Sajal Gupta’s Post

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 Future of Streaming (According to the Moguls Figuring It Out) Who will survive? Die? Thrive? And how? We talked to nearly a dozen top media executives and asked them to predict what lies ahead. Paramount, the media empire controlled by Shari Redstone, lost $1.6 billion on streaming last year. Comcast lost $2.7 billion on its Peacock streaming service. Disney lost about $2.6 billion on its services, which include Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. Warner Bros. Discovery says its Max streaming service eked out a profit last year, but only by including HBO sales through cable distributors. Streaming service’s profitability depends in large part on how many paying subscribers are needed before those TV shows and movies become cost-effective. There was a time when industry executives hoped that number might be as low as 100 million. But now the consensus among many of the executives interviewed is that the number is at least 200 million, and possibly more. When cable TV was in its heyday, 1.5 to 2 percent of subscribers churned monthly, abandoning or suspending their service. The average churn across all streaming services is more than double that, according to data from analytics firm Antenna, with the churn rate of some smaller streaming services, like Paramount+, as high as 7 percent. Only Netflix has a churn rate below 4 percent.

Disney’s earnings today suggest something investors have largely ignored or dismissed: What if legacy media’s transition to streaming works? What if streaming ends up being a better business than traditional TV? It’s still early. But Disney’s earnings give hope to a legacy media industry in turmoil.

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

There was a time when the main topic was always the #streamingwar, now it appears this is not hot anymore as we had a clear winner: Netflix! How the big players The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Pictures, Apple and Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios are going to fight back? Thanks to David Urgell for sharing this interesting article that explain How Netflix won the streaming wars. https://lnkd.in/d6bbDgVi

The streaming landscape is evolving at a breakneck pace, and it's interesting to see how industry leaders envision its future. The recent NY Times article, "The Future of Streaming (According to the Moguls Figuring It Out)," https://lnkd.in/gTRq3eZ2, dives into the minds of top media executives to predict who will survive, die, thrive, and how they'll do it. As we all know, for those of us in the media and entertainment sectors, staying abreast of these trends is crucial for shaping our strategies and ensuring long-term success. Is Peak TV over? Are we past the second golden age of content? And how does sports fit into all of this?

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

Streaming wars have bruised the entertainment industry. Despite Netflix's success in subscription-based streaming, profitability is elusive with high content costs. Amazon, NBCUniversal, Paramount aren't profitable yet, while Disney and Warner Bros. survived with tough strategies. In pursuit of online growth, industry's health suffered. Strikes by Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild highlight how industry math doesn't add up, impacting mid-tier creatives. Pre-streaming era had stability and success metrics, now a locked box of data. Don't just dream endless potential, enjoy reality. More at https://lnkd.in/d4wyNAgt. #StreamingWars #EntertainmentIndustry

Netflix's growth continues, with 29.5 million additional subscribers and a 25% increase in profits by 2023. Meanwhile, NBCUniversal's Peacock, Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney are making progress towards streaming profitability, but with mixed results. The sector faces a difficult path to sustainable profitability. The Hollywood Reporter #NetflixGrowth #StreamingProfitability #DigitalEntertainment #OTTPlatforms #EntertainmentIndustry

Media titans, including John Malone, Brian Roberts, Barry Diller, Ted Sarandos, and Mike Hopkins, share their predictions on the future of streaming. Here are some of the key insights offered by them: ➤ The number of subscribers needed to be successful is at least 200 million, with only Netflix, Disney, and Amazon having reached that milestone. ➤ Spending on content will remain significant, with some shows costing well over $100 million per season, to combat churn that is as high as 7% for some of the smaller streaming services. ➤ More of the content spend will be devoted to live sports, resulting in bidding wars unlike anything experienced before in the media industry. ➤ Companies are likely to continue raising prices aggressively on ad-free tiers in an effort to drive consumers to ad-supported versions. ➤ Bundling may help reduce churn but will lead to a decline in average revenue per user. ➤ Only three or four streaming services will survive in the long-term. Read more about the future of streaming in The New York Times: