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 2 (Feb. 1)
Who will be the big winners – and losers – of the so-called “streaming
wars”? Which companies will dominate and which do you think will struggle to
find audiences over the next two years? Limit:
14 responses
I think the long reigning champ when it comes to streaming services is Netflix. With 214 million global subscribers and 74.02 million in the U.S. and Canada, they have the most subscribers out of any platform (Sherman). Their subscriber amount continues to grow, despite being in the game for a long time now. Netflix is at an advantage because it has been around for so long, it is easy to use and navigate, and people know what to expect with it. Netflix has consistently been putting out original content for both shows and films, most of which reach massive levels of popularity, like Squid Game, or are critically acclaimed, like The Crown, which swept at the Emmy’s last year. Despite Netflix recently cutting its prices by 60% in India to compete with Amazon and Disney (Purnell) they are still seeing growth in their numbers. Even a setback like this will not be devastating to the company.
Personally, I think that one of the biggest winners of the “streaming war” will be HBO Max. Although Netflix is strong and will not be going anywhere anytime soon, I think that HBO Max is the platform to watch. The platform has had steady growth since it’s launch in 2020. It was the most downloaded streaming platform app last year and at a rate of $15 a month the platform has a higher average revenue per user than other platforms (Faughnder). With the positive usage trends and the higher revenue, the platform can be expected to expand and flourish. The higher subscription price gives the platform more revenue to create original content with. I know that some of the year’s biggest shows were Mare of Easttown, Hacks, and Succession. All three brought in awards in the past year and Succession is nominated for upcoming award shows as well. The platform has content that appeals to all ages and similar to Netflix often acquires other content. Since they are owned by Warner Media they have the ability to put popular series like Harry Potter onto the platform. Despite HBO following the traditional model of releasing one episode each week rather than a whole season at one time, people are enjoying the content and continue to tune in. Personally, every week on Twitter I see tweets about HBO shows such as Succession or Euphoria. Since the return of Euphoria earlier this month, tweets about the show have been pretty much the only thing I see on my Twitter feed. Clearly, what HBO is doing works.
On the losing end I think we will see services like Discovery+, Paramount+, and Apple TV+. Although Apple TV+ has Ted Lasso and The Morning Show, the platform is still not at a level of popularity or success that we see with other platforms. If they continue to create content that is on par with Ted Lasso I think we can expect to see them grow. As far as Discovery+ and Paramount+ are concerned, I think these are the two platforms I see the most advertising for, but know the least amount of people subscribed to them. Paramount+ could get better as they release more original content, but I do not see Discovery+ going far.
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, 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. Purnell, Newley. “Netflix Cuts Prices to Compete with Amazon Prime, Disney in India.” MarketWatch, MarketWatch, 16 Dec. 2021, www.marketwatch.com/story/netflix-cuts-prices-to-compete-with-amazon-prime-disney-in-india-11639656848. 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.
Based on the many articles presented on this topic, I believe the winners of the streaming wars will be companies like Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max, while the losers will be Paramount+, Peacock, and potentially Apple TV. Throughout the readings, it became apparent that companies like Netflix, which has about 214 million subscribers, and Disney+, which has 118 million subscribers, are dominating the industry (Molla & Kofka). They have the most subscribers, and they have retained a steady growth over their years in business. The reasons for this: both release incredible content. Netflix has shows like Squid Game, The Crown, and Tiger King, all of which have been major hits over the years. They are also releasing more independent films that have big name supporters, such as the recent release of The Lost Daughter and The Power of the Dog. However, Netflix will never match Disney’s content, owning Pixar and Marvel, having a variety of nostalgic characters to continue building stories around (Kline). In terms of the losers of the streaming wars, it’s clear that Paramount+ is lacking behind competitors. There is a clear miscommunication between Shari Redstone, chairman of ViacomCBS, and the filmmakers and actors of many of the Paramount releases. The actors and filmmakers signed on to get traditional theatrical releases, while Redstone thinks it would be best to release on Paramount+ only (Masters). In addition, Peacock and Apple TV gave little to no updates on their streaming services, saying that they were “on track” or gaining “a couple million” subscribers, but never revealing any true figures (Molla & Kofka).
Overall, however, the streaming service I find the most attractive and exciting to watch grow is HBO Max. According to the article, “After a turbulent year, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar touts HBO Max gains,” by Meg James, Jason Kilar, the Time Warner CEO, took a risk in 2021 and faced backlash for choosing to release films on both HBO Max and in theaters. People were very skeptical of this decision and didn’t agree with him. Then, Time Warner was merged with Discovery, leading to further fear in Kilar. However, when HBO Max was taken down from Amazon, people were upset, wanting to download the app. Suddenly, the app received 73 million subscribers and Kilar was seen as a success, having done something no one else had done. This could be attributed to Kilar working originally with Jeff Bezos, building up Amazon to what it is today, and understanding business strategy (James). With the strategy working well, HBO Max proved to be a part of the streaming wars. Their prices are much higher than Netflix and Disney+, its competitors, at $14.99/month compared to $8.00/month. The higher price, however, appears to be helpful, as HBO Max can use this extra revenue to pay for content production, as opposed to other companies who need to find money through other sources to produce (James). The other thing about HBO Max that can compete with other streaming services is its content. In particular, shows and specials like The White Lotus, The Friends Reunion, Return to Hogwarts, and Euphoria, have garnered immense attention just in 2021-2022. The popular social media app, Tik Tok, was a big part in this, providing a lot of free promotion for both shows. Between reviews, theories, and fashion trends, Tik Tok users themselves have become the advertisers for these shows and HBO Max as a whole. Many users were awaiting Euphoria for so long that they took to “…inventing alternative fates for its characters” (News18). Others have connected with the realistic problems the characters face, with its “…boundary-pushing portrayal of American teenagers in need of guidance” (News18). It is something Generation Z finds kinship in, and much of why HBO Max has found such a loyal fanbase and subscription increase, and why HBO Max could potentially take the lead.
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. 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. Masters, Kim. “Shari Redstone's Radical Paramount Overhaul Sets up Clash with Filmmakers.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Sept. 2021, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/paramount-overhaul-sets-up-clash-with-filmmakers-1235013964/. 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. “Why Is 'Euphoria' Trending on TikTok?” News18, 27 Jan. 2022, https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/why-is-euphoria-trending-on-tiktok-4703198.html.
When looking at the potential long-term outcomes of the streaming wars, I believe that overall, Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max will end up as the three at the top of the podium. Netflix of course, has been dominant for longer than nearly all of the other streaming services have been around. They lead the pack for most subscribers, at 214 million worldwide (James), and with the performance of their originals; Bridgerton, Stranger Things, and You just to name a few, as well as their acquired content, they have a hold strong enough to maintain their success. Next, HBO Max has surprised many since it’s launch, and has quickly risen to the top of the lists in terms of streaming services and their success. In an Article written by the LA Times, it was noted that HBO Max had quickly become the No 2. service in terms of subscribers as well as revenue (James). Much of the early success of HBO Max can be attributed to the content available on the platform. The Harry Potter franchise, Friends, and Euphoria being examples of content that has attracted subscribers since the platform’s launch. Along with the quality of their content, something that has also seemed to attract subscribers is the price of a subscription. While it’s higher than most ($14.99 a month), they are turning a higher profit than other platforms with cheaper subscriptions. Because of the higher profit, they are able to put more money into their content development, which allows for their releases to be of higher quality, thus attracting more subscribers (James). Lastly (but certainly not least), Disney+ will likely be one of the biggest winners of the “streaming wars”. Of course, Disney owns an extremely large amount of content as well as other platforms (Hulu, ESPN, etc.). Currently, their high volume of subscribers can be attributed to their ownership of Marvel, as well as the bundle deals they offer with their other platforms. However, in 2022, Disney is expected to spend $33 billion on content throughout their platforms. Stated in an article by The Hollywood Reporter, “Disney’s Studios division plans to release 50 titles for theatrical release and on its direct-to-consumer platforms.” (Weprin). With the amount Disney is investing into future content, one can assume that they will only continue to grow in popularity as more original content is released onto the platform.
