, the NFL Draft, all the major tennis events, they have deals with the NBA, NHL, and MLB, they have all the college sports. Disney simply just has more stuff than other media conglomerates. Disney+ now has 118 million subscribers in an article written by Alex Sherman and Samantha Subin from CNBC while ESPN+ has 17 million subscribers. Disney is in a really good position with that they have compared to their counterparts with places like Netflix questioning how it will fair against these new streaming services “I would not be surprised if Netflix comes roaring back by the end of the year and ends up growing faster than it did in 2021, but I also won’t be shocked if the rapid expansion of HBO Max, Disney+, and even some of the smaller players (like Peacock and Paramount+) end up hurting Netflix’s ability to grow outside of the U.S. more than forecast.” (Adalian). Disney has a lot of things that positioned them well to succeed in 2022 with all that they have. Disney having ESPN, Marvel, Lucas Films, and Hulu under its umbrella allows for them to have the success they’ve been having and the continued success that is expected. With what is at the disposal of Disney it is much easier for them to create content with widespread appeal. While Disney is set up to have a big year in 2022 places like AMC and HBO Max are set to face some issues. AMC faces the issue of having to compete against streaming services in the middle of a pandemic. As previously mentioned, Disney has Marvel under its umbrella so when faced with the option of seeing a marvel movie in the comfort of your home or going out in public and watching a movie with a mask on. HBO max faces the issue of trying to compete with the long-standing king in streaming services in Netflix and the long-standing king in media with Disney. “HBO Max is notable more expensive than Disney+ and Netflix, with both undercutting the cheapest tier on the Warner Bros. streaming platform. “(Cowton). The lowest price for HBO Max is $9.99 with ads and given the content on other platforms it begs the question on if its worth it.
Adalian, Josef. “The Great Netflix Panic of '22.” The Great Netflix Panic of ‘22, Vulture, 28 Jan. 2022, https://www.vulture.com/2022/01/netflix-panic-of-22.html?utm_source=Sailthru&%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_campaign=Vulture+-+January+28%2C+2022&%3Butm_term=Subscription+List+-+Vulture+%281+Year%29. Sherman, Alex, and Samantha Subin. “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” CNBC, CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html. Cowton, Hannah. “Why HBO Max May Struggle in the 2022 Streaming Wars.” Tech Advisor, 26 Jan. 2022, https://www.techadvisor.com/news/entertainment/hbo-max-2022-streaming-wars-3812242/.
The media industry is one of the most powerful in the world, in today’s world media is taking over yearly from video games, movies, shows and so much more. Such large conglomerates come with such a large industry, and I believe the biggest conglomerate best positioned to succeed in 2022 is Disney. A huge reason as to why I believe Disney will be the biggest conglomerate in 2022 besides the fact that they own almost everything you can think of, is Marvel and ESPN. With Disney releasing their streaming platform Disney + it provides subscribers with Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and so much different content. Marvel is one of the biggest fan entertainment companies ever. In the Hollywood reporters article titled “The High Highs and Lower Lows of Hollywood in 2021” it is stated that in February of 2020 (Q4) after gaining 21.2M signups, the Disney + service hit 95M subscribers and that number will only continue to grow (By thr staff). In March the Disney stock broke 200 for an all-time high (By thr staff). The new Spider-Man No Way Home film came out with a bang with blockbuster numbers, as most Marvel movies do, and it won’t be the last time. In Vox’s article titled “Here’s who owns everything in big media today” it is stated that Disney owns ESPN which is one of the biggest companies for sports content in the world (Molla & Kafka), ESPN covers everything sports and any major sporting events that go on throughout the year, these events of course bring in a lot of money which provides Disney with a lot of money along with all the other companies they own that bring them in money as well. With Disney owning other big companies like ABC and 21st century Fox, it is undeniable that Disney is the biggest conglomerate to look out for in 2022. The organization that I believe will face the most challenges in 2022 is AMC. I believe this because of one thing, the pandemic. According to Business Insiders article “What the future looks like for movie theaters in 2022 according to experts” people have still been very hesitant to returning to the theaters especially older people (Clark). As mentioned, the problem is that older audiences have been slowest to return amid the pandemic (Clark), and sprinkle in other people of all ages you feel uncomfortable it makes for a bad formula. Even though some people have been returning to theaters, it is no secret that the pandemic is still at large, and people’s health and safety are in mind rather going to a theater to see a film. It will take a lot for AMC to return to their pre-pandemic numbers.
Works Cited Molla, R., & Kafka, P. (2018, January 23). Here's who owns everything in Big Media today. Vox. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart staff, T. H. R. (2022, January 3). The high highs (and lower lows) of Hollywood in 2021. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hollywood-2021-highs-and-lower-lows-1235062740/ Clark, T. (2021, December 23). What the future looks like for movie theaters in 2022, according to top industry execs. Business Insider. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.businessinsider.com/what-future-looks-like-for-movie-theaters-2022-industry-outlook-2021-12
Kallie Purdue Over the years the media industry has grown exponentially. With its constant focus on expansion and innovation, industry officials have diligently worked to constantly create new intiatives with their company to produce content that aligns with viewers needs and wants. For the big companies like Disney, Netflix, Amazon, Google etc,, the need for expansion (especially in throughout the Pandemic) is absolutely necessary in order to stay competitive in the field. In my opinion, a large conglomerate like Disney is in the best position to succeed as of right now. Disney has been in business for almost 100 years and continues to expand and create new programs within their company to serve their customers. They have expanded and now own several different media companies and streaming services. According to CNBC, Disney + acquired 118.1 million subscribers, 4.12 Global APRU and about 2.1 million of that was just from their last quarter. Launching pretty close to the pandemic, the service really had everything stacked against them, yet they soared through the large part of the pandemic. That last quarter was 12.6 million down than the quarter before, and even with the decreasing subscribers they are still seeing improvement. The pandemic soared their views and subscribers and officials hint that that might have been their biggest exponential growth curve. In addition, Disney + is in an incredible position to succeed this year because of the ownership they have within the media scene. They have crossed genres and encompassed different fields of television within their company. According to Record, Disney "bought much of the 21st Century Fox" with its 71.3 billion dollar merger. Disney does not just own traditional Disney movies and shows but Marvel, Star Wars, ESPN, different outlets of Hulu, etc. By acquiring different genres of media it makes them incredibly competitive and allows for users to want to purchase their service because of the wide range of media they offer. They now remain one of the biggest conglomerates that continues to innovate and grow exponentially. On the other side of things, I believe the company that will struggle the most and have less success if AMC. AMC is one of the smaller conglomerates and unlike many of the now streaming services they have been unwilling to pivot to the online media focus and services. AMC struggled immensely during the Pandemic with a lack of in person movie viewing and continue to struggle with now a huge competition from large streaming services. The reason I believe AMC will struggle the most is because their is a huge lack of people that will even return to theaters post-pandemic, and the company has not made any big shifts to streaming. In order to stay competitive in their field they need to constantly be innovating their initiatives and programs they offer to best serve their customers, and they are not doing that. Their subscriber numbers are dramatically lower than any streaming service out there right now. According to CNBC, AMC did not explicitly show their subscribers numbers but they do claim their on track to reach 9 million. This showcases the harsh comparison to Disney + which acquired 12.6 subscribers in one quarter during the pandemic. I just do not think what AMC offers customers is a need right now and they will have a hard time acquiring success like they did before the pandemic. CNBC. (n.d.). Check out AMC Networks's stock price (AMCX) in Real time. CNBC. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/AMCX Schwartz, M. S. (2019, March 20). Disney officially owns 21st Century fox. NPR. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.npr.org/2019/03/20/705009029/disney-officially-owns-21st-century-fox sherman4949. (2021, November 11). Disney makes the trend clear: Growth is slowing for streaming services. CNBC. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html
Ryan Crowley - Question 1 After analyzing our readings for this week, it is clear that Disney in the best position to succeed in 2022. Disney has slowly been expanding their list of assets all throughout the pandemic, and they have built up quite the fortress of media companies. Disney doesn’t even have to be the best at everything they do in 2022, because they are already the most present. With the momentary nature of content and our fleeting attention spans nowadays, the winners will continue to be those with consistent presence. Today, Disney is in our presence much more than we see, and we go to them for many of our content needs. Marvel continues to kick down the box office doors every few months with their films, giving Star Wars just enough cooldown time to come up with their next hit. This duo has proved to be a big asset for Disney, and they have had the film and streaming games in their palm because of it. Fox is a leading provider of daily news and contributes a lot to the entertainment side of the sports scene, while ESPN comes right in to fill the information and statistical gaps. Also, the live entertainment assets that they don’t have are made up for by all the on-demand content they have. Disney+ was unfazed by the pandemic, and the massive influx of quarantine is still beefing up numbers today. Hulu was a crucial acquisition that will cover Disney+’s blind spots in the streaming game such as live sports and a more broad film scope. Disney has spent a lot compared to their competitors, but they’ve done the best job showing how to get a return. While we have discussed the imminent success of Disney in 2022, we should also take a look at a company with less fortune. While it may be a hot take at the moment, I think Meta is in a less than ideal position for 2022. Meta (formerly Facebook) is on top now, but they have a lot to lose. With Facebook itself on a new decline, the main forces that Meta will be sending out to start the year involve the Metaverse and the foundations that it will lay for our future. The Metaverse has the possibility to change communication forever, however it is all based on a concept that hasn’t been fully bought into yet. While virtual reality is an incredible concept with a lot of promise, there are still very few industries that are prepared to utilize it. Also, Meta’s primary network involves the entertainment industry, and most of the big names are consumed with their own plans to recover from the pandemic, just like most everyday people who may not have time to turn their head. I am not saying Meta is destined for failure as they have a lot of stable assets, but I wouldn’t be so quick at all to paint them as a winner in 2022.
Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart. sherman4949. “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” CNBC, CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html. Spatacco, Adam. “Three Catalysts Disney Has Going into 2022.” The Motley Fool, The Motley Fool, 30 Dec. 2021, https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/12/30/three-catalysts-disney-has-going-into-2022/. staff, THR. “The High Highs (and Lower Lows) of Hollywood in 2021.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Jan. 2022, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hollywood-2021-highs-and-lower-lows-1235062740/.
There are a lot of media conglermates and a few have positioned themselves for success in 2022, while other will face challenges. Disney out of all the conglomerates is the best to succeed in 2022. When disney first started they were able to acquire marvel, pixar and more. Marvel which is on disney plus had extradionary year which will help progres them into 2022. Even though subsrcriptions for disney are slowing down disney numbers are still pretty high. Since disney owns everything and is able to offer packages such as ESPN and Hulu packages making people more inclined to subscribe to disney plus. Netflix is another conglmetates shaped for success in the 2022 year. Netlfix having it’s own production studios and buying equipment from other studios is making it harder for other production studios to stay afloat. That is the reason smaller studies and production studies and joning together as one, but that seems that regardless Netflix is able to acquire a lot of them. HBO and HBO max also had a groundbreaking year ganning 73.8 million subscribers. Along with subscurbers HBO Max was the most downloaded app of the year, making their 2022 year successful because of the numbers they pulled in 2021. One media conglemreate that will face some challenges and it still struggling to get subscribers and viewsrhip is apple tv. Unlike netflix and HBO max, Apple Tv has been struggling to have users entertinaed and wanting to subscribe. Putting all of their eggs in to making good orginical scritpted shows is going to potentially help them in the long run. But the advantage of Apple is that regardless if it fails or not, Apple is a trillion dollar company. So having Apple Tv be successful is important, but not as crucial as Paramount, Netlfix or HBO Max. Those companies are profitable but are no where near apple. With statstics compared to Netflix Apple only pulled in 20 million subscribers in US and Canda which is a fraction of what Netlfix was pulling in. Apple Tv does have some pretty successful shows such as the Morning show and Lasso. But those shows alone won’t be able to help Apple TV become successful in the long running. The other thing that is substantially hurting Apple is the fact that Apple tv is only for apple users unlike other streaming platfomrs. The platform is not accssiable for all, making it harder for the content to touch more viewers. If the platform wasn’t restricted solely by apple products, I feel as that viewership and subscriptions would be realivley go. Apple tv is slowly climbing amongst Apple viewers, growing the library of Tv’s and movies but there are still a lot of challenges that they will face in the upcoming year.
Media conglomerates have started to become a normality over the years. Companies at one point were their own individual and unique brand. What is now becoming clear is that today’s society is adapting to more corporate consolidation that is beginning to take over the media landscape. Rani Molla and Peter Kafka of Vox discuss that, “Disney, for example, bought much of 21st Century Fox...meanwhile, distributors like AT&T, which bought Time Warner, and Verizon, which bought AOL and Yahoo, thought they wanted to become media companies” (Molla, Kafka). With companies now consolidating with others, there are some conglomerates to date that stand out among the rest.
It is almost certain to say that a corporation in a great position is Disney. They are now a massive company with many branches spread out among its users. It all starts with Disney+, which has continued to be a massive success with a rich library of movies and shows. ESPN, which is owned by Disney, is seeing more subscribers flock to their streaming service, ESPN+. The platform acquired new contract deals to stream the PGA Tour, NHL and international soccer leagues like La Liga and Bundesliga which is helping their cause.
There are challenges ahead for organizations in 2022, and Netflix is certainly one that has to endure them. A streaming service giant that has had an impressive number of subscribers for many years may have to start making some changes. While Disney owns the rights to Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar among other franchises, Netflix has not taken an approach to consolidate their brand. They are a platform that has an abundance of their own original content and have licensing rights to a variety of third-party shows that once graced the screens of network television. Daniel Kline of The Street brings a crucial issue to light about the situation. He says the streaming platform “has been releasing roughly 100 to 125 new shows, movies, and comedy specials each quarter.” (Kline). He continues by saying that, “Netflix will spend about $17 billion on new shows, comedy specials, and movies for its streaming service in 2022” (Kline). If Netflix is spending so much on its pipeline of original content, it will likely fail to succeed amongst other streaming competitors.
To make matters worse, Disney is already stepping up their game with the recent promotion of the “Disney Bundle” which includes ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+ all at just one price of $13.99/month. David Trainer of Forbes writes, “Netflix does not release its own viewing data, but numbers from analytics company 7Park Data suggest that, as of last fall, licensed content accounted for 63% of viewing hours on the platform” (Trainer). Netflix also lost the rights to perhaps some of its most popular licensed series in 2020 when Friends left for HBO Max and 2021 as The Office went to NBC Universal’s Peacock. It’s obvious that Netflix is beginning to face conflicts from other competitors and its spending is outweighing the overall profits needed for success.
Kline, Daniel. “Netflix's Problem Isn't Membership. It's What Disney Has That It Doesn't.” TheStreet, TheStreet, 24 Jan. 2022, https://www.thestreet.com/investing/netflix-has-a-content-problem-not-a-membership-problem.
Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart.
Trainer, David. “All The Reasons Why Netflix Is Doomed.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 10 Dec. 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/08/20/all-the-reasons-why-netflix-is-doomed/?sh=69c3ad5b465e.
2021 has been the year of streaming wars and as more and more companies join the race, it’s become clear which conglomerates will survive and which might not in the coming years. Though some seem to have customers rolling in, how long will it last? And how consistent will it be? One of the biggest conglomerates that I believe will thrive in the year 2022 is Disney. Since their release of Disney +, their streaming platform has been putting up serious numbers in the race of platforms. According to CNET, “The streaming platform launched two years ago and has already amassed more than 118 million subscribers” (Rayome, Lord, Jackson). Disney plus has three major factors that are in their favor. For one, Disney owns the rights to many companies such as Pixar, National Geographic, Starwars, and Marvel. This gives Disney + a serious advantage with other competitors because they have such a wide variety of content, there’s a little bit of everything. The only thing they’re missing is R rated content, which is aired on Disney-owned Hulu. A second factor is what I call the nostalgia effect. With its wide variety of content, it also incudes old Disney from its vault that is from everyone’s childhood. Everyone loves a jog down memory road and Disney+ is a marathon. The third reason is Disney+ has been extremely consistent with successful original shows. Examples include, Wanda Vision, The Mandalorian, and The Book of Boba Fett. Disney+ has hit the trifecta of Variety, nostalgia, and originality that will continue to thrive in the year 2022.
Where there’s success you will also find those who fall below that line. One service that I think is below that line is Peacock. As the world is slowly opening from Covid, there seems to be a decrease in growth for streaming services. Though this is only a small bump for big names like Disney+, Netflix, and Hulu, this can be seen as an issue for services like Peacock. According to CNBC, “Disney announced added 2.1 million subscribers for its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Oct. 2. That’s down from 12.6 million added the previous quarter” (Sherman, Subin). The slowing down in growth isn’t a big problem for big names, but Peacock is a new service that relies on large jumps in subscriptions. What’s considered a slowing in growth for Disney, was a normal number for Peacock in new subscribers. So, a stunt in growth for Peacock can lead to money loss for the service. According to the Hollywood Reporter, “NBCU’s Peacock Reaches 24.5M U.S. Monthly Active Accounts, Quarterly Loss Hits $559M. Comcast's earnings report also highlights an adjusted loss of $1.7 billion related to the streamer for all of 2021 on $778 million in revenue, compared with a loss of $663 million on $118 million in revenue in 2020.” (Szalai). One of the biggest factors of Peacock not thriving as well as the other names, are the lack of success in original shows. One show may not be enough for someone to want a subscription. There needs to be a big lineup for original shows and even fan favorite shows to have someone interested in a consistent monthly subscription. When looking at the peacock lineup the only big show I recognize is Brooklyn- Nine-Nine. Though the show has mass success, I don’t think it will keep Peacock afloat on its own.
