Online Series: Are we starting to see the oversaturation of streaming services

[Osprey]

Paramount really needs to work on their god awful apps if they ever want to compete. I use it only for Big Brother/Survivor live broadcasts and it's frustrating as hell to navigate. The app is laggy and bugg and prone to crashes... I can't even scroll through the app to browse even if I wanted to.

You aren't kidding. I added it to the cable box the other day and in using it for less than 10 minutes, it crashed twice and was so slow to respond that I wondered several times if it crashed. Some of that could've been the fault of the awful cable box that it was running on, but the experience was still much worse than other apps on it.

 

[RandV]

Like the 90's and video game consoles:

Have no idea of the business behind it but I feel like for the consumers benefit Netflix should merge with HBO or Apple to make a big 3 with Disney and Prime, less they end up like Sega. It's a situation where you want competition but too many competitors isn't good for anyone, so like the video game industry I'd say 3 competing services is probably the ideal scenario.

 

[Jumptheshark]

The culling of jobs at HBOmax is interesting. 70% of the staff for new content have been sacked and they were holding about 200 developmental scripts have been released from contract

 

[Unholy Diver]

I have a bunch of them, about half are free with my cable/internet (netflix, hbomax, & peacock)

Pay for

Paramount + for UCL Soccer
Amazon Prime - because the wife has prime for the shipping
Hulu/espn/Disney + bundle for the Disney stuff for the kid
AMC+ - signed up when the had a special for like 23 bucks for the year, already turned off the auto renewal

barely use any of them, other than Paramount for soccer and Peacock for soccer and WWE network, but the costs are pretty low so I'd imagine we'll keep most of them

 

[Jumptheshark]

Interesting developments behind the scenes at several on line providers. The big one being Disney. Looks like there is a lot of theory vs reality going on with how much money Disney+ is actually making. At the same time there has been a lot of activity behind the prime streamer as well. A new stargate series was supposed to premier in the 3rd quarter of 2023. It has now been shelved permanently and they have quietly pressed the pause button on several new production that were to start filming in the new year. Netflix of course is now allowing ads on lower paying subscribers. All are now using technology that will only allow you to view the product in your home country (I have Nord and Shark VPN) and when I use them on Paramount+, Disney and Prime--they pick up I am using VPN and it either does not allow me to watch anything or I get "we see you are traveling and will only have limited access to some shows"--quite annoying

 

[MVP of West Hollywd]

Obviously too many jumped in on the trend, paying insane prices for IP like The Office and Friends, with the strategy of "don't worry about revenue, just keeping growing subs and it'll work out".

Companies like Apple and Amazon that are much bigger than TV have motivation to keep going cause it's like advertising their brand. So it's probably ok for them. But stuff like Peacock, HBO Max and Paramount is unnecessary.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Obviously too many jumped in on the trend, paying insane prices for IP like The Office and Friends, with the strategy of "don't worry about revenue, just keeping growing subs and it'll work out".

Companies like Apple and Amazon that are much bigger than TV have motivation to keep going cause it's like advertising their brand. So it's probably ok for them. But stuff like Peacock, HBO Max and Paramount is unnecessary.

I don't think HBO belongs with those 2. It's the 4th most popular streaming service aside from Netflix, Prime, and Disney with 85 million subscribers. Paramount has 40 million and Peacock has 15 million.

 

[x Tame Impala]

HBO is probably the best of them IMO

 

[Bakayoko Ono]

I've heard terms like 'streaming wars' and 'content arms race' for years, so seems pretty obvious that there are going to be casualties and even many of the winners will drive themselves near, relatively speaking, financial ruin.

 

[flyersnorth]

It's already looking like the old cable model because the consumer landscape can't sustain dozens of services.

Beyond the Big 4ish (Netflix, Apple, Prime, Disney), you start to get more and more niche. And just as in the old cable model, they are merging and customers end up subsidizing the niche services that become part of the Big 4.

Example - I used to watch the Flyers on NHL Live. I only watch one team - the Flyers. I do not watch other sports, ever. But somehow the NHL decided (or was bullied by the Canadian cable duopoly) to no longer offer NHL Live in Canada, and I'm now forced to subscribe to SN Now just to watch the Flyers. Except it's not just hockey - it's all sports, none of which I care about. And the cost is significantly more (though we've been grandfathered in for this year).