Of course, at the other end of the spectrum, there are many streaming platforms that will likely not survive the “streaming wars” and will either go under, or get bought out by larger ones. One of the ones that (I feel) will be the first to go is likely Peacock . Despite Peacock being owned by NBC, a very successful broadcasting company, they have had a less-than-stellar performance since their launch in 2020. The platform had intended to rely heavily on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to get them off to a good start through airing the events, however the Covid-19 pandemic made that impossible, with the games being delayed a year. Despite the delayed games still being aired on the streaming service, “Viewership for the games was down 42% compared to the 2016 Olympics.” (Hersko). Along with an overall underwhelming launch, the platform itself just doesn’t really have enough content to gain subscribers and keep them. Along similar lines as Peacock, Paramount+ is also a platform that will likely not be able to compete with the already established and dominant platforms. Their lack of popular acquired content, as well as a lack of original content has kept many people from committing to a subscription, which is something that will likely end up causing many other platforms to to lose in the “streaming wars”. Works Cited
Hersko, Tyler. “Peacock Subscriptions? Comcast Would Rather Talk about Something Else in Q3 2021 Earnings Report.” IndieWire, IndieWire, 29 Oct. 2021, https://www.indiewire.com/2021/10/comcast-q3-2021-earnings-report-nbcuniversal-peacock-1234675217/. 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. Weprin, Alex. “Disney Plans to Spend $33B on Content next Year.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Dec. 2021, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/disney-streaming-content-spend-2022-1235052916/.
In terms of the overall streaming winners, I think it comes down to Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max, whereas the losers include Paramount+ and Peacock. It is no secret that Netflix and Disney+ are receiving a lot of support, with Disney+ at 118 million subscribers and Netflix reaching a whopping 214 million subscribers (Faughnder). And these streaming platforms are not just getting these types of results due to pure luck, rather they are creating and maintaining a wide variety of content that keeps audiences satisfied. Netflix, with huge shows like Squid Game and The Crown, and Disney+ with Pixar, Marvel, and nostalgic original movies, these two platforms are reaching a lot of eager subscribers. Then, there is HBO Max, who turned out to be a strong competitor among the top streaming services. After receiving heat over the decision to release movies in theaters and on the platform, HBO Max continued to climb in popularity. Just like Netflix and Disney+, HBO has been releasing a steady stream of content that viewers are drawn to, such as the “reboot of ‘Sex and the City,’… ‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’ and finales of HBO hits ‘Succession,’ Issa Rae’s ‘Insecure’ and Larry David’s ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’” (James). Although the streaming service took some risks and had a bit of a rocky start, they are definitely proving themselves to be a top contender. Overall, these three streaming platforms have a very big chance of continuing to dominate.
On the lower side of things are, once again, Paramount+ and Peacock. Throughout all of these articles, there does not seem to be a lot of hope for Paramount+. According to the article, “Shari Redstone’s Radical Paramount Overhaul Sets Up Clash With Filmmakers” by Kim Masters, “Paramount+ is still a very undernourished also-ran.” With only around 12 million subscribers, even some of Paramount’s creative partners “are not eager to see their projects used to build it up” (Masters). Along with Paramount+ is another underwhelming platform, Peacock. With little information about the platform other than declining success, there is not much to see when it comes to Peacock. Audience members seem to be veering away from Peacock because “the content available for the service did not align with consumer expectations in 2021” (Lynch). It isn’t a surprise that consumers went in a different direction when their expectations weren’t met. In terms of the future, Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts explains how “we are producing more of the premium content that our viewers love and continue to provide them with multiple ways to access it, including on Peacock” (Szalai). However, it seems as though subscribers are not seeing much content they love in the first place.
Streaming services have been on the rise over the past few years. Many people have transitioned in subscribing to streaming platforms. Netflix used to be one of the most popular streaming platforms, but other companies have started to create their own. For instance, NBC created Peacock and Apple created Apple TV+. Steve Mosko, from Village Roadshow Entertainment stated, “The next 18 months are going to be the most interesting in the history of the entertainment business – the grounds are shifting” (Sharma and Flint). Although it is difficult to predict the future of streaming, I have my own predictions about streaming. After conducting my own research, I believe that HBO Max, Apple TV+ and Netflix will be the big winners of the “streaming wars”. However, I think that Peacock, Paramount+, Disney+ and Discovery+ will be losers of this war.
HBO Max grew exponentially throughout 2021. This platform offers something that other platforms don’t. Since the movie industry declined during the pandemic, the platform signed an agreement to release Warner Brothers movies that were supposed to be shown in the theatres. The platform also airs exclusive shows such as And Just Like That and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Meg James of the Los Angeles Times stated, “…HBO Max has yet to reach its second anniversary, it is now the No.2 service in the U.S., behind Netflix, in terms of subscribers and revenue” (James). HBO Max is more expensive than other streaming services. Since the platform is $14.99 per month, the company is able to invest more money into their productions. Meg James also noted, “Because of its higher subscription price, HBO Max already generates more revenue per subscriber than its lower-priced competitors” (James).
Apple TV+ has also been on the rise over the past few years. Apple TV+ has their share of exclusive original products. One of the most notable originals was Ted Lasso. This show was one of the main reasons why Apple TV+ has become a main competitor in streaming services. Ted Lasso was one of the most successful productions and received many awards at the Primetime Emmy Awards. Brandon Katz stated, “…Apple is taking a long game approach” (Katz). This streaming platform offers a free trial for one year. Many of their free trials have expired and Apple TV+’s paid subscriber base has quadrupled (Katz). I think Apple TV+ is going to become a major successor over the next few years. If the platform continues to provide popular originals, they will slowly but surely be a winner of the “streaming wars”.
Netflix continues to dominate the streaming industry. It is one of the most popular streaming platforms around. This platform produces many originals that contribute to its success such as Squid Games, The Crown, Stranger Things and Outer Banks. Netflix currently has 214 million subscribers (Sherman). Netflix has the highest subscription rate among streaming services. Recently, Netflix released its Q4 earnings, which caused some panic about the company. However, Josef Adalian said, “Fact is, Netflix is so far ahead in the streaming race it can afford to take big hits like what happened last week” (Adalian). Netflix is a primary streaming service. When people think of a streaming service, Netflix immediately comes to mind. Netflix continues to be the biggest streaming platform and will continue to thrive throughout 2022.
It will be interesting over the next few years to see who dominates the streaming industry. I was found that Discovery+ has 20 million subscribers, Paramount+ has 47 million subscribers and Peacock has 54 million subscribers (Sherman). Disney+’s growth is slowing down too (Sherman). These platforms are lacking the production that is driving people to other platforms. This shows in their subscriber amounts. I think some of these platforms may be bought out by larger companies like HBO Max or Netflix.
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&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Vulture+-+January+28%2C+2022&utm_term=Subscription+List+-+Vulture+%281+Year%29. 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. Katz, Brandon. “Has Apple TV+ Clawed Its Way out of the Basement?” Observer, Observer, 4 Nov. 2021, https://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. Sharma, Amol, and Joe Flint. “The Great Streaming Battle Is Here. No One Is Safe.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 9 Nov. 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-great-streaming-battle-is-here-no-one-is-safe-11573272000. 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.
It is no surprise that streaming services have taken off in popularity over the past few years; mainly for two reasons. The first was mainly the convenience of having your favorite shows on demand when you wanted to watch them and not when the networks chose to show them. Also having them accessible on your laptop or cell phone on demand was key. The second was the Covid-19 pandemic. In the early days of the pandemic in 2020, everyone was home, movies and businesses were shut down and people looked for new things to do at home; enter streaming services. In 2020, the digital home entertainment market increased by 33% and spending on home entertainment increased 23% to 68.8 billion dollars; this number alone is huge (LA Times 2021). When thinking about the choice's consumers have, some may not know where to start. Choosing between Hulu, Netflix, Apple TV, Paramount +, Peacock, Disney +, Amazon Prime Video can be as hard as taking the SAT’s. Not to mention all the sports streaming options that are out there for us sports junkies. We all have our preferences as to what we like to watch and how much we are willing to pay to watch it, it will be a challenge for the streaming services to keep content fresh.
2021 saw 78% of all U.S. households subscribed to the three major services: Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu (Choudhary 2021). It is no surprise that people love original and edgy content; this is where Netflix will continue to win the market over the next few years. Their hit show “Squid Game” was proof of that when it began streaming in September of 2021, it made it into 142 million homes in the first four weeks (Choudhary 2021). Disney+ has a clear advantage over many of the other streaming services as it holds the rights to has the popular brands like Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, and ESPN.
There is an old saying that my parents would say, “you have to spend money to make money”; this will be the key to which streaming companies will dominate in the next few years. Netflix is expected to spend $17 billion on content in 2022 while Disney will spend $23 billion (Kline 2022). The main difference is the Disney fan base already and plenty of content. The amount of Disney movies, characters and story lines is endless, it will be interesting to see what Disney puts out next for streaming content. Will newer streaming services like Peacock and Paramount+ take memberships from Netflix in the coming year, or will consumers choose to have more than one streaming service in their homes? I think reaching new subscribers will depend on what kind of packages the services will offer, whether it be partnering with the NFL to stream primetime football or tapping into the video game world. Streaming services give the consumer the choice to watch what they want when they want it. What price will the consumer pay for this necessity in 2022? I know in my own household, we have Disney+, Paramount +, Netflix, Peacock and ESPN+. Needless to say; if most U.S. households are like mine, the streaming services will continue to profit for years to come.
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.
Choudhary, Vidhi. “Streaming Wars: 5 Things to Watch in 2022.” TheStreet, TheStreet, 25 Dec. 2021, https://www.thestreet.com/technology/streaming-wars-5-things-to-watch-in-2022.
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.
“Streaming Milestone: Global Subscriptions Passed 1 Billion Last Year.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-03-18/streaming-milestone-global-subscriptions-passed-1-billion-last-year-mpa-theme-report.
Nicole Clemons I believe that Netflix will always sit at the top of the list when it comes to streaming services. Although Netflix has been around for a while, the platform still brings in plenty of subscribers. “Netflix (in the lead still at 214 million) added 4.4 million in its latest tally.”(Faughnder 2022). Although Netflix does have a lot of competition especially with Disney+ being so popular and bringing in lots of subscribers I still believe Netflix will remain at the top. I may be a bit bias because Netflix is my favorite streaming platform, but I believe Netflix has some of the best content. Netflix has a lot of content on their platform what makes it even more interesting is their Netflix Originals. I think this was a great idea people will watch a series or a movie that will go viral and everyone will be talking about it only to realize it is a Netflix Original. This may give people more of a reason to subscribe to view this content which so many people are ranting and raving about. Some may argue that Netflix is wasting money on their shows and movies. “Netflix has been releasing roughly 100 to 125 new shows, movies, and comedy specials each quarter. How many of those actually become hits -- maybe one or two each quarter?”(Kline 2022). People may see it as a loss, but I think it is a win. Everybody does not like the same variety of movies, by Netflix creating a variety of movies and shows for their subscribers to watch is great in my opinion. I feel that Disney+ focuses on the Marvel and Star Wars content which does not appeal to everyone. I do believe that Disney+ will continue to rise, but I feel that it will hit a wall in the future. Right now, it seems that the platform is thriving off of the Marvel content. I personally don’t know how many more movies or spin offs they can create to keep viewers entertained. Disney+ has already run into an issue where their subscriber growth slowed. I think this is a bit concerning since the platform launched late 2019 it was a bit soon to see a pause in subscribers in my opinion. “Slower growth is a concern because it makes it harder for Disney+ to achieve the 230 million to 260 million paid subscribers promised by the company by the end of the 2024 fiscal year.”(Barnes 2021).
Nicole Clemons cont'd I do not see Apple TV+ lasting long in the streaming wars. I had this service for a week to watch one show and cancelled my subscription soon after. I felt that there was not as much content on the platform like Netflix, Disney+, and other streaming services. “Apple TV+ at just 8.1 million paying customers in the U.S. Either way you slice it, the small customer base is concerning when the competition is attracting tens of millions of customers.” (Katz 2021). Although Apple TV+ is relatively new I do not see it reaching numbers like Netflix and Disney+. With the launch I would expect them to be reaching bigger numbers much like when Disney+ launched. With the slow start I just don’t think they will ever catch up to their competition. Faughdner, 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.
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. Barnes, Brooks. “Disney+ Subscriber Growth Slowed Notably in Latest Quarter, Putting Pressure on the Company.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Nov. 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/10/business/disney-plus-growth-slows.html. Katz, Brandon. “Has Apple TV+ Clawed Its Way out of the Basement?” Observer, Observer, 4 Nov. 2021, https://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.
Throughout the past two years since COVID has been brought into our life. Streaming services have skyrocketed, even before COVID hit, streaming services were seeing immaculate numbers. To add to that a global pandemic made it so many people were stranded in their homes for weeks, and for some even months. Everything was shut down, there was nowhere to go out to eat. Restaurants were closed, movie theaters were closed, businesses were closed. This really left nothing to do for everyone, and this is when the streaming services really started to take off more than they already had. Many of these streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, all had shows on demand that were being watched at a high rate. Allowing these three streaming services to take off more than others. The most successful one that I have seen would be Hulu. Hulu has the ability to stream shows, but also has the ability for live tv. So with Hulu you can watch shows that came out a while ago, and you can also watch shows that are coming out every week on their scheduled time. Hulu has this competitive edge over Netflix and Amazon who do not provide this feature. In 2021 there was 78% of all U.S. households subscribed to the three major services: Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime (Choudhary 2021). I believe that Netflix will start to struggle against these competing streaming services. Netflix provides good shows, mostly originals. Their top show this past year was Squid Games. It easily broke all the viewing records and was at the top of the chart for most streams, however with Hulu being able to stream their own originals, plus shows that people are repetitive viewers on, and their streaming ability with the live tv. Gives them the edge over Netflix.
I also believe that Netflix will struggle to find audiences over the next few years because they do not provide a lot of good shows. Mainly originals that are mediocre. Paramount Plus provides movies from new to old. All very good movies, while Netflix is stuck in the original movies and have tight guidelines with what movies they can have. I believe Netflix doesn’t have much room left to grow, and believe that it has already peaked. Producing your own shows to put on your streaming service makes it very hard. With Squid games they did a great job, but Netflix can not expect to have created a show like this and have it blow up to the top of the viewing charts every time. With Hulu and Amazon, they can still create their own shows, but the majority of their services are from other creators and provide movies and shows that people are requesting to see. While Netflix mainly focuses on creating new shows. I personally just do not see Netflix staying as big as it once was. I go onto Netflix almost every day looking for something to watch, and it has gotten to the point where I can not even find anything good to watch on there. Either the good shows that are on Netflix I have already seen or there is just nothing else that interests me from first glance on that service. Although Netflix is considered a top streaming service at the moment, and is mainly dominating the streaming service (Molla & Kofka). I believe that there will be a decrease in this viewership and subscription, and we will see a new streaming service take over.
“Streaming Milestone: Global Subscriptions Passed 1 Billion Last Year.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-03-18/streaming-milestone-global-subscriptions-passed-1-billion-last-year-mpa-theme-report. Choudhary, Vidhi. “Streaming Wars: 5 Things to Watch in 2022.” TheStreet, TheStreet, 25 Dec. 2021, https://www.thestreet.com/technology/streaming-wars-5-things-to-watch-in-2022. \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. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/paramount-overhaul-sets-up-clash-with-filmmakers-1235013964/. Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.”
Lauren Clemons I think the big winner of streaming wars is Netflix, and I think they will continue to be the winner in future years. Netflix is the top streaming platform and has more than 214 million subscribers and has been around the longest. According to “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” Netflix continues to outpace the rest of the streaming world with total global subscribers and clear regional transparency around paying customers and ARPU. It bounced back in Q3, adding 4.4 million global subscribers after just 1 million the previous quarter (Sherman). I think Netflix continues to have so much success because they create content consumers enjoy and give content consumers want. Also, Netflix isn’t afraid to take risks with their content, they’re not worried if a show/movie will not do well, because there’s so many different others to choose from. Netflix creates their own “Originals” and I think that helps their platform a lot. Some of these “Originals” they create are good enough to be in theaters, and I think they’d do well. Also, Netflix has made millions and gained millions of subscribers from shows like Squid Game for example. “The US firm added 4.4 million users in the three months to 30 September, more than double the previous quarter. Korean TV series Squid Game was its biggest hit, watched by 142 million households in its first four weeks” (Thomas). Squid Game was very popular when it came out and was trending on many social media platforms. If Squid Game didn’t come out, I don’t think Netflix would’ve seen such an insane number of subscribers in a short amount of time. I can’t wait to see how many more subscribers Netflix gains after the new season releases for Squid Game.
continued.. I think HBO and Disney+ will continue to be successful in the future. I don’t own HBO or Disney+, but these streaming services are doing well. Disney+ came out in late 2019, and by the end of 2020 it had over 50 million subscribers. “Disney+ has exceeded all expectations since it launched in November 2019. When the service first came out, Disney said that it wanted to reach 60 to 90 million subscribers by 2024, a milestone that it hit before the end of 2020 (Clover). I think Disney+ is Netflix’s biggest competition, and I think Disney+ will continue to grow quickly. Also, since Disney is one of the biggest media conglomerates it doesn’t surprise me that Disney+ grew so quickly, but the pandemic played a part in their growth. Ever since starting Euphoria, I would subscribe to HBO, but I just use my boyfriend’s account. But I think HBO will continue to be successful with the content they put out.