Denisco, Alison, et al. “Best Streaming Service of 2022: Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Prime Video, Hulu, Starz and More.” CNET, CNET, 19 Jan. 2022, https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/best-streaming-service-of-2022/.
sherman, Alex, and Samantha Subin. “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html.
Szalai, George. “NBCU's Peacock Reaches 24.5m U.S. Monthly Active Accounts, Quarterly Loss Hits $559M.” The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2022, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/peacock-nbcuniversal-subscribers-monthly-accounts-quarterlyloss-1234990017/.
Gage Kilborne
ReplyDeleteThe major media conglomerate that is best positioned to succeed in 2022 is Disney. The reason for this is because Disney has almost complete control of the media industry following their recent purchase of 21st Century Fox Studios. Marvel is expected to be coming out with some more blockbusters in 2022 following the new Spiderman film that came out in December 2021. A few other titles that should be big hits for this franchise is "Turning Red", "Thor: Love and Thunder", and "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever".
Alongside the mainstream films from Disney studios, the sports industry has started to transcend upward following the pandemic's beginnings in 2020. With ESPN covering many marquee matchups throughout 2022 including The Masters, College Baseball Tournament, the 2022 NFL Draft, and the Wimbledon Championships to name a few. With the pandemic coming to an end and we start to see our world go back to a sense of normalcy, many consumers are going to slow down how many streaming services they own. As a result of this, I believe Amazon is going to struggle in this as they will find a lot of problems with MGM, more than they can handle. This will result in a big time loss for Amazon this year in 2022 from last year.
Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart.
Sherman, Alex. “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” CNBC, CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021, www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html.
staff, THR. “The High Highs (and Lower Lows) of Hollywood in 2021.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Jan. 2022, www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hollywood-2021-highs-and-lower-lows-1235062740/.
Rita Sherban
ReplyDeleteThe days of scanning TV Guide are over, as streaming has ushered in a new wave of television. For the price of a pretty penny, consumers can omit advertisements from their favorite shows and binge watch all 10 seasons of Friends if they desire. While some media companies are on the up and out, like AMC Theaters, others like Disney, have continued their relevancy in the digital age. It was only a matter of time before Disney produced their own streaming platform, giving Netflix and Hulu a run for their money. The media conglomerate has been a dominate force in the entertainment industry and the streaming service realm is no different. Not only has Disney accumulated more subscribers, “Disney announced added 2.1 million subscribers for its fiscal fourth quarter” (Sherman, Subin), but has also acquired ESPN, making it the most viable streaming service. Sports have largely contributed to ratings and have kept television channels afloat. “…sports programming is said to be “keeping the lights on” at ABC, CBS…” (Serazio 15). Meanwhile, ESPN has proven itself as a cash cow for Disney. “ESPN is, by far, the “worldwide leader” in cable revenues…at one point, the “principal cash spigot” for parent corporation Disney, when it topped out with some $10 billion in earning” (Serazio 14). While Disney will flourish as a top competitor within the streaming service sphere, it’s the movie theaters that are shaking in their boots.
The pandemic turned the 21st century upside down, but none more so than the movie industry. According to a New York Times article, “Over the weekend, ticket sales in the United States and Canada stood at roughly $96 million, compared to $181 million over the same period in 2019” (Barnes). While the theater can blame the pandemic for poor ticket sales, as people are less prone to gather in crowds, there is also the issue of rising ticket and concession prices. People do not find the movies as enticing as it once was especially for its price-point. From a financial standpoint, AMC Theaters are only producing about $2.2 billion worth of content, according to Vox. Comparatively, Disney is producing $321 billion worth of content. The pandemic has also experimented with movie releases on exclusive platforms. In 2020, after several delays, Christopher Nolan’s film, Tenant, was released on HBO Max in conjunction with theater releases.
As the world continues to find a normal within the pandemic, streaming services are certainly here to stay, with Disney leading the pack and holding its position as adaptive organization. Meanwhile, AMC Theaters will have to reconsider its position and think strategically as to how to attract movie-goers. The next couple of years will be vital for the movie theater industry as it will determine whether it can adapt like Disney or is destined to be left behind as the digital world moves forward.
Barnes, B. (2021, November 29). Movie theaters must 'urgently' rethink the experience, a study says. The New York Times. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/29/business/movie-theater-attendance.html
Molla, R., & Kafka, P. (2018, January 23). Here's who owns everything in Big Media today. Vox. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart
Serazio, M. (2019). The power of sports: Media and spectacle in American culture. New York University Press.
sherman4949. (2021, November 11). Disney makes the trend clear: Growth is slowing for streaming services. CNBC. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAmanda Perlin, Question 1
ReplyDeleteIn today’s world, it seems like there are endless options for entertainment. From television to video game consoles, there’s something for everyone. I believe that the major media conglomerate that is best positioned to succeed in 2022 is Disney. The Walt Disney Company is a media giant that has the ability to be successful through its various divisions. One of these is its Board of Director. “During its fiscal fourth quarter, Disney added 2.1 million subscribers.” (CNBC). This figure is down from the previous quarter’s 11.8 million. Although Walt Disney is known for its theme parks and movies, the company also has divisions that are focused on various other areas, such as publishing and television. It is one of the most successful businesses in the world. Disney completed its acquisition of 21st Century Fox's media assets for $71.3 billion on March 20, 2019. Disney already had various mega-brands such as Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars. With the acquisition of 21st Century Fox, it now has the whole Marvel Entertainment, including the X-Men and Deadpool franchises. The acquisition also gave Disney former TV networks such as National Geographic, as well as Hulu, which is owned by Fox. Disney+, its own streaming platform, took on Netflix in a blow to the latter's business model. Its market cap is approximately $238.9 billion. The Walt Disney Company is the third-largest multi-national company in the world, with annual revenues of around 20 billion. Disney is a stable company that maintains its place at the top of the industry. Its rival, CBS, is also on a similar standing as it relates to media conglomerates in the US. Although Disney will be best positioned to succeed, I feel as if Netflix will face the most challenges in 2022. It's no secret that the streaming industry is very challenging. When Netflix reported weak subscriber additions during the first quarter, the market was worried about the company's growth. The stock price of Netflix dropped 19% on Friday after the company revealed disappointing subscriber numbers. It continued to slide on Monday. The rise of new competition, which includes Disney+ and HBO Max, has caused Netflix to face a tougher time attracting new subscribers.
Sherman, Alex. Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services, CNBC, 10 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html. Adalian, Josef. “The Great Netflix Panic of '22.” The Great Netflix Panic of ‘22, Vulture, 28 Jan. 2022, https://www.vulture.com/2022/01/netflix-panic-of-22.html?utm_source=Sailthru&%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_campaign=Vulture+-+January+28%2C+2022&%3Butm_term=Subscription+List+-+Vulture+%281+Year%29. Beattie, Andrew. “Walt Disney: How Entertainment Became an Empire.” Walt Disney: How Entertainment Became an Empire, Investopedia, 26 July 2020, https://www.investopedia.com/articles/financial-theory/11/walt-disney-entertainment-to-empire.asp.
Sarah Lefkowitz
ReplyDeleteMedia consumption has only gone up due to the pandemic. The media conglomerate that is best positioned for success in 2022 is Disney. Disney has dominated multiple industries for years, and recently have added streaming to the list, giving huge corporations like Netflix and Hulu another strong competitor. Although according to the diagram from Vox, Netflix has more subscribers than Disney Plus, for example. However, Disney makes up for that subscriber difference in other areas (Molla and Kafka). Disney’s main lines of business include huge money-makers such as ESPN and Marvel. According to Johnston, “Acquisitions are a major vehicle of growth for Disney—and have been over the past three decades.” Disney has done the unimaginable time and time again. Their acquisitions have granted them prestige that no other company has. Two examples from Johnston are, “Disney became the first media company to have a presence across filmed entertainment, cable television, broadcasting, and telephone wires after it bought Capital Cities/ABC,” and The company became the owner of the “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” franchises following the purchase of Lucasfilm in 2012” (Johnston). Not only does Disney own two of the most successful movie series of all time, they also own Marvel, which is home to plenty of its own successful movie series, and ESPN, which is home to tons of different sports channels and stations. These are just a few of the companies that Disney has a stake in and just a few of the companies that contribute to its undying success.
The article titled, “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth is Slowing For streaming services,” by Sherman and Subin, introduces a possible bump in the road for Disney. “Disney announced added 2.1 million subscribers for its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Oct. 2. That’s down from 12.6 million added the previous quarter…The slowing growth among most streaming services may suggest pandemic gains are waning as more people return to outside activities and out-of-home work” (Sherman and Subin).