It is just another case of multi-billion dollar corporations finding ways to maintain their market dominance.

MS and Sony did the same with cloud gaming. There are reports that they pressured large developers to NOT make their games available on Stadia, most likely because they weren't ready themselves to compete in the cloud gaming space. Then, MS and Sony started consolidating the game publisher market by creating vertically integrated models. Now, Stadia is dead, MS and Sony continue on. There is also speculation that both MS and Sony themselves block certain large draw games from having cloud options because it would cannibalize sales of their own hardware divisions - certainly understandable, but it is again just another example of artificial scarcity in order to preserve hardware sales.

In the end, from what I understand, MS is actually losing money on XBOX sales because it sells at a slight loss - it's just the tool to get you locked in to their ecosystem. I suspect PS5 is the same.

Cloud gaming is 100% the future of gaming and consoles will no longer be necessary - but there are still many things to shake out in the industry before that happens.

Sorry for the rambling post.

Fascinating and frustrating times!

 

[kook10]

AMC is now going to cut 20% of the workforce. I wonder if and when they will get swallowed by a giant.

AMC Networks To Cut 20% Of U.S. Workforce As Cord Cutting, Streaming Costs, Economic Jitters Roil Media

Cord cutting, streaming costs, economic uncertainty are roiling media companies this year.

deadline.com

 

[Jumptheshark]

good take on the streaming wars

 

[Jumptheshark]

HBO max has killed the Jon Snow sequel today

 

[Raekwon]

HBO max has killed the Jon Snow sequel today

where'd you see that? I had heard that they paused some stuff didn't hear about any cancellations

 

[Jumptheshark]

where'd you see that? I had heard that they paused some stuff didn't hear about any cancellations

When you hear delayed--means cancelled. One of the morning news show here in the UK said the Snow sequel was one of the shows that has been "delayed". While it is still listed as in preproduction--problem it is now being considered to be shot AFTER the current series ends--House of the Dragon is scheduled for up to 6 years

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Only if you're financially wasteful enough and naive enough to spend money on them imo.

I pay for Amazon Prime (good value anyways due to Prime shipping), I get Kanopy/Hoopla for free through my local library, I occasionally pay for Criterion Channel a few months here and there, and I download or "stream" the rest or go to the theatre.

 

[Jumptheshark]

looks like more and more that billion dollar debt is crushing a lot of shows and movies that HBO and Warner had in preproduction

From this side of the pond it sounds like HBO's mother company is trying to get sky tv to pony up more money for the GOT multiple spin off that are in the works. Sky has said they will but they want to extend their agreement they have for a lot of HBO products on their network and streamer NowTV---which is set to expire in 2025. THis is reason why HBOmax is not here in the UK and some parts of Europe. HBO has said they will be launching HBO max or Max as it will called in late 2025 and Sky has said that if they lose all the HBO products in 2 years time--they do not see the logic in giving them financial help in producing any products

They are at a logger head

 

[Jumptheshark]

Paramount+ and Showtime to Merge

Paramount+ With Showtime rebrand coming in 2023 — the streaming service and cable channel to go by same name. Allow us to explain.

tvline.com

another domino falls

Only if you're financially wasteful enough and naive enough to spend money on them imo.

I pay for Amazon Prime (good value anyways due to Prime shipping), I get Kanopy/Hoopla for free through my local library, I occasionally pay for Criterion Channel a few months here and there, and I download or "stream" the rest or go to the theatre.

I was shocked to Netflix now being 10.99£ here in the UK. I cancelled it a few years ago and was thinking about getting it back--nope

 

[MarkusKetterer]

Paramount+ and Showtime to Merge

Paramount+ With Showtime rebrand coming in 2023 — the streaming service and cable channel to go by same name. Allow us to explain.

tvline.com

another domino falls




I was shocked to Netflix now being 10.99£ here in the UK. I cancelled it a few years ago and was thinking about getting it back--nope

Unrelated to this, I had Crave years ago that was $8.99 a month. I was looking in to getting it again, and it’s now $21.99 a month. And HBO is no longer built in, so that was an extra $10 a month.

Between Disney+ (disappointed in it because there’s no ESPN add-on in Canada), Prime, and Spotify, I’m already paying more than I want. And now Prime has add-ons to see shows I want, but I’m not paying extra for that.