Fragmentation of streaming services - can they survive

413x

413x

413x

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So, 'I subscribe therefore I am' is becoming more and more a thing.
And everyone wants a piece of the media pie.

But can they all survive? Just read on BBC Disney plus needs 60mln subscriptions to become profitable
Netflix only has about this many.

Then you have apple, amazon etc

Its looking like a subscription to all 4 is 30ppm over 40 with TV licence, many people have sky
I personally don't think people will pay that. No one platform will have enough content.

At the moment I only have Netflix and as much as I love Disney, they mainly have film content rather than series.

Can they all survive? Or are they going to destroy each other?
Netflix must be vulnerable unless it can become self sufficient. More likely they will be bought in the long run.

Thoughts ?
 
I don't think its hugely realistic for them all to survive.

As a general rule a monopoly isn't a good thing but in the case of media Im not so sure. The PL football sitting with Sky was seen as bad as they hoovered up all the foreign football too but now its spread across a number of providers which means if you want everything its going to cost you a hell of a lot more than the initial Sky Sports subscription ever did. Streaming seems to be heading in the same direction.

The ultimate problem with this is that it makes people consider "other means" to find their content. There comes a point where the most law abiding of people will say enough is enough and download an IPTV and a movie/tv show app and use that in the absence of a reasonably priced Spotify alternative for visual media. Full Sky package plus all sports subs plus all streaming subs will be what £150 a month? I think that's out of reach for the average consumer.
 
I had everything on Sky apart from sports but recently downgraded to the very basic package. I only kept that for a couple of channels and don't watch the rest. I then added in several streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and occasionally a Now TV subscription. The way I do that is to wait for several things I want to watch and then buy a one month pass. I prefer to rent films when I want them as there is more choice so I don't bother with that. The only two must-have services for me are Netflix because I use it most and Amazon Prime because I get that for the delivery. I'd happily bin everything else. I watch YouTube more than anything else though. Any new service must offer an incredibly compelling option for me to pay any money for it. So I think they will struggle.

I did also have a TV Player subscription for easily watching broadcast TV while mobile. But they reduced the number of channels and it's not worth it now. So I cancelled that.
 
It's getting pretty ridiculous - even within the free TV market (Freeview vs Youview vs Freesat vs Freesat from Sky) there is fragmentation within which channels are available.

What would be ideal imo would be an open platform that any content provider could use, but offer e.g. "channel" or "content" bundles within the same platform/app.
Want Sky Sports - just pay for that, want Netflix originals - pay for them, want BBC (or britbox etc) then pay for that.

I keep looking for a viable Sky Alternative, and legally there still isn't one. Having several different apps/subscriptions in order to cover all the content I would want, just isn't a user friendly way of doing things.
 
Some will die off i'm sure or the prices will increase over time. Perhaps they will have to figure out a way to co-exist. Apple TV+ looks like it will die a bit of a death unless they start moving towards more risky and popular programming. Disney+ has some really big IP and should be fine and Netflix is huge and should continue its growth if they are sensible.
 
No, It will be series by series price soon at a cheaper price to "combat piracy" (not going to win that one)
 
People will sub to whatever offers the best general viewing/largest amount of content.

They'll sail the seven seas for the rest.

If these services allowed people to rent or buy individual series' for a much reduced price they might work out, I'm personally not going to subscribe to Disney + just to watch The Mandalorian. I'd consider spending a couple of quid to specifically gain access to that show.
 
I see piracy increasing.

I'm happy with Netflix and Amazon, I'm not paying for anymore services.

Netflix is my main 'go to' for streaming but Amazon has some good tv shows, movies that rotate and the other features are nice too, music, twitch sub & next/same day delivery.
 
Love Netflix myself and its only one I'll consider paying for.
It's a shame there can't just be 2. But everyone wants the pie. But not everyone will succeed

I like Netflix original content. Just started watching dragon Prince. Things like this keep me on it. If Netflix can create more content I think they can survive. But they will always have to be on it.

I'm not convinced by Disney. I do wonder if you will have to commit to 2 year contracts soon. But people will likely still rotate.
There must be a max amount people (in general) will pay.
I think that's 2-3 services or 20-30ppm
 
I've no doubt Disney+, whilst not holding the Monopoly, will certainly do extremely well. They'll brute for there way in using all those juicy IPs... Netflix has too much of a presence already to fail, though who knows. Amazon can afford any temporary dip in revenue and Sky is Sky... who knows though. There certainly seems to be too many and as some have already stated, the second it becomes too convoluted or too expensive most will just switch to the illegal way of doing things. Customers are exceptionally fickle.
 