Sarah Lefkowitz (cont.)
ReplyDeleteAs the pandemic rapidly changes, so do streaming numbers. The amount of subscribers Disney Plus added quarterly, has begun to go down. It is important to look at more than just subscriber count however. For example, Netflix has around 212 million subscribers while Disney only has 118 million. However, Disney is able to make up for that in its acquisitions and other companies it owns. According to the article, ESPN+ brings in 17 million subscribers while Hulu brings in about 44 million subscribers. Even though streaming numbers might be going down, Disney has plenty of other markets to make up for that loss, as mentioned earlier.
The organization that will face the most challenges in 2022 is AMC. Despite theaters making a comeback in 2022, people are definitely still skeptical about going out to theaters, and a lot of movies are debuting exclusively on streaming services. On the graph from Vox, AMC is very low, having only brought in $2.2 billion. Comparatively, even though ViacomCBS is also pretty low, they brought in 18 times what AMC did. Disney on the other hand, brought in over $300 billion (Molla and Kafka). Despite streaming numbers going down according to Sherman and Subin, streaming platforms are definitely going to be better off than movie theaters in 2022.
Johnston, Matthew. “7 Companies Owned by Disney.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 18 Aug. 2021, https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/102915/top-5-companies-owned-disney.asp.
Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart. \
Sherman, Alex, and Samantha Subin. “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” CNBC, CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html.
As a result of a nation in lockdown, nostalgia has taken the world by storm. People want to watch their favorite Disney movies and shows, and with nothing to do but sit inside all day, Disney+ created the perfect remedy. Currently Disney is predicted to be the most successful media conglomerate of 2022, and this is for a variety of different reasons. Though Netflix and Hulu have dominated the streaming game for years now, Disney+ has achieved similar success in a much smaller time frame. As mentioned in an article posted by CNBC titled “Disney makes the trend clear: Growth is slowing for streaming services”, Disney has successfully “added 2.1 million subscribers for its fiscal fourth quarter” (Sherman and Rubin, CNBC, p1, 2021) and though this article discusses the downwards trend that these streaming services are falling into, these numbers still reflect a rapid growth that has only been seen by platforms that are now considered the OGs such as Netflix and Hulu. Which means that Disney+ is growing at a similar speed, has comparable numbers, despite existing for much less time than the other two conglomerates. Disney+ has created a demand for Disney movies and shows, and has made huge strides towards success in the past two years that will soon put them in the lead.
ReplyDeleteBut Disney has not only shown success through Disney+ and their nostalgic films and tv shows. According to the article “Here’s who owns everything in Big Media today” posted on Vox.com, the Disney company owns Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox Studios, ESPN, Marvel Studios, and has a 67% stake in Hulu (Molla and Kafka, Vox.com, p 2, 2021). This means that Disney as a conglomerate essentially has a finger in every pie. They own one of the largest sports networks, Marvel Studios which has a cult following behind every film they put out, and are able to put shows from 20th Century Fox Studios that provide their Disney+ subscribers with more than just nostalgia, and allow them to stream more adult shows such as Family Guy, The Simpsons, and American Dad. From sports, to comedy, to children’s shows, to action movies, Disney has successful covered every generic basis of everyone in one household, which makes it practical to subscribe for everyone. According to an article posted on seekingalpha.com titled “Disney: World’s Largest Media Company Becoming Even Stronger” Disney has made the right choices by investing in different realms of media and television. As stated by the author “The acquisition of Fox further widens Disney’s ecosystem of content with popular titles such as Deadpool, Avatar, X-Men, Fantastic Four, This Is Us, Modern Family, The Simpsons, etc. Disney saw its profit soar in the first three months of merging with 21st Century Fox in 2019. The entertainment behemoth says that its net income had increased 85% to $5.4 bln in that quarter”. These numbers prove that Disney is in the best position to succeed.
Sydney Lunder (2)
ReplyDeleteAs for challenges, it is clear based on the conversations had in class and recent news of box office sales dropping, that AMC is a company that has been suffering as a result of the pandemic. AMC was recently dropped by its former conglomerate, Dalian Wanda Group, and the sales continue to suffer despite the efforts to return to normalcy amid the pandemic that still impacts our daily lives. AMC has been working hard to get people back to the theatres, but it seems they still have a lot of work to do before people feel fully comfortable returning to such large and crowded spaces.
Work Cited:
Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart.
Investments, Khaveen. “Disney (DIS): World's Largest Media Company Becoming Even Stronger.” SeekingAlpha, Seeking Alpha, 17 Aug. 2021, https://seekingalpha.com/article/4450008-disney-worlds-largest-media-company-becoming-even-stronger.
sherman4949. “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” CNBC, CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html.
Rubin, Rebecca. “Wanda Group No Longer Majority Shareholder in AMC Theatres.” Variety, Variety, 13 Mar. 2021, https://variety.com/2021/film/news/china-wanda-group-amc-theatres-1234929145/.
Samantha Kaplan
ReplyDeletePart 1
Streaming services have become incredibly popular over the past couple of years, leading to heavy competition, massive earnings, and even bigger losses for major media conglomerates. Some streaming services are owned by those same media conglomerates, which could mean large earnings or large losses for them. The year 2021 was very telling for the media conglomerates’ success right now and in the future.
Disney/21st Century Fox not only owns Disney+, 21st Century Fox Studios, ESPN, Marvel Studios, and Lucasfilm, but it also owns 67% of Hulu. Disney has huge stakes in streaming services as well as other media. The majority of Disney+’s early success is thanks to Disney’s purchases of Lucasfilm, Marvel, and Pixar which happened prior to the 21st Century Fox purchase (Molla & Kafka, 2022). On top of all of that, ESPN’s new deal with The National Hockey League is set to earn Disney $400 million dollars annually (Bisnoff, 2021).
Disney is the organization best positioned to succeed in 2022 because of all its past successes. In addition, it owns many major media and streaming services that are projected to grow in 2022. Overall, Disney has everything in place to grow its already successful media conglomeration.
Netflix is credited for being the original successful streaming service. Netflix is its own entity, meaning it is self-owned and operated. Netflix started off buying content from different studios, but now the conglomerate also produces its own content (Molla & Kafka, 2022). Netflix saw more growth in the third quarter compared to the second of 2021. Netflix gained 4.4 million new subscribers in the third quarter compared to earning only 1 million new subscribers in the second (Sherman & Subin, 2021). Netflix’s biggest threat is the multiple streaming services being added each year. Netflix was the lone screening service for a while but now the competition has grown vastly (Bisnoff, 2021).
Despite the above, Netflix is not going anywhere. While I do not think it will be the most successful streaming company of 2022, I believe that it will continue to grow as it has in years past.
Part 2
ReplyDeleteAT&T/WarnerMedia is another major conglomerate in the media world. WarnerMedia owns Warner Brothers Studio, HBO, HBO Max, CNN, TNT, TBS, 71% of Discovery+, and 70% of DirecTV (Molla & Kafka, 2022). Going by the numbers, it looks as though it has been a rough year for WarnerMedia. WarnerMedia lost 5 million subscribers in the third quarter of 2021. While this seems like a huge loss, this was due to WarnerMedia removing HBO from Amazon channels in 2020. Things actually seem to be looking up for WarnerMedia with a projection of 120 million to 150 million subscribers by the end of 2025 (Sherman & Subin, 2021).
I believe that WarnerMedia will be moderately successful in 2022. The success of HBO, HBO Max, and Discovery+ will help them immensely with revenue. However, I do not believe that it will come close to Disney in revenue. Though it will continue to grow.
Comcast is a media conglomerate originally known for media distribution, however, it now also has stakes in content and streaming. Comcast owns Peacock, NBC, E!, Bravo, CNBC, Sky, Universal Studios, and a 33% stake in Hulu. Comcast has not released its quarterly numbers so it is hard to compare it to the other major media conglomerates.
Since Comcast relies heavily on cable and broadcast for its revenue, the conglomerate could face major issues in the coming years. Streaming services are continuing to grow and many households are choosing streaming instead of cable. I believe that Comcast will face the greatest challenges in 2022 as a result.
