Consumer research? Here? On The Last Movie Outpost? Yes my friends. Indeed it is. We are interested and we believe there is a debate to be had.
There is no doubt about it, we are in the early days of a streaming war, and a streaming bubble is developing.
The real question is, just how many providers will the market tolerate? As this will be what causes the bubble to burst. When it does burst, and it will, who will be left standing? The very future of TV is at stake.
Even Veep and The Thick of It creator Armando Iannucci agrees, as he recently told Deadline:
“At some point, the bubble is going to burst. Once people are asked to pay for Apple, Disney, Netflix and whatever, that’s going to contract.”
He supports streaming as it’s a great outlet for his more cerebral, less blockbuster movie output, it keeps his shows alive longer and he is also a fan of big-budget streaming shows like The Expanse.
The power is with you, the consumer. Personally I already have a premium TV service with a large number of channels, all the sports, and a huge on-demand movie library. Added to this I have Netflix, but barely watch it these days, and Amazon Prime Video which gets watched, gets movies rented via the service and represents great value as I shop on Amazon a lot and enjoy free next day delivery.
If I am to add another streaming service, I think I will have to sacrifice Netflix on current performance rather than just add another, and another ad infinitum.
What About You?
Netflix is always there, as is Amazon. Disney+ is imminent. Apple TV has seen a disappointing launch with very soft numbers. CBS All Access somehow survives. Into this arena steps WB and HBO+. DC Universe is already dead. The Peacock from NBC has been announced. Hulu, Sling, YouTube TV, there’s Filo and there’s Fumo, there’s BBC iPlayer and BritBox coming from a collaboration with ITV.
On and on and on, with new entrants coming all the time and all major distributors and channels lining up to launch the same for fear of missing out.
Meanwhile, the number of people cutting the cable or just consuming by device grows exponentially.
So what will you do? What’s your limit? How many services will you add? What will you sacrifice? Will you even bother?
Will you be the harbinger of the Streaming apocalypse, standing over the smoking ruins of destroyed careers in LA, laughing at the crying suits? Or will you get YouTube just for Cobra Kai? CBS just for Picard?