I think Apple TV and Peacock will struggle to find their audience over the years. I watch nothing on Apple Tv, and I’ve tried a free trial on Peacock to watch a show for class. I think it’s complete garbage! Also, I never hear much about Apple Tv, I think they should just stick to technology, and leave the streaming services alone. “Unlike Netflix, whose primary business is… Netflix, Apple is a trillion dollar company that doesn’t need Apple TV+ to be profitable. Instead, Apple is taking a long game approach. But even with the cushion of cash, the early returns for the nearly two-year-old streamer haven’t been ideal” (Katz). I really think it’s such a waste for Apple to be in the streaming wars, it should just be gone. Overall, I think Netflix will continue to be the streaming winner in the future, since so many countries have access to it, and since it’s been around so long. Also, I think Apple Tv will continue to be in the bottom for streaming services in the future. Works Cited 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. Thomas, Daniel. “Squid Game Helps Netflix Subscriptions Pick Up.” BBC News, BBC, 20 Oct. 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-58976204. Clover, Juli. “Disney+ Has 118.1 Million Subscribers Two Years after Launch.” MacRumors, MacRumors, 10 Nov. 2021, https://www.macrumors.com/2021/11/10/disney-plus-118-million-subscribers/. Katz, Brandon. “Has Apple TV+ Clawed Its Way out of the Basement?” Observer, Observer, 4 Nov. 2021, https://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.
Although Netflix has been ever-growing these past few years, I do not think it will be winning the streaming wars in the next couple of years.
Netflix is a very competitive streaming platform currently having 214 million subscribers (Faughnder). They have especially come out with groundbreaking tv shows this year such as “Squid Game” and “Tiger King 2” (Sherman). And not only these TV show, but there were also movies that caught everyone’s attention such as “Red Notice” and “Don’t Look Up”, continuing the growth of Netflix’s subscriber count. But, as Michael Nathanson says, Netflix is focusing too much on their streaming subscriber count and not focusing enough on their streaming economics which could hurt them in the long run (Faughdner).
Even though Netflix is a top-tier streaming service (in my opinion) and won’t be going anywhere, I think HBO Max will win the streaming wars in the next couple of years. Ever since HBO Max has come to be in 2020, the streaming service has grown its popularity pretty quickly, especially in the last year. Due to the pandemic, so many individuals were downloading as many streaming services as possible to get over their boredom, and HBO Max was one of them. As of now, their subscription count is at 70 million (Watercutter). Not only did it show up during the perfect time (the pandemic), but it also has a couple deals and features that makes it stand out from other streaming services. First of all, last year Warner Bros made an announcement called “Project Popcorn” saying that in 2021 all of their movies would be released on HBO Max the same day that it hit theaters (Watercutter). This is really convenient especially during this day in age. There are so many people that would rather sit in their living room and watch a movie than go to the theaters; HBO Max gives that option for people, making more movie-goers to make a subscription. Another reason HBO Max will win the streaming services is they have so many popular shows on their that people are consistently watching such as “Game of Thrones”, “Euphoria”, and “Succession”. There are also reunion and reboots that have showed up on HBO Max such as “Friends: The Reunion”, and the new chapter of Sex and the City called “And Just Like That”. Overall, whatever HBO Max is doing, they may have found a way to hack the streaming wars (Watercutter).
A couple streaming services that I think will struggle to find audiences over the next two years is Discovery+ and Peacock. For Discovery+, I have actually never heard a single person who has subscribed to this platform, and according to Sherman, there are only 20 million subscribers as of this quarter. For Peacock, I have actually seen a lot of advertisements for this streaming service and have a subscription myself, but I have never watched anything on it because they don’t own many known tv shows or movies. Peacock has a long way to go with gaining subscribers as they don’t have much interesting content, but I hope they do in the near future.
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, 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. 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. Watercutter, Angela. “HBO Max Might Have Outsmarted the Streaming Wars.” Wired, Conde Nast, 10 Dec. 2021, https://www.wired.com/story/hbo-max-outsmart-streaming-wars/.
Shawn Baker (Part 1) There’s no denying how popular streaming services are right now. One could say they’re “all the rage these days”. There are many streaming services now, and they’re all battling it out to see which one will come out on top. Quite frankly though, it’s not much of a battle, there’s already a clear winner (as of now), Netflix. Netflix has the biggest advantage in that it’s been around the longest, so it’s had more time to gain subscribers and make a massive profit, setting the bar extremely high for other streaming services to match. But how can this be? After all, Netflix recently took a 40% price drop in the stock market in a single day. (Adalian). Well, it’s because they’re so far ahead of all the other streaming services that they can afford to take a massive hit like this and still be the powerhouse in the “streaming wars”, (they are of course projected to recover). But what makes Netflix this powerhouse? Well, first off, they have 222 million paying subscribers. (Kline). Netflix does extremely well outside globally, having a huge market outside the U.S. Netflix also does a great job at diversifying itself, whether that be through its content or dipping their toes in other mediums like video-games. (Adalian). This isn’t to say there’s no competition for Netflix though, Disney+ is starting to give them a run for their money. Though Netflix has more content than Disney+, Disney+ has more hits with their content. Quantity vs. quality. Netflix releases over a hundred tv shows and movies every quarter, but only a couple become massive hits. Disney+ on the other hand releases a few tv shows and movies every quarter, but most of them are hits. (Kline). Disney+ has mastered the formula for creating hits, and they use that to its full effect. Disney+ has 116 million paying subscribers, about half as much as Netflix, and they haven’t been around as long as Netflix (only 2 years). (Adgate). Disney+ is slowly closing the gap. During the second quarter in 2021, Disney+ gained 12.4 million subscribers, the most out of any streaming services during that quarter. Netflix on the other hand only gained 1.5 million subscribers, though how many more subscribers can you gain when you’re already at 222 million? (Adgate) Either way, it’s clear these two streaming services are going to continue dominating the streaming industry.
Shawn Baker (Part 2) Of course, Netflix and Disney+ are not the only streaming services out there. They are the “big winners” right now, but I honestly wouldn’t say any of the other streaming services are “losers” (except for Quibi). Hulu has around 40 million subscribers, and they’re a part of Disney, so they’re in good hands. Disney also plans to distribute Hulu globally, so that will gain them more subscribers in the next few years. (Adgate). Comcast’s Peacock gained 12 million subscribers during the second quarter of 2021, almost as much as Disney+, and Peacock was only launched in July 2020. During the second quarter of 2021, ViacomCBS gained 6.5 million subscribers, now with a total of 42 million globally (most coming from Paramount+), while HBO and HBO Max gained 2.8 million subscribers, bringing their total to 67.5 million. HBO and HBO Max have not yet gone global, so once they do I expect they'll also gain a lot more subscribers. Discovery+ gained 18 million subscribers during its first 7 months after being launched in January 2021. (Adgate). Honestly all of them are doing well enough, it just seems small compared to the massive subscription numbers of Netflix and Disney+ (and this doesn’t even take into account the different subscription prices and how much each streaming service is profiting from that). I do think Discovery+ will have the biggest challenge making it through since the competition is steep and they haven’t gained a lot of subscribers, but they do plan to launch in Latin America and Asia, so that’ll help them. Similar to HBO and HBO Max, though they only gained 2.8 million subscribers in a single quarter (small compared to everyone else), they already almost have 70 million, and once they go global, they should gain a ton more subscribers. (Adgate). That said, who knows which streaming services will be around in a few years, and which new ones will pop up. Perhaps they’ll be a new front runner to win the streaming wars (probably Disney+, just Disney as a whole in general), but are there really ever any winners in a war? In this, yes, the numbers don’t lie.
Works Cited: • 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. • 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. • Adgate, Brad. “The Streaming Wars Is about Global Distribution and Investing in Programming.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 10 Dec. 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2021/08/24/to-compete-with-netflix-its-about-global-distribution-and-investing-in-content/?sh=1277114c408b.