Work Cited:
Bisnoff, J. (2021, May 13). The world's largest media companies 2021: Comcast and charter lead as streaming disruption looms. Forbes. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbisnoff/2021/05/13/the-worlds-largest-media-companies-2020-comcast-and-charter-lead-as-streaming-disruption-looms/?sh=780c5085117f
Molla, R., & Kafka, P. (2018, January 23). Here's who owns everything in Big Media today. Vox. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart
Sherman, A., & Subin, S. (2021, November 11). Disney makes the trend clear: Growth is slowing for streaming services. CNBC. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html
Jordon Bennett
ReplyDeletePart 1
Since the COVID pandemic, streaming services have made major profits like Netflix, Disney plus and Hulu. This is due to the business decisions like buying other competitive companies, as well as buying rights to popular shows and movie. For example, Netflix has 208 million subscribers, making $223 billion. Netflix does this by purchasing rights to popular TV shows like Lucifer, as well as making their own popular shows like the successful Squid Games and Outer Banks. Disney dominates the media scene with Disney plus having 100 million subscribers, as well as owning major broadcast company, ESPN, the highly popular MARVEL Studios and 20th Century Fox. Other sources of media that thrive and will continue to profit are distribution companies like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon. These companies offer internet, and video with Comcast owning Peacock with 42 million subscribers, Sky and Universal Studios. The two most popular media sources, Comcast and Disney both share stake in popular streaming service Hulu with Disney owning 67% and Comcast 33%. Netflix is a streaming service that will continually bounce back from slow quarterlies will announcements of major shows coming back for more seasons. Popular shows like Squid Games, Outer Banks, and Money Heist make and add seasons which brings in subscribers if a slow quarterly count happens. HBO Max is another streaming service that succeeded in 2021, and going into 2022, HBO Max is set to accompany Disney plus and Netflix for top streaming services with HBO Max being the most downloaded streaming video entertainment app in the US, topping Disney Plus and Netflix. Additionally, HBO Max, charges $15 a month, which is a significantly more than other services, which means a higher revenue per user. 2022 was set to be a huge year for cinema, with ticket sales and profits at an all time low in 2020, and even with an increase of profit in 2021 thanks to movies like Spider-Man, ‘No way Home’, profits were still down 61% from 2019. Before the Omicron variant hit the US, things were getting closer to pre pandemic, but the cinema business was still able to struggle bringing back audiences. One reason for the drop is the older demographic still staying at home and seeing cinema as a risk not worth the reward. This begs the question about the future of cinema, not just for 2022 but long after. Actor Ben Affleck, believes that movie theatres will soon be exclusively reserved for Marvel blockbustes and some event-based films. Affleck starred in critical acclaimed film Argo which won countless awards like the Academy Award for Best Picture. Affleck stated that, “a drama like Argo would not be made theatrically now. I think movies in theatres are going to become more expensive, event-ized. They’re mostly going to be younger people, and mostly and ‘Hey, I’m so into the Marvel Universe, I can’t wait to see what happens next”. 2022 is a major year for cinema with blockbusters like The Batman, Doctor Strange and Black Panther all set to be released in 2022. Cinema is one media source that suffered from the pandemic and 2022 could be the year where people return to the cinema or it could be the year that changes cinema for an extended period of time.
Jordon Bennett
ReplyDeletePart 2
https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart
https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart
https://www.businessinsider.com/what-future-looks-like-for-movie-theaters-2022-industry-outlook-2021-12
https://fandomwire.com/ben-affleck-believes-the-future-of-cinema-lies-with-marvel-franchise-films/
Michael McGurrin
ReplyDeleteThe global entertainment industry has changed so much over the past decade. One organization is in the best position for 2022 and the near future. That organization has to be Disney. Disney has been expanding the organization for a long time, and they seem to be slowing down. They have some top brands like Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, Pixar, Fox, and ESPN. All these brands combined make Disney the empire of the media industry. The great part about it is these brands were not bought recently, so they continue to expand off each one of them. For example,” The Marvel Cinematic Universe propelled Disney to the top of the domestic box office in 2021 (Whitten).” 2020 and 2021 were not great years for the box office worldwide—the fact they were able to put great content out there like the new Spiderman movie. You also have the agreement between ESPN and the NHL for several years. Having the rights to one of the four or five major professional sports leagues in America is a great move. Finally, you have the expansion of Lucasfilm from the creation of the “Bad Batch” to “The Book of Boba Fett”. There is so much with Star Wars, and you can keep building off of small things within the trilogies. Those are just a few small examples of what Disney has accomplished because Disney has much more greatness.
Disney might have an easier time in 2022, but Netflix will probably have a more difficult time. Netflix is not gaining a significant amount of new subscribers to their platform. There are several factors that have to deal with lack of subscribers. A big one has to be the increased price in membership for people in the U.S. For example,” American subs, the standard two-stream HD plan is going up to $1.50 (about 11%) from $13.99 to $15.49/month (Spangler).” Consumers never like to see a spike in the price. This may keep them from continuing to subscribe to Netflix. Another big challenge Netflix faces is building back to normalcy from the pandemic. During 2020 and 2021, people were sitting on their couches and enjoying their time. During that time, streaming platforms were having the time of their lives. We are coming close to when we don’t have to think about COVID 19. That means the profits from the pandemic will decrease, and there won’t be a higher subscriber count for the company. With fewer people subscribing, they have to find the best way to engage people. They have to decide to put more effort into making original content or buying content from the studios. With all those factors, it is safe to say that Netflix will have a difficult time in 2022.
Works Cited:
Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. "Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today." Vox. Vox, 23 Jan. 2018. Web. 01 Feb. 2022.
Sherman4949. "Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services." CNBC. CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021. Web. 01 Feb. 2022.
Spangler, Todd. "Netflix Falls Short of Q4 Subscriber Target, Stock Tumbles on Weak Forecast." Variety. Variety, 26 Jan. 2022. Web. 01 Feb. 2022.
Whitten, Sarah. "Marvel Heroes Propelled Disney to the Top of the 2021 Domestic Box Office." CNBC. CNBC, 07 Jan. 2022. Web. 01 Feb. 2022.
Catherine Weber
ReplyDeleteThe streaming service industry has been a major highlight in the developing media world for the past few years. With numerous streaming services battling the post pandemic phase of VOD, Disney+ is in the best position to succeed in 2022 due to the numerous positives that lie within their collection of Intellectual Property and their production/release process. Disney has their streaming service with 118 million subscribers plus their subscribers from other owned streaming platforms such as Hulu and ESPN. Their subscriber count has increased over the past year due to the niche content that draws people to pay for the platform such as Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars. This type of content brings in the subscribers. These are huge fan bases that are loyal to their content and Disney+ benefits from the ownership of these collections. The collection of series and movies that Disney+ has to offer keeps the subscriber using the platform and “once you’re there, the deep archive probably keeps you” (Kline). The content Disney owns is abundant and has been collected for years. The overall decline in people subscribing to streaming platforms is referenced in the CBNC article to the pandemic ending and people returning to different activities. Although the subscription rate is slowing down, it does not mean that it is stopping. Disney+ had an additional 12 million subscribers in Quarter 3 of 2021 and it then dropped to 2 million in Quarter 4 (Sherman & Subin). This is a major decrease, but it is consistent among all streaming services including top platform, Netflix.
Disney+ content is produced almost like a big event while a service like Netflix produces an abundance of content all at once and they do not bring in tons of viewership. Disney+ creates, releases, or produces VOD that they know will create viewership. Creating a family style animation movie such as Encanto, which was made by Disney and released on Disney+ a month after theater release, is a perfect product for the families that subscribe to their platform. Creating and producing content that is considered a ‘hit’ is easier for Disney+ than Netflix. Even Netflix admits that these ‘big legacy entertainment companies’ have made their way up in the streaming industry (Adalin). Netflix needs to be aware of their steps in competing with other streaming services. A major concern for Netflix is the numerous originals they release that do not do well in viewership. Cancellations of series after one season leaves viewers confused and left questioning their investment in the overall product, in this case the service they are paying for (Gimmel). Netflix will face the most challenges in 2022 with obtaining more paying subscribers and creating that ‘hit’ content that generates virality.
Adalian, Josef. “The Great Netflix Panic of '22.” Vulture, Vulture, 28 Jan. 2022, https://www.vulture.com/2022/01/netflix-panic-of-22.html?utm_source=Sailthru&%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_campaign=Vulture+-+January+28%2C+2022&%3Butm_term=Subscription+List+-+Vulture+%281+Year%29.
Gemmill, Allie, and Allie Gemmill (193 Articles Published) Entertainment Features Writer at Screen Rant. More From Allie Gemmill. “The Real Reasons Netflix Is Suddenly Losing Subscribers.” ScreenRant, 19 July 2019, https://screenrant.com/netflix-subscriber-loss-reason-why/.
Kline, Daniel. “Netflix's Problem Isn't Membership. It's What Disney Has That It Doesn't.” TheStreet, TheStreet, 24 Jan. 2022, https://www.thestreet.com/investing/netflix-has-a-content-problem-not-a-membership-problem.
