Streaming service wars news and trends 3 3

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

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[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

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[Bosco685]

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Some subscribers to Disney‘s streaming services will start seeing some new messaging up this summer: Pay up for anyone outside your main household who’s illicitly piggybacking on the services — or face potentially getting disconnected.

 

According to Disney chief Bob Iger, the Mouse House this June will “be launching our first real foray into password sharing” enforcement. Iger, during an interview Thursday on CNBC, said the initial launch will be “just a few countries in a few markets” (he didn’t identify them) then “will grow significantly with a full rollout in September.”

 

The initial communications to Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ customers will prompt password-borrowers to start their own subscriptions, the company has said previously. Later in 2024, account holders who want allow access to individuals outside their household will be able to add them for an additional fee.

 

Disney, of course, is taking a page from Netflix on the password-sharing front — and Iger hasn’t been shy about coveting Netflix’s streaming prowess. Netflix execs have credited the broad account-sharing initiative, which commenced last year across more than 100 countries, with helping to boost subscriber numbers.

 

The password-sharing crackdown is part of Disney’s efforts to achieve “double-digit margins” in its streaming business over the long term, Iger said. His comments came a day after Disney prevailed in a proxy fight over activist investors including Trian Partners’ Nelson Peltz, who lost his bid to get a pair of seats on the company’s board. It’s worth noting that part of Trian’s platform was pushing the company to “achieve Netflix-like margins of 15%-20% by 2027.” Iger, though, asserted that the activist investor campaign “absolutely” didn’t pressure Disney to have a “greater sense of urgency” on any strategic plans.

 

[Ken Aldred]

On 2/18/2024 at 1:02 PM, onlyweaknesskryptonite said:

Good Spider-Verse character.  Combination of classic hard-boiled, intense detective and Nazi Smasher in the comics.

[Bosco685]

 

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[Bosco685]

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Disney is on the precipice of the entertainment industry’s white whale: Profitability in streaming.

 

The company reported its fiscal second quarter earnings early Tuesday morning, disclosing that its combined direct-to-consumer businesses of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ lost only $18 million last quarter, on revenues of $6.2 billion, and that when ESPN+ is removed from that equation, the entertainment streaming business was actually profitable, with revenues of $5.6 billion and a net profit of $47 million.

 

While the company warns that Q3 will be choppier thanks to some changes at Disney+ Hotstar, it says that expects the streaming division to be fully in the black in fiscal Q4, and to be a “meaningful future growth driver for the company” after that.

 

Charter’s big deal with Disney was also a major factor in the quarter, helping to cause Disney+ subscribers to surge by more than 6 million to 117.6 million, however the average revenue per subscriber fell slightly from $8.15 to $8 to reflect the wholesale pricing associated with the deal. Disney CFO Hugh Johnston said on the earnings call that the ad tier now has 22.5 million subscribers, juiced in part by Charter.

 

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Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery to Launch Disney+, Hulu, Max Streaming Bundle

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Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery — ordinarily rivals for consumers’ time and money — are teaming up for a triple-play bundle of Disney+, Hulu and Max.

 

The companies announced a new streaming bundle that comprises Disney+, Hulu and Max will be available this summer in the U.S. There’s no pricing info or specific launch date at this point. Disney and WBD said the new bundle will be available for purchase on any of the three streaming platform’s websites and offered as both an ad-supported and ad-free plan. 

 

The trio of streaming services will offer “the best value in entertainment and an unprecedented selection of content from the biggest and most beloved brands in entertainment including ABC, CNN, DC, Discovery, Disney, Food Network, FX, HBO, HGTV, Hulu, Marvel, Pixar, Searchlight, Warner Bros. and many more,” the companies said Wednesday.

 

[Bosco685]

 

[MAY1979]

Starting to get the feeling that more folks will go back to cable or satellite - not sure data backs that up yet but have a suspicion it will in 1-2 years....

 

[Bosco685]

On 5/9/2024 at 10:30 AM, MAR1979 said:

Starting to get the feeling that more folks will go back to cable or satellite - not sure data backs that up yet but have a suspicion it will in 1-2 years....

 

I have to agree. It is madness for studios to assume dumb consumers will jump all over the place to see all the productions out there.

[Bosco685]

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Comcast CEO Brian Roberts has unveiled plans for StreamSaver, an upcoming streaming product bundle that packages Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV+ that will be available to all Comcast broadband, TV and mobile subscribers.

 

“Those three products will come at a vastly reduced price to anything in the market today and will be available to all our customers,” Roberts told the MoffettNathanson Media, Internet & Communications Conference during a session that was webcast on Tuesday.

 

Comcast, which also owns NBCUniversal, has answered cord-cutting and an increasing streaming video space with Now TV, a streaming TV bundle at the low end of the market, and Xfinity TV at the higher end. But the onset of rebundling streaming products has increasingly taken hold in the pay TV business as major studios look to wring profits from their streaming platforms.

 

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Free Netflix: Streamer Reportedly Discussing Free Version With Ads

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"Engagement is the key to success in streaming." That's what Bela Bajaria, Netflix's Chief Content Officer, said during the streamer's 2024 upfront presentation, where Netflix touted its service to advertisers after launching its lower-priced, ad-supported plan in 2022. But how does the service — which had 270 million subscribers worldwide as of May 2024 — attract and engage even more would-be customers? The answer could be free Netflix with ads in some markets.

 

Netflix has discussed making a free version of its streaming service available in markets like Europe and Asia to further "increase its audience," according to Bloomberg, which notes there are currently no plans for free Netflix anywhere in the world. That includes the US, although executives are reportedly talking about offering a free Netflix in markets with popular free TV networks where it also sells ads, like Germany and Japan.

 

If Netflix expanded into the FAST (free ad-supported television) space, the streamer could reach viewers who are unable or unwilling to pay its monthly subscription fee (currently, the lowest-priced plan is the standard with ads tier for $6.99/mo in the US). A potential free version would presumably exclude access to bigger hits like Stranger Things, Wednesday, Squid Game, and Avatar: The Last Airbender after Netflix locked some of its most popular shows — including House of Cards and Arrested Development — behind a paywall due to licensing agreements when it premiered the less-expensive ad tier in late 2022.

 

While Netflix is the most-subscribed streaming service, its video ad sales pale in comparison to YouTube (nearly $15 billion) and rivals like Disney (about $10 billion) and Paramount (about $8 billion), according to Bloomberg. At the Netflix upfronts in May, the streamer reported that Netflix's ad-supported plan now has 40 million global monthly active users (up from 5 million in 2023), and that over 40% of all signups in the ads countries now come from the ads plan. (Last year, Netflix saw an increase in sign-ups after cracking down on password-sharing and introducing its cheaper ad-supported tier.)

 

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KEY POINTS

• Paramount Global leaders are having discussions with a number of companies to explore merging Paramount+, its money-losing streaming service.
• Warner Bros. Discovery has interest in merging Max and Paramount+ as a joint venture, according to people familiar with the matter.
• Media companies are considering new ways to better monetize streaming content after billions of dollars in losses over the last several years.

 

[Bosco685]

Streaming most probably wore the rental model down.

[s-man]

On 7/13/2024 at 4:50 AM, Bosco685 said:

Streaming most probably wore the rental model down.

I had no idea they were still going.  Sad to see no longer the case, I still miss Blockbuster.

On a related note, I walked into a local Target store and they no longer had a DVD section.  Neither did a nearby Best Buy.  Sad days indeed.

[Bosco685]