Hannah Berkel
ReplyDeleteI think the long reigning champ when it comes to streaming services is Netflix. With 214 million global subscribers and 74.02 million in the U.S. and Canada, they have the most subscribers out of any platform (Sherman). Their subscriber amount continues to grow, despite being in the game for a long time now. Netflix is at an advantage because it has been around for so long, it is easy to use and navigate, and people know what to expect with it. Netflix has consistently been putting out original content for both shows and films, most of which reach massive levels of popularity, like Squid Game, or are critically acclaimed, like The Crown, which swept at the Emmy’s last year. Despite Netflix recently cutting its prices by 60% in India to compete with Amazon and Disney (Purnell) they are still seeing growth in their numbers. Even a setback like this will not be devastating to the company.
Personally, I think that one of the biggest winners of the “streaming war” will be HBO Max. Although Netflix is strong and will not be going anywhere anytime soon, I think that HBO Max is the platform to watch. The platform has had steady growth since it’s launch in 2020. It was the most downloaded streaming platform app last year and at a rate of $15 a month the platform has a higher average revenue per user than other platforms (Faughnder). With the positive usage trends and the higher revenue, the platform can be expected to expand and flourish. The higher subscription price gives the platform more revenue to create original content with. I know that some of the year’s biggest shows were Mare of Easttown, Hacks, and Succession. All three brought in awards in the past year and Succession is nominated for upcoming award shows as well. The platform has content that appeals to all ages and similar to Netflix often acquires other content. Since they are owned by Warner Media they have the ability to put popular series like Harry Potter onto the platform. Despite HBO following the traditional model of releasing one episode each week rather than a whole season at one time, people are enjoying the content and continue to tune in. Personally, every week on Twitter I see tweets about HBO shows such as Succession or Euphoria. Since the return of Euphoria earlier this month, tweets about the show have been pretty much the only thing I see on my Twitter feed. Clearly, what HBO is doing works.
On the losing end I think we will see services like Discovery+, Paramount+, and Apple TV+. Although Apple TV+ has Ted Lasso and The Morning Show, the platform is still not at a level of popularity or success that we see with other platforms. If they continue to create content that is on par with Ted Lasso I think we can expect to see them grow. As far as Discovery+ and Paramount+ are concerned, I think these are the two platforms I see the most advertising for, but know the least amount of people subscribed to them. Paramount+ could get better as they release more original content, but I do not see Discovery+ going far.
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, 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.
Purnell, Newley. “Netflix Cuts Prices to Compete with Amazon Prime, Disney in India.” MarketWatch, MarketWatch, 16 Dec. 2021, www.marketwatch.com/story/netflix-cuts-prices-to-compete-with-amazon-prime-disney-in-india-11639656848.
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.
Ben Labadia
ReplyDeleteBased on the many articles presented on this topic, I believe the winners of the streaming wars will be companies like Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max, while the losers will be Paramount+, Peacock, and potentially Apple TV. Throughout the readings, it became apparent that companies like Netflix, which has about 214 million subscribers, and Disney+, which has 118 million subscribers, are dominating the industry (Molla & Kofka). They have the most subscribers, and they have retained a steady growth over their years in business. The reasons for this: both release incredible content. Netflix has shows like Squid Game, The Crown, and Tiger King, all of which have been major hits over the years. They are also releasing more independent films that have big name supporters, such as the recent release of The Lost Daughter and The Power of the Dog. However, Netflix will never match Disney’s content, owning Pixar and Marvel, having a variety of nostalgic characters to continue building stories around (Kline). In terms of the losers of the streaming wars, it’s clear that Paramount+ is lacking behind competitors. There is a clear miscommunication between Shari Redstone, chairman of ViacomCBS, and the filmmakers and actors of many of the Paramount releases. The actors and filmmakers signed on to get traditional theatrical releases, while Redstone thinks it would be best to release on Paramount+ only (Masters). In addition, Peacock and Apple TV gave little to no updates on their streaming services, saying that they were “on track” or gaining “a couple million” subscribers, but never revealing any true figures (Molla & Kofka).
Ben Labadia (Part 2)
DeleteOverall, however, the streaming service I find the most attractive and exciting to watch grow is HBO Max. According to the article, “After a turbulent year, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar touts HBO Max gains,” by Meg James, Jason Kilar, the Time Warner CEO, took a risk in 2021 and faced backlash for choosing to release films on both HBO Max and in theaters. People were very skeptical of this decision and didn’t agree with him. Then, Time Warner was merged with Discovery, leading to further fear in Kilar. However, when HBO Max was taken down from Amazon, people were upset, wanting to download the app. Suddenly, the app received 73 million subscribers and Kilar was seen as a success, having done something no one else had done. This could be attributed to Kilar working originally with Jeff Bezos, building up Amazon to what it is today, and understanding business strategy (James). With the strategy working well, HBO Max proved to be a part of the streaming wars. Their prices are much higher than Netflix and Disney+, its competitors, at $14.99/month compared to $8.00/month. The higher price, however, appears to be helpful, as HBO Max can use this extra revenue to pay for content production, as opposed to other companies who need to find money through other sources to produce (James). The other thing about HBO Max that can compete with other streaming services is its content. In particular, shows and specials like The White Lotus, The Friends Reunion, Return to Hogwarts, and Euphoria, have garnered immense attention just in 2021-2022. The popular social media app, Tik Tok, was a big part in this, providing a lot of free promotion for both shows. Between reviews, theories, and fashion trends, Tik Tok users themselves have become the advertisers for these shows and HBO Max as a whole. Many users were awaiting Euphoria for so long that they took to “…inventing alternative fates for its characters” (News18). Others have connected with the realistic problems the characters face, with its “…boundary-pushing portrayal of American teenagers in need of guidance” (News18). It is something Generation Z finds kinship in, and much of why HBO Max has found such a loyal fanbase and subscription increase, and why HBO Max could potentially take the lead.
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.
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.
Masters, Kim. “Shari Redstone's Radical Paramount Overhaul Sets up Clash with Filmmakers.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Sept. 2021, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/paramount-overhaul-sets-up-clash-with-filmmakers-1235013964/.
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.
“Why Is 'Euphoria' Trending on TikTok?” News18, 27 Jan. 2022, https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/why-is-euphoria-trending-on-tiktok-4703198.html.
When looking at the potential long-term outcomes of the streaming wars, I believe that overall, Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max will end up as the three at the top of the podium. Netflix of course, has been dominant for longer than nearly all of the other streaming services have been around. They lead the pack for most subscribers, at 214 million worldwide (James), and with the performance of their originals; Bridgerton, Stranger Things, and You just to name a few, as well as their acquired content, they have a hold strong enough to maintain their success. Next, HBO Max has surprised many since it’s launch, and has quickly risen to the top of the lists in terms of streaming services and their success. In an Article written by the LA Times, it was noted that HBO Max had quickly become the No 2. service in terms of subscribers as well as revenue (James).
ReplyDeleteMuch of the early success of HBO Max can be attributed to the content available on the platform. The Harry Potter franchise, Friends, and Euphoria being examples of content that has attracted subscribers since the platform’s launch. Along with the quality of their content, something that has also seemed to attract subscribers is the price of a subscription. While it’s higher than most ($14.99 a month), they are turning a higher profit than other platforms with cheaper subscriptions. Because of the higher profit, they are able to put more money into their content development, which allows for their releases to be of higher quality, thus attracting more subscribers (James).
Lastly (but certainly not least), Disney+ will likely be one of the biggest winners of the “streaming wars”. Of course, Disney owns an extremely large amount of content as well as other platforms (Hulu, ESPN, etc.). Currently, their high volume of subscribers can be attributed to their ownership of Marvel, as well as the bundle deals they offer with their other platforms. However, in 2022, Disney is expected to spend $33 billion on content throughout their platforms. Stated in an article by The Hollywood Reporter, “Disney’s Studios division plans to release 50 titles for theatrical release and on its direct-to-consumer platforms.” (Weprin). With the amount Disney is investing into future content, one can assume that they will only continue to grow in popularity as more original content is released onto the platform.
Of course, at the other end of the spectrum, there are many streaming platforms that will likely not survive the “streaming wars” and will either go under, or get bought out by larger ones. One of the ones that (I feel) will be the first to go is likely Peacock . Despite Peacock being owned by NBC, a very successful broadcasting company, they have had a less-than-stellar performance since their launch in 2020. The platform had intended to rely heavily on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to get them off to a good start through airing the events, however the Covid-19 pandemic made that impossible, with the games being delayed a year. Despite the delayed games still being aired on the streaming service, “Viewership for the games was down 42% compared to the 2016 Olympics.” (Hersko). Along with an overall underwhelming launch, the platform itself just doesn’t really have enough content to gain subscribers and keep them. Along similar lines as Peacock, Paramount+ is also a platform that will likely not be able to compete with the already established and dominant platforms. Their lack of popular acquired content, as well as a lack of original content has kept many people from committing to a subscription, which is something that will likely end up causing many other platforms to to lose in the “streaming wars”.