Sherman, Alex, and Samantha Subin. “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” CNBC, CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021
Kimberlyn Bouley
ReplyDeleteThe end of January brought media conglomerates fourth-quarter reports that displayed a mass change with streaming services’ rankings. Netflix has kept its ranking as the number one streaming service with the highest subscription revenue for years but with more competition appearing with the new year, that could all change. In Variety’s article, Spangler states that “Netflix shares fell more than 20% in after-hours trading, as the company forecast 2.5 million net subscribers adds for the first quarter of 2022. For Q1, Wall Street analysts had been projecting a gain of 7.25 million subscribers, per FactSet.” (Spangler) This fast-paced drop worried competitors and stakeholders as more streaming subscriptions grew in rate, services will keep trying to pull out strategies to be the best. Although Netflix made a graceful recovery by gaining stakeholders’ back, this might not be the company’s only hard fall during this coming year. Netflix may have a more challenging time this year as competitors keep adding content and features to withstand the attention of their subscribers and allure more people to join. While Netflix has its original and exclusive content, HBO Max’s same day-and-date releases have increased both the subscription and revenue rates. Competition watched closely and are now following HBO’s footsteps. There is a possibility that Disney + will be next to conform with this new age of media and add Pixar to same day-and-date releases exclusively on their subscription service. Doing this can also give reasons to increase their subscription amount, therefore increasing revenue rates. Disney’s quarterly report showed that Disney +’s subscriber rate is still growing after hitting a milestone of 100 million subscriptions but their growth rate is appearing to slow down. This media conglomerate has been dominating the entertainment industry for centuries and continues to do so today. Ryan Faughnder wrote in Los Angeles Times, “The binge-and-burn nature of online viewing, coupled with the growing rivalries between the major streamers, is driving companies to spend even more on content.”(Faughnder) Disney has a plethora of content and the money to keep producing new content. Disney is excepted to be the most successful media conglomerate in 2022 as the company plans to spend $33 billion on content investments for the growth of the direct-to-consumer business. Disney CEO, Bob Chapek, has explained the company’s reasoning for increased content investments is for the streaming service to hit its Q4 2024 goals of reaching around 230-260 million new subscribers. The company has come up with this plan as a resolution for their slowed growth of subscriptions. The Value Pendulum wrote an article reviewing Disney’s business outlook, stating that another reason for this expensive decision is that, “The company targets to launch Disney + in 50 new countries in fiscal 2022,” (Pendulum) Doing this will bring opportunities for new subscriptions as well as new content fulfilling consumers needs in respective regions. While other competitors have to come up with new ideas to stay current and relevant during this new age. The Walt Disney Company is and will always be the most successful entertainment and media conglomerate.
Works Cited
DeleteFaughnder, Ryan. “HBO Max Is Doing Fine. but Is Streaming Actually a Good Business?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2022, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/newsletter/2022-01-11/hbo-max-is-doing-fine-but-is-streaming-actually-a-good-business-the-wide-shot.
Pendulum, The Value. “Is Disney's 2022 Plan to Spend $33 Billion on Content Good for Its Outlook? (NYSE:DIS).” SeekingAlpha, Seeking Alpha, 15 Dec. 2021, https://seekingalpha.com/article/4475332-disney-2022-plan.
Spangler, Todd. “Netflix Falls Short of Q4 Subscriber Target, Stock Tumbles on Weak Forecast.” Variety, Variety, 26 Jan. 2022, https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/netflix-q4-2021-earnings-subscribers-1235158494/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7.
Shannon Flaherty
ReplyDelete2022 is shaping out to be a great year for all the major media conglomerates, especially those involved in streaming services. A Forbes article stated, “With SVOD offerings from all the major media companies solidly in place, 2022 will usher in the next phase of the ‘streaming wars.’ “(Adgate), which is something I greatly agree with. Though the streaming wars soared during the pandemic, they are very much still prevalent in the “post-pandemic” society we have fallen into today. Society as consumers and has audience members are content hungry, the world is going back to work and needs something to mindlessly binge. The Forbes article also mentions, “Audiences will have access to more content (and more formats) than ever before,” (Adgate), there is a whole market for just subscription streaming or just streaming services in general. However, some could argue the streaming market is oversaturated, with every major media conglomerate wanting to dip their hands into the pot. While Netflix has always been on top for this category. I believe the major media conglomerate that is best positioned to succeed in 2022 is Disney. Disney is unique, in that it is not 100% based around streaming, yet Disney+ is very successful- second just behind Netflix in a CNBC ranking (Sherman). Disney is also unique because not only does it encompass Disney+, but also ESPN+ as well as Hulu (Sherman). Hulu used to be Netflix’s No.1 competitor when the streaming wars were just starting out, but now that times have changed- Hulu falls short for a lot of consumers due to subscription fees for no ads. Disney also is able to come back from flops at the box office, for example their “mediocre $71M” made off of The Eternals (staff), and that is not a small sum for some other major media companies. Disney also is open to success with their purchase of 21st Century Fox, (in addition to their previous purchases of Lucasfilm, Marvel, and Pixar), which will greatly benefit the content options on Disney+ (Molla). For example, “New Girl” is a binge-worthy show on Netflix, is owned by Fox and being removed from Netflix with rumors of moving to Disney+. Disney also has great original content, although it’s been said “catalog shows like ‘Friends' and ‘The Office’ have often out-performed originals on streaming platforms” (Adgate), I don’t think Disney qualifies due to the impressive performance and quality of content for their original series.
Shannon Flaherty cont.
DeleteConversely, the organization that I believe will face the most challenges in 2022 is HBOMax. WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, has a higher subscription price, “slightly higher than Netflix’s most popular plan” according to the Los Angeles Times (James). HBOMax is also currently in the middle of a deal with Discovery, which is currently available on Amazon Prime Video. Meanwhile, Amazon is currently in the works to purchase MGM (Molla). HBOMax is not taking the dives in the right directions, Netflix is out there buying from the studios and on top of that producing their own content all while selling straight to their audience (Molla). HBOMax has barely created anything new besides “And Just Like That…”, which is already on a down-fall following Chris Noth’s allegations. HBOMax also failed in this “Sex and the City” reboot by not including Samantha, which drove away some viewers after knowing the off screen Samantha/Carrie controversy and were not pleased that SJP was chosen over Kim Catrall. Not to mention the chief executive for WarnerMedia doesn’t even have a guaranteed position following the Discovery deal, so the fate of HBOMax is very shaky in 2022.
Adgate, Brad. “Outlook 2022: What We Can Expect from Advertising & Media.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 16 Dec. 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2021/12/15/outlook-2022-what-we-can-expect-from-advertising--media/?sh=7393f50671e3.
James, Meg. “After a Turbulent Year, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar Touts HBO Max Gains.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 2022, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2022-01-05/jason-kilar-how-many-hbo-max-subscribers-2021.
Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart.
Sherman, Alex. “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” CNBC, CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html.
staff, THR. “The High Highs (and Lower Lows) of Hollywood in 2021.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Jan. 2022, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hollywood-2021-highs-and-lower-lows-1235062740/.
Robert Fritz
ReplyDeleteThe best positioned media conglomerates to succeed in 2022 is Disney. It comes to the shock of no one with that as Disney seemingly owns just about everything and anything at this point. Disney has their fingers on the pulse of a lot of things. The acquisition of Marvel to put that content on their streaming platform in Disney+ has been huge in the popularity of Disney+. Disney also has ESPN and that is huge considering other media conglomerates don’t have something to the level of that. ESPN is the nationwide leader in sports and considering the events that ESPN has the right to with Monday Night Football, the NFL Draft, all the major tennis events, they have deals with the NBA, NHL, and MLB, they have all the college sports. Disney simply just has more stuff than other media conglomerates. Disney+ now has 118 million subscribers in an article written by Alex Sherman and Samantha Subin from CNBC while ESPN+ has 17 million subscribers. Disney is in a really good position with that they have compared to their counterparts with places like Netflix questioning how it will fair against these new streaming services “I would not be surprised if Netflix comes roaring back by the end of the year and ends up growing faster than it did in 2021, but I also won’t be shocked if the rapid expansion of HBO Max, Disney+, and even some of the smaller players (like Peacock and Paramount+) end up hurting Netflix’s ability to grow outside of the U.S. more than forecast.” (Adalian). Disney has a lot of things that positioned them well to succeed in 2022 with all that they have. Disney having ESPN, Marvel, Lucas Films, and Hulu under its umbrella allows for them to have the success they’ve been having and the continued success that is expected. With what is at the disposal of Disney it is much easier for them to create content with widespread appeal. While Disney is set up to have a big year in 2022 places like AMC and HBO Max are set to face some issues. AMC faces the issue of having to compete against streaming services in the middle of a pandemic. As previously mentioned, Disney has Marvel under its umbrella so when faced with the option of seeing a marvel movie in the comfort of your home or going out in public and watching a movie with a mask on. HBO max faces the issue of trying to compete with the long-standing king in streaming services in Netflix and the long-standing king in media with Disney. “HBO Max is notable more expensive than Disney+ and Netflix, with both undercutting the cheapest tier on the Warner Bros. streaming platform. “(Cowton). The lowest price for HBO Max is $9.99 with ads and given the content on other platforms it begs the question on if its worth it.