If it was just the streaming services then I think we could see some fall to the side. However with Disney or Amazon behind them then I'd imagine they could be supported almost indefinitely even if the streaming side doesn't make any or much money.

Netflix is the odd one out though I'd argue they're big enough to have enough pull on their own.
 
Having a massively fragmented streaming system will just drive everyone back to piracy.

Games are also getting pretty bad with many publishers having their own "Netflix for games" offering, buy at least they still offer the stand alone versions of their games.
 
Greboth said:
If it was just the streaming services then I think we could see some fall to the side. However with Disney or Amazon behind them then I'd imagine they could be supported almost indefinitely even if the streaming side doesn't make any or much money.

Netflix is the odd one out though I'd argue they're big enough to have enough pull on their own.
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Id say Disney and particularly Netflix are at biggest risk of failure

Netflix seems like it has to rely completely on its own content as others may well get bought or be on their own platform

Disney I think will need to make more series or simply buy more independents,.

Can Netflix survive on independents alone? I hope so, its what I like.but no idea what the majority like.

Oh ,i forgot about brit box.. Is anyone actually subscribed to that? Sounds like trash

Piracy is looking more and more appetising I have to say.
 
413x said:
Id say Disney and particularly Netflix are at biggest risk of failure

Netflix seems like it has to rely completely on its own content as others may well get bought or be on their own platform

Disney I think will need to make more series or simply buy more independents,.

Can Netflix survive on independents alone? I hope so, its what I like.but no idea what the majority like.
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It depends on what you mean by failure? I was really only considering financially. In which case I'd agree Netflix are the biggest risk. Disney potentially is if they don't want to support a loss making streaming service - though with the money behind Disney this would be a choice rather than a forced closure that Netflix could face.

Other metrics of failure though, I'd agree about Disney.
 
It books down to lethargy in some respects, if people are savvy and spend a month with Netflix, cancel, a month with D+ then cancel, etc. etc.

That would allow you to see everything, maybe not on first night of release but within a month but people want everything now so that wouldn't work.

As mentioned above it is likely that minimum subscriptions will come in to play.
 
I think it's very likely that we will see the decline of Netflix over the next 5 years with disney acquiring a lot of the market.

Amazon streaming can do whatever they want as part of their diversification efforts and will likely be around forever in some form.

There are obviously others but their business models already likely accounts for low traffic in comparison. (Such as HBO)
 
They only prove that they don't understand what went wrong with sat/cable TV. Instead of being "cord cutters" and earning their money on production and streaming on any/all streaming platforms at once they want to come back to single channel of delivery and exclusive rights. And both Apple+ and Disney+ started with territorial/country exclusivity and weekly episode delivery as well. No. They don't understand. They don't get it. It's not going to work.
 
As others have said this will all end up working out worse, especially the big consumers who have the least money, especially students/teenagers they will just end up going back to the illegal streaming sites.

I've no idea why they can't just sell the rights to companies like Amazon/Netflix/Hulu etc. and treat it much like Spotify/Tidal/Amazon Music/Google Music where for the most part they all have the same music (shows), and you chose which one suits you best. The still make money from licensing and they can still have their own 'new' shows/films, and once they've been on a while propagate out to the other streaming services, meaning you get the best of both.

With the push to ban account sharing on the up, then I can see Netflix losing a lot of subs. I wanted a family option which I thought I had paying the full top tier price was £9.99 now £11.99, with access to fours screens (locations at once). We use it, and both my mother and mother-in-law have access to it on their main TV's and we reserve one 'screen' for the kids viewing. If we had to have 4/5/6 different subscriptions then I doubt we'd bother, and no option of splitting the cost/useage.

One thing is certain I'll never pay disney a penny for streaming from them directly, I refuse to support utter greed and craptasticness that is Disney, and that is exactly why I didn't go to the cinema to watch any of the new Star Wars films, and instead borrowed them on Bluray.
 
I think Disney has a good chance because it’s Disney. Kids love it and let’s face it what Adult doesn’t. For parents it’s a perfect combination with a tablet. Price is perfect as well in my eyes.

I don’t think these prices will stay low though and I certainly think some will cease to exist.
 
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