DeleteWorks Cited
Hersko, Tyler. “Peacock Subscriptions? Comcast Would Rather Talk about Something Else in Q3 2021 Earnings Report.” IndieWire, IndieWire, 29 Oct. 2021, https://www.indiewire.com/2021/10/comcast-q3-2021-earnings-report-nbcuniversal-peacock-1234675217/.
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.
Weprin, Alex. “Disney Plans to Spend $33B on Content next Year.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Dec. 2021, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/disney-streaming-content-spend-2022-1235052916/.
Lilly Davidson
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the overall streaming winners, I think it comes down to Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max, whereas the losers include Paramount+ and Peacock. It is no secret that Netflix and Disney+ are receiving a lot of support, with Disney+ at 118 million subscribers and Netflix reaching a whopping 214 million subscribers (Faughnder). And these streaming platforms are not just getting these types of results due to pure luck, rather they are creating and maintaining a wide variety of content that keeps audiences satisfied. Netflix, with huge shows like Squid Game and The Crown, and Disney+ with Pixar, Marvel, and nostalgic original movies, these two platforms are reaching a lot of eager subscribers. Then, there is HBO Max, who turned out to be a strong competitor among the top streaming services. After receiving heat over the decision to release movies in theaters and on the platform, HBO Max continued to climb in popularity. Just like Netflix and Disney+, HBO has been releasing a steady stream of content that viewers are drawn to, such as the “reboot of ‘Sex and the City,’… ‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’ and finales of HBO hits ‘Succession,’ Issa Rae’s ‘Insecure’ and Larry David’s ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’” (James). Although the streaming service took some risks and had a bit of a rocky start, they are definitely proving themselves to be a top contender. Overall, these three streaming platforms have a very big chance of continuing to dominate.
On the lower side of things are, once again, Paramount+ and Peacock. Throughout all of these articles, there does not seem to be a lot of hope for Paramount+. According to the article, “Shari Redstone’s Radical Paramount Overhaul Sets Up Clash With Filmmakers” by Kim Masters, “Paramount+ is still a very undernourished also-ran.” With only around 12 million subscribers, even some of Paramount’s creative partners “are not eager to see their projects used to build it up” (Masters). Along with Paramount+ is another underwhelming platform, Peacock. With little information about the platform other than declining success, there is not much to see when it comes to Peacock. Audience members seem to be veering away from Peacock because “the content available for the service did not align with consumer expectations in 2021” (Lynch). It isn’t a surprise that consumers went in a different direction when their expectations weren’t met. In terms of the future, Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts explains how “we are producing more of the premium content that our viewers love and continue to provide them with multiple ways to access it, including on Peacock” (Szalai). However, it seems as though subscribers are not seeing much content they love in the first place.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteStreaming services have been on the rise over the past few years. Many people have transitioned in subscribing to streaming platforms. Netflix used to be one of the most popular streaming platforms, but other companies have started to create their own. For instance, NBC created Peacock and Apple created Apple TV+. Steve Mosko, from Village Roadshow Entertainment stated, “The next 18 months are going to be the most interesting in the history of the entertainment business – the grounds are shifting” (Sharma and Flint). Although it is difficult to predict the future of streaming, I have my own predictions about streaming. After conducting my own research, I believe that HBO Max, Apple TV+ and Netflix will be the big winners of the “streaming wars”. However, I think that Peacock, Paramount+, Disney+ and Discovery+ will be losers of this war.
ReplyDeleteHBO Max grew exponentially throughout 2021. This platform offers something that other platforms don’t. Since the movie industry declined during the pandemic, the platform signed an agreement to release Warner Brothers movies that were supposed to be shown in the theatres. The platform also airs exclusive shows such as And Just Like That and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Meg James of the Los Angeles Times stated, “…HBO Max has yet to reach its second anniversary, it is now the No.2 service in the U.S., behind Netflix, in terms of subscribers and revenue” (James). HBO Max is more expensive than other streaming services. Since the platform is $14.99 per month, the company is able to invest more money into their productions. Meg James also noted, “Because of its higher subscription price, HBO Max already generates more revenue per subscriber than its lower-priced competitors” (James).
Part 2
DeleteApple TV+ has also been on the rise over the past few years. Apple TV+ has their share of exclusive original products. One of the most notable originals was Ted Lasso. This show was one of the main reasons why Apple TV+ has become a main competitor in streaming services. Ted Lasso was one of the most successful productions and received many awards at the Primetime Emmy Awards. Brandon Katz stated, “…Apple is taking a long game approach” (Katz). This streaming platform offers a free trial for one year. Many of their free trials have expired and Apple TV+’s paid subscriber base has quadrupled (Katz). I think Apple TV+ is going to become a major successor over the next few years. If the platform continues to provide popular originals, they will slowly but surely be a winner of the “streaming wars”.
Netflix continues to dominate the streaming industry. It is one of the most popular streaming platforms around. This platform produces many originals that contribute to its success such as Squid Games, The Crown, Stranger Things and Outer Banks. Netflix currently has 214 million subscribers (Sherman). Netflix has the highest subscription rate among streaming services. Recently, Netflix released its Q4 earnings, which caused some panic about the company. However, Josef Adalian said, “Fact is, Netflix is so far ahead in the streaming race it can afford to take big hits like what happened last week” (Adalian). Netflix is a primary streaming service. When people think of a streaming service, Netflix immediately comes to mind. Netflix continues to be the biggest streaming platform and will continue to thrive throughout 2022.
It will be interesting over the next few years to see who dominates the streaming industry. I was found that Discovery+ has 20 million subscribers, Paramount+ has 47 million subscribers and Peacock has 54 million subscribers (Sherman). Disney+’s growth is slowing down too (Sherman). These platforms are lacking the production that is driving people to other platforms. This shows in their subscriber amounts. I think some of these platforms may be bought out by larger companies like HBO Max or Netflix.
Works Cited
DeleteAdalian, 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&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Vulture+-+January+28%2C+2022&utm_term=Subscription+List+-+Vulture+%281+Year%29.
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.
Katz, Brandon. “Has Apple TV+ Clawed Its Way out of the Basement?” Observer, Observer, 4 Nov. 2021, https://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.
Sharma, Amol, and Joe Flint. “The Great Streaming Battle Is Here. No One Is Safe.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 9 Nov. 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-great-streaming-battle-is-here-no-one-is-safe-11573272000.
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.
Robert Lyon- 1/2
ReplyDeleteIt is no surprise that streaming services have taken off in popularity over the past few years; mainly for two reasons. The first was mainly the convenience of having your favorite shows on demand when you wanted to watch them and not when the networks chose to show them. Also having them accessible on your laptop or cell phone on demand was key. The second was the Covid-19 pandemic. In the early days of the pandemic in 2020, everyone was home, movies and businesses were shut down and people looked for new things to do at home; enter streaming services. In 2020, the digital home entertainment market increased by 33% and spending on home entertainment increased 23% to 68.8 billion dollars; this number alone is huge (LA Times 2021). When thinking about the choice's consumers have, some may not know where to start. Choosing between Hulu, Netflix, Apple TV, Paramount +, Peacock, Disney +, Amazon Prime Video can be as hard as taking the SAT’s. Not to mention all the sports streaming options that are out there for us sports junkies. We all have our preferences as to what we like to watch and how much we are willing to pay to watch it, it will be a challenge for the streaming services to keep content fresh.
2021 saw 78% of all U.S. households subscribed to the three major services: Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu (Choudhary 2021). It is no surprise that people love original and edgy content; this is where Netflix will continue to win the market over the next few years. Their hit show “Squid Game” was proof of that when it began streaming in September of 2021, it made it into 142 million homes in the first four weeks (Choudhary 2021). Disney+ has a clear advantage over many of the other streaming services as it holds the rights to has the popular brands like Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, and ESPN.
