Do you watch Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV+? If yes, have you heard about the term Streaming Wars? It basically refers to the battle for survival of the streaming industry. When you enjoy the variety of movies, TV shows, and content, there is a fight going on behind the streaming channels. Big streaming channels like Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Apple TV+ are engaged in competition in which billions of dollars are at the sack. If you are interested to know what happens behind the streaming channels then let’s see the Streaming Wars of channels.
- Bets of Billion Dollars: The main goal of the streaming industry is to produce shows for which companies spend huge amounts of money to attain subscribers. Statistically speaking in 2023, Netflix spent about $17 billion on a single content. Amazon invested about $1 billion for its “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” per season. Disney+ invest billions of dollars in the production of Marvel and Star Wars.
- The War of Algorithms: Did you know that powerful AI works behind the scenes for you about what you see on the screen? This AI analyses your watch time, history, rewatches, and browsing history. Companies invest hefty amounts of money in AI because more watch time means more subscription renewals also it shows more of the company’s own original produced content over licensed content. Even if licensed content is more popular than the original one. As a result, instead of seeing good content, you are only seeing what is AI recommending to you.
- Battle of Licensing: Licensing basically decides which company gets to stream movies, content, and TV shows. Example: Famous TV show “Friends” left Netflix to HBO Max for 425 million in 2019. In 2022, Marvel went to Diseny+ from Netflix due to Netflix’s focus on it’s own production “ Stranger Things” and “The Witcher.” As a result, these companies force you to subscribe to multiple channels in order to watch your favorite shows and movies.
- War of Gaining Subscribers: The streaming channel’s main goal is to gain more subscribers. However, gaining new subscribers and keeping existing subscribers is hard. As a result, companies use bundling marketing tactics like Disney+ with Hulu and ESPN, price discounts, and exclusive weekly releases. Netflix gave the option of password-sharing to encourage more sign-ups. That’s why streaming channels attain new marketing tactics to attain more subscribers.
The streaming war is like a chess match where companies invest billions of dollars to gain loyalty and profit. As an audience, we do not see the game of AI, the battle of licensing, and attaining subscribers. The question is who will win the war? It totally depends on the company’s tactics and investment. But as an audience, you have to choose streaming channels wisely to save money. Pick a channel that shows content that goes with your taste and matches your interest or you can rotate subscriptions. To be more cost effective you can look for bundle offers.
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Writer
Fabiha Bushra
Intern, Content Writing Department,
YSSE