Midweek Mix: Dried Up Streams?
Since the Covid-19 pandemic has shuttered movie theaters and driven much of America into home-bound quarantine, Netflix has seen a huge increase in viewership in many areas. Recently launched rival Disney + has seen a huge spike in signups as cooped up families clamor for something to watch and to keep the peace at home.
Other streaming services, like Amazon Prime Video and Hulu have also seen viewership climb.
But the Covid-driven boom in streaming could dry up quickly as the pandemic continues to spread and economies around the world remain dormant.
Like much of the rest of the movie and TV industry, Netflix has halted production of all original programming, which could leave cupboards bare for months even after production resumes. Chief content officer Ted Sarandos told CNN recently that Netflix works plans “pretty far ahead” on original content so the taps won’t go dry immediately, but he acknowledged the shutdown has been a “massive disruption” for the streaming service.
Disney + is well-stocked with content from its deep vaults, but like Netflix, Disney’s many production arms have been idled and the impact will be felt eventually.
Hardest hit, however, could be NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia and new-comer Quibi. All were gearing up to launch their own streaming services in coming weeks, but may be forced to put those plans into quarantine.
NBCUniversal’s Peacock service is scheduled to launch in July, just in time for the 2020 Summer Olympics, for which NBC holds broadcast and streaming rights. The Games were supposed to be the main launch pad for Peacock, which would feature on-going live coverage. With the Games now postponed until 2021, however, that planned launch could be more of a damp squib.
WarnerMedia’s HBO Max service is being built around HBO’s premium original programming. But with production now shut down it could find itself quickly running out of fuel.
Quibi is designed to be a mobile-only service. But it may have far less appeal at launch if consumers are unable to be mobile.
Officially, all three services remain on schedule for launch. But they are launching into an already highly competitive market at a time when consumers are beginning show signs of subscription fatigue.
Worse, they will now be launching into what could be a very deep recession, with consumers badly strapped for disposable income.
What the streaming market will look like when the Covid pandemic has finally passed, moreover, is difficult to predict at this point. Production could remain disrupted even after it resumes as scheduled will have changed, locations may or may not be available, and laid off worked may not come back.
The in-home entertainment landscape may also have shifted. Online gaming is soaring, and the live music industry is working feverishly to turn live-streamed performances into real business. All of that could affect how consumers choose to allocate their time and entertainment dollars, once they have some again.
Given how much the companies behind the new services have riding on them — AT&T spent $85.4 billion to acquire Time Warner precisely to launch an direct-to-consumer streaming business, Quibi has raised nearly $2 billion — they likely feel they have no choice but to plow ahead. But it could end up being a much tougher row to hoe than they planned on.
RightsTech
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Final Cuts
Twitch tunes
As we noted last week, the live music business is jumping on the live-streaming bandwagon as concert venues remain shuttered, and Amazon-owned Twitch is moving quickly to seize the reins. In just the past week, the gamer-focused live-streaming platform has struck up partnerships with both SoundCloud and concert notification services Bandsintown to enable musicians to quickly and easily become Twitch Affiliates, giving them access to the platform’s monetization tools.
No Hollywood handouts
Many parts of the creative industries have been clamoring for government help amid the coronavirus shutdown. But if the final bailout bill from Congress looks anything like the Senate negotiated version, it doesn’t look like much help is forthcoming.
The rich get richer
Now that we’re all stuck at home until further notice, working remotely and relying on streaming services for entertainment, the big winners coming out of the cornona crisis could be the major technology companies that already rule our lives, according to the New York Times.