Giuliano Papadia’s Post

I'll admit it. I subscribe to Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Hulu, Apple, Peacock, Max, and Paramount+. But the average American subscribes to 4 streaming services at an average of $61/month. Which is still a lot! There is a true streaming war, as these players fight for our attention. To survive, players will need at least 200 million subscribers (something only Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ combined with Hulu have done) They will need to spend $50M for blockbuster hits, over and over. And they will need sports, which both attract new subscribers, and retain (at least for the duration of the season) subscribers who want to watch their teams live. There's not a lot of room for price increases, especially after the recent round--so many are looking at ad revenue as a source of growth. According to this excellent article, which anyone interested in streaming should read, the rise of ads may lead streaming services to provide lower prestige, popular content (think police procedurals and hospital dramas) mixed with some big sports events. Sounds like what we used to have with Cable. 📝 James Stewart, Benjamin Mullin #litrendingtopics #streamingwars #subscriptions

👊 The Streaming Wars: A New Era of Survival The streaming landscape has shifted dramatically, marking a pivotal moment in the industry. It's no longer just about competing with Netflix; it's about adapting and thriving in its formidable shadow. 📈 Amidst Netflix's impressive resurgence post the "great correction" of 2022, the platform has cemented its dominance. Key strategic moves such as tackling password sharing and introducing an ad-supported tier have not only bolstered its position but also widened the gap from traditional Hollywood studios. 🎬 With the dust settling, attention now turns to how other streaming services will maneuver through this evolved terrain. Will they innovate to carve their own spaces, or will they struggle to match Netflix's relentless momentum? The future holds the answers, but my positives bets are with The Walt Disney Company and Peacock and big question marks with Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount. ⏳ For deeper insights, delve into the full article on Financial Times: How Netflix won the streaming wars. https://lnkd.in/dXCWEJKu

I Will Survive « Who Will Survive? How many streaming services will consumers support? That was one of the great mysteries of the nascent streaming world, and the answer is coming into focus: not very many. “Can your current business be a successful player and have long-term wealth generation, or are you going to be roadkill?” Mr. Malone mused. “I think all the small players will have to shrink down or go away.” A recent Deloitte study found that American households paid an average of $61 a month for four streaming services, but that many didn’t think the expense was worth it. That suggests the once-unthinkable possibility, many of the executives said, that there will be only three or four streaming survivors: Netflix and Amazon, almost certainly. Probably some combination of Disney and Hulu. Apple remains a niche participant, but appears to be feeling its way into a long-term, albeit money-losing, presence, which it can afford to do. That leaves big question marks over Peacock, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max, and Paramount+. »

The streaming business model is under scrutiny as media executives acknowledge its sustainability challenges. While legacy companies like Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Disney grapple with financial losses, Netflix and Amazon stand out as success stories in the industry. The focus remains on traditional TV strategies such as bundling, licensing, live sports, and ad-supported tiers to retain subscribers and drive profitability. What are your thoughts on the future of streaming? (https://lnkd.in/g-qjEnVQ)

Good article, but the folly continues. As I wrote two years ago, updating prior posts: The Great (Streaming) War of Stupid Value Propositions -- Continued! ...the value proposition for flat-rate all-you-can-eat streaming sucks. ...They continue making an offer that is quickly refused or cancelled, to a finite number of streamers who want a full range of viewing, but with limited wallet to share among competing offerings -- thus satisfying few. This is not a problem of user behavior, or of competition, but of collective industry blindness to a failed pricing model. Few want all they can eat! We can't eat that much! We want only what we want, and don't want to pay for more. Instead, all streamers and consumers could share a much larger pie, with much higher shared value all around. Experiment with more win-win value propositions -- set a fair, bundled (volume discounted) price -- for however much or little we want each month. Offer a fair value proposition so we can subscribe, stay, and watch as we like -- not pay a flat rate every month even when we get no value at all. https://lnkd.in/eD4wfx45

Interesting article from Hernan Lopez writing for Variety on how Netflix, YouTube, The Walt Disney Company and Amazon dominate as streaming wars enter a new phase, with each platform boasting its own tactical advantages. https://lnkd.in/ePBtHZXX #streaming #film #studios #broadcast

Many in the media continue to define the "success" of streaming services while neglecting to mention their financials. This article leaves out the fact that Disney's DTC streaming business lost over $11 billion from inception to Q1 of this year. There is no mention of financials anywhere in the piece, yet it states that Disney+ has succeeded. https://lnkd.in/eE-E3-ie - #streamingmedia #SVOD #disneyplus

Media giants like Warner Bros. Discovery are entering a new phase of bundling, spending cuts, and ending freeloading as they fight to make streaming profitable. It's a recognition that the days of trying to catch Netflix at any cost are over. "Costs are going back to the reality of what they should have been," Jean-Briac Perrette told me. "We're finally at a point where people realize you can't keep doing uneconomically viable things forever. Great stories are expensive to produce, and consumers have to pay." But after a year of fits and starts, can #Max, with just 1.2% of #streamingTV viewing share, catch up? #entertainment #streamingwars #subscriptions #bundling Read my interview with JB in Business Insider: https://lnkd.in/eyjj3sRV

Netflix has won the streaming wars, and it’s not really close. 📺 Last Thursday, the streaming service reported its most profitable quarter in history, the company added even more subscribers than analysts were expecting, and the stock was up 10% — another page in the long running story of how #Netflix has come to dominate the world of on-demand film and TV. With the subscriber count growing in every region over the last year, there are now 283 million of us who log in and scroll, struck with choice paralysis, through Netflix’s vast content library, roughly 130 million more than the count for those doing the same on the company’s closest competition, Disney+. Price rises and a crackdown on password sharing haven’t been popular with users, but shareholders are loving it. Source: Chartr

Throughout the market shifts of recent years, I’ve always remained optimistic about the future prospects of unscripted TV, for the simple reason that it’s both popular and relatively cheap to make. This author appears to agree with my conclusion. I hope that proves to be true. I equally hope that streamers figure out a sustainable way to keep creating outstanding scripted content: for the sakes of my friends working in the field, and also because I love great scripted movies and TV series and want artists to keep creating them. “Not all content is created equal. Some content has broad appeal, and some properties are cheap to produce. As the streaming industry evolves, we'll see increased investment in inexpensive concepts with wide appeal… Naturally, a mature streamer like Netflix gravitates toward true crime docuseries and reality TV shows, low-cost concepts with surprisingly broad audiences.”