Adalian, Josef. “The Great Netflix Panic of '22.” The Great Netflix Panic of ‘22, Vulture, 28 Jan. 2022, https://www.vulture.com/2022/01/netflix-panic-of-22.html?utm_source=Sailthru&%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_campaign=Vulture+-+January+28%2C+2022&%3Butm_term=Subscription+List+-+Vulture+%281+Year%29.
Sherman, Alex, and Samantha Subin. “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” CNBC, CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html.
Cowton, Hannah. “Why HBO Max May Struggle in the 2022 Streaming Wars.” Tech Advisor, 26 Jan. 2022, https://www.techadvisor.com/news/entertainment/hbo-max-2022-streaming-wars-3812242/.
Blake Guerriero
ReplyDeleteThe media industry is one of the most powerful in the world, in today’s world media is taking over yearly from video games, movies, shows and so much more. Such large conglomerates come with such a large industry, and I believe the biggest conglomerate best positioned to succeed in 2022 is Disney. A huge reason as to why I believe Disney will be the biggest conglomerate in 2022 besides the fact that they own almost everything you can think of, is Marvel and ESPN. With Disney releasing their streaming platform Disney + it provides subscribers with Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and so much different content. Marvel is one of the biggest fan entertainment companies ever. In the Hollywood reporters article titled “The High Highs and Lower Lows of Hollywood in 2021” it is stated that in February of 2020 (Q4) after gaining 21.2M signups, the Disney + service hit 95M subscribers and that number will only continue to grow (By thr staff). In March the Disney stock broke 200 for an all-time high (By thr staff). The new Spider-Man No Way Home film came out with a bang with blockbuster numbers, as most Marvel movies do, and it won’t be the last time. In Vox’s article titled “Here’s who owns everything in big media today” it is stated that Disney owns ESPN which is one of the biggest companies for sports content in the world (Molla & Kafka), ESPN covers everything sports and any major sporting events that go on throughout the year, these events of course bring in a lot of money which provides Disney with a lot of money along with all the other companies they own that bring them in money as well. With Disney owning other big companies like ABC and 21st century Fox, it is undeniable that Disney is the biggest conglomerate to look out for in 2022.
The organization that I believe will face the most challenges in 2022 is AMC. I believe this because of one thing, the pandemic. According to Business Insiders article “What the future looks like for movie theaters in 2022 according to experts” people have still been very hesitant to returning to the theaters especially older people (Clark). As mentioned, the problem is that older audiences have been slowest to return amid the pandemic (Clark), and sprinkle in other people of all ages you feel uncomfortable it makes for a bad formula. Even though some people have been returning to theaters, it is no secret that the pandemic is still at large, and people’s health and safety are in mind rather going to a theater to see a film. It will take a lot for AMC to return to their pre-pandemic numbers.
Works Cited
Molla, R., & Kafka, P. (2018, January 23). Here's who owns everything in Big Media today. Vox. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart
staff, T. H. R. (2022, January 3). The high highs (and lower lows) of Hollywood in 2021. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hollywood-2021-highs-and-lower-lows-1235062740/
Clark, T. (2021, December 23). What the future looks like for movie theaters in 2022, according to top industry execs. Business Insider. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.businessinsider.com/what-future-looks-like-for-movie-theaters-2022-industry-outlook-2021-12
Kallie Purdue
ReplyDeleteOver the years the media industry has grown exponentially. With its constant focus on expansion and innovation, industry officials have diligently worked to constantly create new intiatives with their company to produce content that aligns with viewers needs and wants. For the big companies like Disney, Netflix, Amazon, Google etc,, the need for expansion (especially in throughout the Pandemic) is absolutely necessary in order to stay competitive in the field. In my opinion, a large conglomerate like Disney is in the best position to succeed as of right now. Disney has been in business for almost 100 years and continues to expand and create new programs within their company to serve their customers. They have expanded and now own several different media companies and streaming services. According to CNBC, Disney + acquired 118.1 million subscribers, 4.12 Global APRU and about 2.1 million of that was just from their last quarter. Launching pretty close to the pandemic, the service really had everything stacked against them, yet they soared through the large part of the pandemic. That last quarter was 12.6 million down than the quarter before, and even with the decreasing subscribers they are still seeing improvement. The pandemic soared their views and subscribers and officials hint that that might have been their biggest exponential growth curve. In addition, Disney + is in an incredible position to succeed this year because of the ownership they have within the media scene. They have crossed genres and encompassed different fields of television within their company. According to Record, Disney "bought much of the 21st Century Fox" with its 71.3 billion dollar merger. Disney does not just own traditional Disney movies and shows but Marvel, Star Wars, ESPN, different outlets of Hulu, etc. By acquiring different genres of media it makes them incredibly competitive and allows for users to want to purchase their service because of the wide range of media they offer. They now remain one of the biggest conglomerates that continues to innovate and grow exponentially.
On the other side of things, I believe the company that will struggle the most and have less success if AMC. AMC is one of the smaller conglomerates and unlike many of the now streaming services they have been unwilling to pivot to the online media focus and services. AMC struggled immensely during the Pandemic with a lack of in person movie viewing and continue to struggle with now a huge competition from large streaming services. The reason I believe AMC will struggle the most is because their is a huge lack of people that will even return to theaters post-pandemic, and the company has not made any big shifts to streaming. In order to stay competitive in their field they need to constantly be innovating their initiatives and programs they offer to best serve their customers, and they are not doing that. Their subscriber numbers are dramatically lower than any streaming service out there right now. According to CNBC, AMC did not explicitly show their subscribers numbers but they do claim their on track to reach 9 million. This showcases the harsh comparison to Disney + which acquired 12.6 subscribers in one quarter during the pandemic. I just do not think what AMC offers customers is a need right now and they will have a hard time acquiring success like they did before the pandemic.
CNBC. (n.d.). Check out AMC Networks's stock price (AMCX) in Real time. CNBC. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/AMCX
Schwartz, M. S. (2019, March 20). Disney officially owns 21st Century fox. NPR. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.npr.org/2019/03/20/705009029/disney-officially-owns-21st-century-fox
sherman4949. (2021, November 11). Disney makes the trend clear: Growth is slowing for streaming services. CNBC. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html
Ryan Crowley - Question 1
ReplyDeleteAfter analyzing our readings for this week, it is clear that Disney in the best position to succeed in 2022. Disney has slowly been expanding their list of assets all throughout the pandemic, and they have built up quite the fortress of media companies. Disney doesn’t even have to be the best at everything they do in 2022, because they are already the most present. With the momentary nature of content and our fleeting attention spans nowadays, the winners will continue to be those with consistent presence. Today, Disney is in our presence much more than we see, and we go to them for many of our content needs. Marvel continues to kick down the box office doors every few months with their films, giving Star Wars just enough cooldown time to come up with their next hit. This duo has proved to be a big asset for Disney, and they have had the film and streaming games in their palm because of it. Fox is a leading provider of daily news and contributes a lot to the entertainment side of the sports scene, while ESPN comes right in to fill the information and statistical gaps. Also, the live entertainment assets that they don’t have are made up for by all the on-demand content they have. Disney+ was unfazed by the pandemic, and the massive influx of quarantine is still beefing up numbers today. Hulu was a crucial acquisition that will cover Disney+’s blind spots in the streaming game such as live sports and a more broad film scope. Disney has spent a lot compared to their competitors, but they’ve done the best job showing how to get a return. While we have discussed the imminent success of Disney in 2022, we should also take a look at a company with less fortune. While it may be a hot take at the moment, I think Meta is in a less than ideal position for 2022. Meta (formerly Facebook) is on top now, but they have a lot to lose. With Facebook itself on a new decline, the main forces that Meta will be sending out to start the year involve the Metaverse and the foundations that it will lay for our future. The Metaverse has the possibility to change communication forever, however it is all based on a concept that hasn’t been fully bought into yet. While virtual reality is an incredible concept with a lot of promise, there are still very few industries that are prepared to utilize it. Also, Meta’s primary network involves the entertainment industry, and most of the big names are consumed with their own plans to recover from the pandemic, just like most everyday people who may not have time to turn their head. I am not saying Meta is destined for failure as they have a lot of stable assets, but I wouldn’t be so quick at all to paint them as a winner in 2022.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hollywood-2021-highs-and-lower-lows-1235062740/
https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html
https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/12/30/three-catalysts-disney-has-going-into-2022/
Ryan Crowley - Works Cited Correction
ReplyDeleteMolla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart.
sherman4949. “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” CNBC, CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html.
Spatacco, Adam. “Three Catalysts Disney Has Going into 2022.” The Motley Fool, The Motley Fool, 30 Dec. 2021, https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/12/30/three-catalysts-disney-has-going-into-2022/.
staff, THR. “The High Highs (and Lower Lows) of Hollywood in 2021.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Jan. 2022, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hollywood-2021-highs-and-lower-lows-1235062740/.