Robert Lyon- 2/2
ReplyDeleteThere is an old saying that my parents would say, “you have to spend money to make money”; this will be the key to which streaming companies will dominate in the next few years. Netflix is expected to spend $17 billion on content in 2022 while Disney will spend $23 billion (Kline 2022). The main difference is the Disney fan base already and plenty of content. The amount of Disney movies, characters and story lines is endless, it will be interesting to see what Disney puts out next for streaming content. Will newer streaming services like Peacock and Paramount+ take memberships from Netflix in the coming year, or will consumers choose to have more than one streaming service in their homes? I think reaching new subscribers will depend on what kind of packages the services will offer, whether it be partnering with the NFL to stream primetime football or tapping into the video game world. Streaming services give the consumer the choice to watch what they want when they want it. What price will the consumer pay for this necessity in 2022? I know in my own household, we have Disney+, Paramount +, Netflix, Peacock and ESPN+. Needless to say; if most U.S. households are like mine, the streaming services will continue to profit for years to come.
Robert Lyon- Work Cited
ReplyDeleteAdalian, 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.
Choudhary, Vidhi. “Streaming Wars: 5 Things to Watch in 2022.” TheStreet, TheStreet, 25 Dec. 2021, https://www.thestreet.com/technology/streaming-wars-5-things-to-watch-in-2022.
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.
“Streaming Milestone: Global Subscriptions Passed 1 Billion Last Year.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-03-18/streaming-milestone-global-subscriptions-passed-1-billion-last-year-mpa-theme-report.
Nicole Clemons
ReplyDeleteI believe that Netflix will always sit at the top of the list when it comes to streaming services. Although Netflix has been around for a while, the platform still brings in plenty of subscribers. “Netflix (in the lead still at 214 million) added 4.4 million in its latest tally.”(Faughnder 2022). Although Netflix does have a lot of competition especially with Disney+ being so popular and bringing in lots of subscribers I still believe Netflix will remain at the top. I may be a bit bias because Netflix is my favorite streaming platform, but I believe Netflix has some of the best content. Netflix has a lot of content on their platform what makes it even more interesting is their Netflix Originals. I think this was a great idea people will watch a series or a movie that will go viral and everyone will be talking about it only to realize it is a Netflix Original. This may give people more of a reason to subscribe to view this content which so many people are ranting and raving about.
Some may argue that Netflix is wasting money on their shows and movies. “Netflix has been releasing roughly 100 to 125 new shows, movies, and comedy specials each quarter. How many of those actually become hits -- maybe one or two each quarter?”(Kline 2022). People may see it as a loss, but I think it is a win. Everybody does not like the same variety of movies, by Netflix creating a variety of movies and shows for their subscribers to watch is great in my opinion. I feel that Disney+ focuses on the Marvel and Star Wars content which does not appeal to everyone.
I do believe that Disney+ will continue to rise, but I feel that it will hit a wall in the future. Right now, it seems that the platform is thriving off of the Marvel content. I personally don’t know how many more movies or spin offs they can create to keep viewers entertained. Disney+ has already run into an issue where their subscriber growth slowed. I think this is a bit concerning since the platform launched late 2019 it was a bit soon to see a pause in subscribers in my opinion. “Slower growth is a concern because it makes it harder for Disney+ to achieve the 230 million to 260 million paid subscribers promised by the company by the end of the 2024 fiscal year.”(Barnes 2021).
Nicole Clemons cont'd
ReplyDeleteI do not see Apple TV+ lasting long in the streaming wars. I had this service for a week to watch one show and cancelled my subscription soon after. I felt that there was not as much content on the platform like Netflix, Disney+, and other streaming services. “Apple TV+ at just 8.1 million paying customers in the U.S. Either way you slice it, the small customer base is concerning when the competition is attracting tens of millions of customers.” (Katz 2021). Although Apple TV+ is relatively new I do not see it reaching numbers like Netflix and Disney+. With the launch I would expect them to be reaching bigger numbers much like when Disney+ launched. With the slow start I just don’t think they will ever catch up to their competition.
Faughdner, 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.
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.
Barnes, Brooks. “Disney+ Subscriber Growth Slowed Notably in Latest Quarter, Putting Pressure on the Company.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Nov. 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/10/business/disney-plus-growth-slows.html.
Katz, Brandon. “Has Apple TV+ Clawed Its Way out of the Basement?” Observer, Observer, 4 Nov. 2021, https://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.
Derek Goldrick
ReplyDeleteDerek Goldrick
DeleteThroughout the past two years since COVID has been brought into our life. Streaming services have skyrocketed, even before COVID hit, streaming services were seeing immaculate numbers. To add to that a global pandemic made it so many people were stranded in their homes for weeks, and for some even months. Everything was shut down, there was nowhere to go out to eat. Restaurants were closed, movie theaters were closed, businesses were closed. This really left nothing to do for everyone, and this is when the streaming services really started to take off more than they already had. Many of these streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, all had shows on demand that were being watched at a high rate. Allowing these three streaming services to take off more than others. The most successful one that I have seen would be Hulu. Hulu has the ability to stream shows, but also has the ability for live tv. So with Hulu you can watch shows that came out a while ago, and you can also watch shows that are coming out every week on their scheduled time. Hulu has this competitive edge over Netflix and Amazon who do not provide this feature. In 2021 there was 78% of all U.S. households subscribed to the three major services: Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime (Choudhary 2021). I believe that Netflix will start to struggle against these competing streaming services. Netflix provides good shows, mostly originals. Their top show this past year was Squid Games. It easily broke all the viewing records and was at the top of the chart for most streams, however with Hulu being able to stream their own originals, plus shows that people are repetitive viewers on, and their streaming ability with the live tv. Gives them the edge over Netflix.
I also believe that Netflix will struggle to find audiences over the next few years because they do not provide a lot of good shows. Mainly originals that are mediocre. Paramount Plus provides movies from new to old. All very good movies, while Netflix is stuck in the original movies and have tight guidelines with what movies they can have. I believe Netflix doesn’t have much room left to grow, and believe that it has already peaked. Producing your own shows to put on your streaming service makes it very hard. With Squid games they did a great job, but Netflix can not expect to have created a show like this and have it blow up to the top of the viewing charts every time. With Hulu and Amazon, they can still create their own shows, but the majority of their services are from other creators and provide movies and shows that people are requesting to see. While Netflix mainly focuses on creating new shows. I personally just do not see Netflix staying as big as it once was. I go onto Netflix almost every day looking for something to watch, and it has gotten to the point where I can not even find anything good to watch on there. Either the good shows that are on Netflix I have already seen or there is just nothing else that interests me from first glance on that service. Although Netflix is considered a top streaming service at the moment, and is mainly dominating the streaming service (Molla & Kofka). I believe that there will be a decrease in this viewership and subscription, and we will see a new streaming service take over.
Delete“Streaming Milestone: Global Subscriptions Passed 1 Billion Last Year.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-03-18/streaming-milestone-global-subscriptions-passed-1-billion-last-year-mpa-theme-report.
Choudhary, Vidhi. “Streaming Wars: 5 Things to Watch in 2022.” TheStreet, TheStreet, 25 Dec. 2021, https://www.thestreet.com/technology/streaming-wars-5-things-to-watch-in-2022.
\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.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/paramount-overhaul-sets-up-clash-with-filmmakers-1235013964/.
Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.”
Lauren Clemons
ReplyDeleteI think the big winner of streaming wars is Netflix, and I think they will continue to be the winner in future years. Netflix is the top streaming platform and has more than 214 million subscribers and has been around the longest. According to “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” Netflix continues to outpace the rest of the streaming world with total global subscribers and clear regional transparency around paying customers and ARPU. It bounced back in Q3, adding 4.4 million global subscribers after just 1 million the previous quarter (Sherman). I think Netflix continues to have so much success because they create content consumers enjoy and give content consumers want. Also, Netflix isn’t afraid to take risks with their content, they’re not worried if a show/movie will not do well, because there’s so many different others to choose from. Netflix creates their own “Originals” and I think that helps their platform a lot. Some of these “Originals” they create are good enough to be in theaters, and I think they’d do well.
Also, Netflix has made millions and gained millions of subscribers from shows like Squid Game for example. “The US firm added 4.4 million users in the three months to 30 September, more than double the previous quarter. Korean TV series Squid Game was its biggest hit, watched by 142 million households in its first four weeks” (Thomas). Squid Game was very popular when it came out and was trending on many social media platforms. If Squid Game didn’t come out, I don’t think Netflix would’ve seen such an insane number of subscribers in a short amount of time. I can’t wait to see how many more subscribers Netflix gains after the new season releases for Squid Game.
continued..
