2 ms·
I think you might be seeing the transition of smart TVs and streaming services from the early mainstream to the late mainstream. (I'm currently reading the book
by gwbas1c 3y ago
I think you might be seeing the transition of smart TVs and streaming services from the early mainstream to the late mainstream. (I'm currently reading the book Crossing the Chasm.)
Certainly there is a market for someone who will buy a cheap smart TV, enter their Wi-Fi password, and just watch whatever random free ad-supported streaming services are on it. (Edit: Such a consumer won't even bother creating accounts on these services.)
But it's a huge mistake to assume that ads are coming back for everyone. One of the major draws of subscription streaming TV is the lack of ads. It's clear that this is a major difference between the early mainstream consumers of smart TVs with streaming services, and the later consumers who may be a bit more price conscious.
I think it's also a big mistake to assume that cheaper, ad-supported subscriptions, are a long-term trend. It ignores one of the reasons why streaming services became popular to begin with.
I think the industry is trying to answer the problem of "I don't want another subscription," but they are ignoring the other problem of: "There's more content than I can watch." Clearly, trying to convince someone to watch advertisements does not solve that problem.
(Edit: Why? If there is too much for me to watch, you won't convince me to subscribe to your service if it requires me to watch things that I don't want to watch in order to get a lower price.)
Edit2: I personally think the way to solve "I don't want another subscription" isn't cheaper, ad-supported subscriptions. I think it's copyright reform. Why should Disney's entire back catalogue only be available on Disney+? I certainly can understand limited exclusivity for new content; but after a year or two, there should be a statutory licensing fee structure that allows any streaming service to carry any content. We (in the US) have a similar structure for broadcast radio.