Jalil Coverdale
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of media conglermates and a few have positioned themselves for success in 2022, while other will face challenges. Disney out of all the conglomerates is the best to succeed in 2022. When disney first started they were able to acquire marvel, pixar and more. Marvel which is on disney plus had extradionary year which will help progres them into 2022. Even though subsrcriptions for disney are slowing down disney numbers are still pretty high. Since disney owns everything and is able to offer packages such as ESPN and Hulu packages making people more inclined to subscribe to disney plus. Netflix is another conglmetates shaped for success in the 2022 year. Netlfix having it’s own production studios and buying equipment from other studios is making it harder for other production studios to stay afloat. That is the reason smaller studies and production studies and joning together as one, but that seems that regardless Netflix is able to acquire a lot of them. HBO and HBO max also had a groundbreaking year ganning 73.8 million subscribers. Along with subscurbers HBO Max was the most downloaded app of the year, making their 2022 year successful because of the numbers they pulled in 2021.
One media conglemreate that will face some challenges and it still struggling to get subscribers and viewsrhip is apple tv. Unlike netflix and HBO max, Apple Tv has been struggling to have users entertinaed and wanting to subscribe. Putting all of their eggs in to making good orginical scritpted shows is going to potentially help them in the long run. But the advantage of Apple is that regardless if it fails or not, Apple is a trillion dollar company. So having Apple Tv be successful is important, but not as crucial as Paramount, Netlfix or HBO Max. Those companies are profitable but are no where near apple. With statstics compared to Netflix Apple only pulled in 20 million subscribers in US and Canda which is a fraction of what Netlfix was pulling in. Apple Tv does have some pretty successful shows such as the Morning show and Lasso. But those shows alone won’t be able to help Apple TV become successful in the long running. The other thing that is substantially hurting Apple is the fact that Apple tv is only for apple users unlike other streaming platfomrs. The platform is not accssiable for all, making it harder for the content to touch more viewers. If the platform wasn’t restricted solely by apple products, I feel as that viewership and subscriptions would be realivley go. Apple tv is slowly climbing amongst Apple viewers, growing the library of Tv’s and movies but there are still a lot of challenges that they will face in the upcoming year.
Jalil Coverdale Work Cited
ReplyDeletehttps://observer.com/2021/11/apple-tv-plus-subscribers-growth-netflix-disney-plus-amazon-ted-lasso/#:~:text=A%20report%20from%20The%20Information,and%2020%20million%20paying%20customers
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/newsletter/2022-01-11/hbo-max-is-doing-fine-but-is-streaming-actually-a-good-business-the-wide-shot
https://techjury.net/blog/netflix-statistics/#gref
https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart
Benjamin Upson
ReplyDeleteMedia conglomerates have started to become a normality over the years. Companies at one point were their own individual and unique brand. What is now becoming clear is that today’s society is adapting to more corporate consolidation that is beginning to take over the media landscape. Rani Molla and Peter Kafka of Vox discuss that, “Disney, for example, bought much of 21st Century Fox...meanwhile, distributors like AT&T, which bought Time Warner, and Verizon, which bought AOL and Yahoo, thought they wanted to become media companies” (Molla, Kafka). With companies now consolidating with others, there are some conglomerates to date that stand out among the rest.
It is almost certain to say that a corporation in a great position is Disney. They are now a massive company with many branches spread out among its users. It all starts with Disney+, which has continued to be a massive success with a rich library of movies and shows. ESPN, which is owned by Disney, is seeing more subscribers flock to their streaming service, ESPN+. The platform acquired new contract deals to stream the PGA Tour, NHL and international soccer leagues like La Liga and Bundesliga which is helping their cause.
There are challenges ahead for organizations in 2022, and Netflix is certainly one that has to endure them. A streaming service giant that has had an impressive number of subscribers for many years may have to start making some changes. While Disney owns the rights to Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar among other franchises, Netflix has not taken an approach to consolidate their brand. They are a platform that has an abundance of their own original content and have licensing rights to a variety of third-party shows that once graced the screens of network television. Daniel Kline of The Street brings a crucial issue to light about the situation. He says the streaming platform “has been releasing roughly 100 to 125 new shows, movies, and comedy specials each quarter.” (Kline). He continues by saying that, “Netflix will spend about $17 billion on new shows, comedy specials, and movies for its streaming service in 2022” (Kline). If Netflix is spending so much on its pipeline of original content, it will likely fail to succeed amongst other streaming competitors.
To make matters worse, Disney is already stepping up their game with the recent promotion of the “Disney Bundle” which includes ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+ all at just one price of $13.99/month. David Trainer of Forbes writes, “Netflix does not release its own viewing data, but numbers from analytics company 7Park Data suggest that, as of last fall, licensed content accounted for 63% of viewing hours on the platform” (Trainer). Netflix also lost the rights to perhaps some of its most popular licensed series in 2020 when Friends left for HBO Max and 2021 as The Office went to NBC Universal’s Peacock. It’s obvious that Netflix is beginning to face conflicts from other competitors and its spending is outweighing the overall profits needed for success.
Works Cited
DeleteKline, Daniel. “Netflix's Problem Isn't Membership. It's What Disney Has That It Doesn't.” TheStreet, TheStreet, 24 Jan. 2022, https://www.thestreet.com/investing/netflix-has-a-content-problem-not-a-membership-problem.
Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart.
Trainer, David. “All The Reasons Why Netflix Is Doomed.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 10 Dec. 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/08/20/all-the-reasons-why-netflix-is-doomed/?sh=69c3ad5b465e.
Johnny Marquardt Part 1
ReplyDelete2021 has been the year of streaming wars and as more and more companies join the race, it’s become clear which conglomerates will survive and which might not in the coming years. Though some seem to have customers rolling in, how long will it last? And how consistent will it be?
One of the biggest conglomerates that I believe will thrive in the year 2022 is Disney. Since their release of Disney +, their streaming platform has been putting up serious numbers in the race of platforms. According to CNET, “The streaming platform launched two years ago and has already amassed more than 118 million subscribers” (Rayome, Lord, Jackson). Disney plus has three major factors that are in their favor. For one, Disney owns the rights to many companies such as Pixar, National Geographic, Starwars, and Marvel. This gives Disney + a serious advantage with other competitors because they have such a wide variety of content, there’s a little bit of everything. The only thing they’re missing is R rated content, which is aired on Disney-owned Hulu. A second factor is what I call the nostalgia effect. With its wide variety of content, it also incudes old Disney from its vault that is from everyone’s childhood. Everyone loves a jog down memory road and Disney+ is a marathon. The third reason is Disney+ has been extremely consistent with successful original shows. Examples include, Wanda Vision, The Mandalorian, and The Book of Boba Fett. Disney+ has hit the trifecta of Variety, nostalgia, and originality that will continue to thrive in the year 2022.
memory lane** lol
DeletePart 2
ReplyDeleteWhere there’s success you will also find those who fall below that line. One service that I think is below that line is Peacock. As the world is slowly opening from Covid, there seems to be a decrease in growth for streaming services. Though this is only a small bump for big names like Disney+, Netflix, and Hulu, this can be seen as an issue for services like Peacock. According to CNBC, “Disney announced added 2.1 million subscribers for its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Oct. 2. That’s down from 12.6 million added the previous quarter” (Sherman, Subin). The slowing down in growth isn’t a big problem for big names, but Peacock is a new service that relies on large jumps in subscriptions. What’s considered a slowing in growth for Disney, was a normal number for Peacock in new subscribers. So, a stunt in growth for Peacock can lead to money loss for the service. According to the Hollywood Reporter, “NBCU’s Peacock Reaches 24.5M U.S. Monthly Active Accounts, Quarterly Loss Hits $559M. Comcast's earnings report also highlights an adjusted loss of $1.7 billion related to the streamer for all of 2021 on $778 million in revenue, compared with a loss of $663 million on $118 million in revenue in 2020.” (Szalai). One of the biggest factors of Peacock not thriving as well as the other names, are the lack of success in original shows. One show may not be enough for someone to want a subscription. There needs to be a big lineup for original shows and even fan favorite shows to have someone interested in a consistent monthly subscription. When looking at the peacock lineup the only big show I recognize is Brooklyn- Nine-Nine. Though the show has mass success, I don’t think it will keep Peacock afloat on its own.
Denisco, Alison, et al. “Best Streaming Service of 2022: Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Prime Video, Hulu, Starz and More.” CNET, CNET, 19 Jan. 2022, https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/best-streaming-service-of-2022/.
sherman, Alex, and Samantha Subin. “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html.
Szalai, George. “NBCU's Peacock Reaches 24.5m U.S. Monthly Active Accounts, Quarterly Loss Hits $559M.” The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2022, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/peacock-nbcuniversal-subscribers-monthly-accounts-quarterlyloss-1234990017/.