ReplyDeleteI think HBO and Disney+ will continue to be successful in the future. I don’t own HBO or Disney+, but these streaming services are doing well. Disney+ came out in late 2019, and by the end of 2020 it had over 50 million subscribers. “Disney+ has exceeded all expectations since it launched in November 2019. When the service first came out, Disney said that it wanted to reach 60 to 90 million subscribers by 2024, a milestone that it hit before the end of 2020 (Clover). I think Disney+ is Netflix’s biggest competition, and I think Disney+ will continue to grow quickly. Also, since Disney is one of the biggest media conglomerates it doesn’t surprise me that Disney+ grew so quickly, but the pandemic played a part in their growth. Ever since starting Euphoria, I would subscribe to HBO, but I just use my boyfriend’s account. But I think HBO will continue to be successful with the content they put out.
I think Apple TV and Peacock will struggle to find their audience over the years. I watch nothing on Apple Tv, and I’ve tried a free trial on Peacock to watch a show for class. I think it’s complete garbage! Also, I never hear much about Apple Tv, I think they should just stick to technology, and leave the streaming services alone. “Unlike Netflix, whose primary business is… Netflix, Apple is a trillion dollar company that doesn’t need Apple TV+ to be profitable. Instead, Apple is taking a long game approach. But even with the cushion of cash, the early returns for the nearly two-year-old streamer haven’t been ideal” (Katz). I really think it’s such a waste for Apple to be in the streaming wars, it should just be gone.
Overall, I think Netflix will continue to be the streaming winner in the future, since so many countries have access to it, and since it’s been around so long. Also, I think Apple Tv will continue to be in the bottom for streaming services in the future.
Works Cited
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.
Thomas, Daniel. “Squid Game Helps Netflix Subscriptions Pick Up.” BBC News, BBC, 20 Oct. 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-58976204.
Clover, Juli. “Disney+ Has 118.1 Million Subscribers Two Years after Launch.” MacRumors, MacRumors, 10 Nov. 2021, https://www.macrumors.com/2021/11/10/disney-plus-118-million-subscribers/.
Katz, Brandon. “Has Apple TV+ Clawed Its Way out of the Basement?” Observer, Observer, 4 Nov. 2021, https://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.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Netflix has been ever-growing these past few years, I do not think it will be winning the streaming wars in the next couple of years.
ReplyDeleteNetflix is a very competitive streaming platform currently having 214 million subscribers (Faughnder). They have especially come out with groundbreaking tv shows this year such as “Squid Game” and “Tiger King 2” (Sherman). And not only these TV show, but there were also movies that caught everyone’s attention such as “Red Notice” and “Don’t Look Up”, continuing the growth of Netflix’s subscriber count. But, as Michael Nathanson says, Netflix is focusing too much on their streaming subscriber count and not focusing enough on their streaming economics which could hurt them in the long run (Faughdner).
Even though Netflix is a top-tier streaming service (in my opinion) and won’t be going anywhere, I think HBO Max will win the streaming wars in the next couple of years. Ever since HBO Max has come to be in 2020, the streaming service has grown its popularity pretty quickly, especially in the last year. Due to the pandemic, so many individuals were downloading as many streaming services as possible to get over their boredom, and HBO Max was one of them. As of now, their subscription count is at 70 million (Watercutter). Not only did it show up during the perfect time (the pandemic), but it also has a couple deals and features that makes it stand out from other streaming services. First of all, last year Warner Bros made an announcement called “Project Popcorn” saying that in 2021 all of their movies would be released on HBO Max the same day that it hit theaters (Watercutter). This is really convenient especially during this day in age. There are so many people that would rather sit in their living room and watch a movie than go to the theaters; HBO Max gives that option for people, making more movie-goers to make a subscription. Another reason HBO Max will win the streaming services is they have so many popular shows on their that people are consistently watching such as “Game of Thrones”, “Euphoria”, and “Succession”. There are also reunion and reboots that have showed up on HBO Max such as “Friends: The Reunion”, and the new chapter of Sex and the City called “And Just Like That”. Overall, whatever HBO Max is doing, they may have found a way to hack the streaming wars (Watercutter).
A couple streaming services that I think will struggle to find audiences over the next two years is Discovery+ and Peacock. For Discovery+, I have actually never heard a single person who has subscribed to this platform, and according to Sherman, there are only 20 million subscribers as of this quarter. For Peacock, I have actually seen a lot of advertisements for this streaming service and have a subscription myself, but I have never watched anything on it because they don’t own many known tv shows or movies. Peacock has a long way to go with gaining subscribers as they don’t have much interesting content, but I hope they do in the near future.
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, 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.
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.
Watercutter, Angela. “HBO Max Might Have Outsmarted the Streaming Wars.” Wired, Conde Nast, 10 Dec. 2021, https://www.wired.com/story/hbo-max-outsmart-streaming-wars/.
Shawn Baker (Part 1)
ReplyDeleteThere’s no denying how popular streaming services are right now. One could say they’re “all the rage these days”. There are many streaming services now, and they’re all battling it out to see which one will come out on top. Quite frankly though, it’s not much of a battle, there’s already a clear winner (as of now), Netflix. Netflix has the biggest advantage in that it’s been around the longest, so it’s had more time to gain subscribers and make a massive profit, setting the bar extremely high for other streaming services to match. But how can this be? After all, Netflix recently took a 40% price drop in the stock market in a single day. (Adalian). Well, it’s because they’re so far ahead of all the other streaming services that they can afford to take a massive hit like this and still be the powerhouse in the “streaming wars”, (they are of course projected to recover). But what makes Netflix this powerhouse? Well, first off, they have 222 million paying subscribers. (Kline). Netflix does extremely well outside globally, having a huge market outside the U.S. Netflix also does a great job at diversifying itself, whether that be through its content or dipping their toes in other mediums like video-games. (Adalian). This isn’t to say there’s no competition for Netflix though, Disney+ is starting to give them a run for their money.
Though Netflix has more content than Disney+, Disney+ has more hits with their content. Quantity vs. quality. Netflix releases over a hundred tv shows and movies every quarter, but only a couple become massive hits. Disney+ on the other hand releases a few tv shows and movies every quarter, but most of them are hits. (Kline). Disney+ has mastered the formula for creating hits, and they use that to its full effect. Disney+ has 116 million paying subscribers, about half as much as Netflix, and they haven’t been around as long as Netflix (only 2 years). (Adgate). Disney+ is slowly closing the gap. During the second quarter in 2021, Disney+ gained 12.4 million subscribers, the most out of any streaming services during that quarter. Netflix on the other hand only gained 1.5 million subscribers, though how many more subscribers can you gain when you’re already at 222 million? (Adgate) Either way, it’s clear these two streaming services are going to continue dominating the streaming industry.
Shawn Baker (Part 2)
DeleteOf course, Netflix and Disney+ are not the only streaming services out there. They are the “big winners” right now, but I honestly wouldn’t say any of the other streaming services are “losers” (except for Quibi). Hulu has around 40 million subscribers, and they’re a part of Disney, so they’re in good hands. Disney also plans to distribute Hulu globally, so that will gain them more subscribers in the next few years. (Adgate). Comcast’s Peacock gained 12 million subscribers during the second quarter of 2021, almost as much as Disney+, and Peacock was only launched in July 2020. During the second quarter of 2021, ViacomCBS gained 6.5 million subscribers, now with a total of 42 million globally (most coming from Paramount+), while HBO and HBO Max gained 2.8 million subscribers, bringing their total to 67.5 million. HBO and HBO Max have not yet gone global, so once they do I expect they'll also gain a lot more subscribers. Discovery+ gained 18 million subscribers during its first 7 months after being launched in January 2021. (Adgate).
Honestly all of them are doing well enough, it just seems small compared to the massive subscription numbers of Netflix and Disney+ (and this doesn’t even take into account the different subscription prices and how much each streaming service is profiting from that). I do think Discovery+ will have the biggest challenge making it through since the competition is steep and they haven’t gained a lot of subscribers, but they do plan to launch in Latin America and Asia, so that’ll help them. Similar to HBO and HBO Max, though they only gained 2.8 million subscribers in a single quarter (small compared to everyone else), they already almost have 70 million, and once they go global, they should gain a ton more subscribers. (Adgate). That said, who knows which streaming services will be around in a few years, and which new ones will pop up. Perhaps they’ll be a new front runner to win the streaming wars (probably Disney+, just Disney as a whole in general), but are there really ever any winners in a war? In this, yes, the numbers don’t lie.
Works Cited:
• 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.
• 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.
• Adgate, Brad. “The Streaming Wars Is about Global Distribution and Investing in Programming.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 10 Dec. 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2021/08/24/to-compete-with-netflix-its-about-global-distribution-and-investing-in-content/?sh=1277114c408b.