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It’s a total mystery whether, or how quickly, customers will cancel streaming services if there’s no new scripted content. It’s possible they won’t for a long
by snowwrestler 3y ago
It’s a total mystery whether, or how quickly, customers will cancel streaming services if there’s no new scripted content.
It’s possible they won’t for a long time. In that case, studios would keep a steady stream of income despite no new shows. That would greatly reduce the leverage that writers have. That’s the background to these studio comments.
Typically there has been a tight connection between new content and steady revenue. Studios needed new movies every month to generate income. Networks needed new episodes every week to keep audience up and advertisers spending. But streaming services auto-charge every month or year unless the consumer makes an effort to stop it.
It’s an opt-out revenue model instead of opt-in.
- philwelch 3y agoI’ve already cancelled everything I can. Not because of the strike or anything like that but because streaming is so fragmented that it’s not cost effective anymore. I might want to watch something but it’s only available on the 1/2 of streaming services I don’t have at the moment. Meanwhile the revenue from streaming probably isn’t enough to produce quality content; all the cool prestige series on streaming are backed by speculative investment money from the low interest rate era. Netflix, which probably has the best analytics and the least commitment to legacy Hollywood, has already pivoted to cheap “reality TV” content over their earlier prestige offerings.
- nemothekid 3y agoThe studios have always had the leverage you are talking about - Barbie releases this July, but was written in 2021. The problem for studios is every minute of the strike represents lost revenue 1-2 years from now. >Typically there has been a tight connection between new content and steady revenue. This isn't really true either, as content is hit based business not too dissimilar from venture capital. Sure you can always play it safe by milking an established brand but you always need to be running experiments.
- snowwrestler 3y agoStreaming services don’t need new hits to drive revenue, they only need subscribers. Normally you’d say that a streaming service that is not producing scripted hits would lose subscribers to one that is. But if none of them are producing new scripted hits? The old hits might hold onto folks for a while. Call it the “gotta watch something” theory.
- nemothekid 3y agoAt best that is only true for Netflix as all the other media companies are burning money trying to build their own streaming service. Worst case scenario is that people aren't as sticky, and will begin to cancel once there is nothing to watch.
- kyriakos 3y agoI think Streaming services can add more international and unscripted shows to make it through the storm a lot longer than writers can sustain the strike.
- aidenn0 3y agoAre the streaming services currently profitable? I know Disney (at least) is supposed to be losing money.
- snowwrestler 3y agoTheir biggest expense is the cost of producing new content, which is currently slowed / stopped. Streaming profits could ironically be looking good temporarily, until revenues start to drop as subscriptions get cancelled.
- aidenn0 3y agoThe fact that Disney is pulling some content from streaming implies that royalties are at least some of what is hurting them. I have no idea how TV contracts are written, but maybe Disney put less into the advance (and more into residuals) than other streaming services?