Tag Archives: Streaming War

Entertainment, Movies

Quibi Shifts Gears Following Rough Start: Katzenberg Blames Underperformance On Coronavirus

New Subscriber Count Underwhelming

Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman launched Quibi on April 6th. The latest project from the two well-experienced entertainment moguls, Quibi is a streaming service designed for the smallest of screens— namely, smartphones and other mobile devices. The subscription based platform’s initiative is to provide short bursts of entertainment for people on the go, keeping content between seven and ten minutes long apiece.

Quibi entered the streaming war with a lot of hype, propelled by a massive marketing campaign and a line up including several noteworthy filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg, Guillermo Del Toro, Steven Soderbergh, Sam Raimi, and more. Many industry insiders had high hopes for the novel platform, even after it decided to stay true to its April 6th launch date amidst the coronavirus.

Sadly, that decision might be coming back to haunt Quibi, as the service came out over a month ago and has so far severely underperformed. The service cost roughly $1.4 billion to create— most of the money coming from Hollywood studio investors and the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba— and according to the New York Times, it has garnered under 2 million active subscribers in its first month. At a price of $4.99-$7.99 per month, this is a long way from breaking even.

Read more: “Quibi Embraces Smallest Screens and Biggest Talent in New Mobile Streaming Service“

Despite knowing the risk of launching Quibi during COVID-19, Jeffrey Katzenberg is now attributing the site’s underperformance to the pandemic. In a New York Times video interview, he unambiguously stated, “I attribute everything that has gone wrong to coronavirus.”

The founder’s rationale is that the platform is best consumed for people with busy, mobile lives. Quibi provides content catered to people on tight schedules, with news and entertainment served in quick doses. Under the current quarantine, however, people are more sedentary than ever before. Katzenberg continued to the Times, “My hope, my belief was that there would still be many in-between moments while sheltering in place. There are still those moments, but it’s not the same. It’s out of sync.” 

This makes sense, but is called into question when considering the success of other streaming sites during the lockdown. Established platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ have benefitted immensely from people staying at home. With theaters closed, lots of content is getting expedited to streaming and these sites are serving as the last lines of entertainment during these isolating times. Netflix has added 15.8 million subscribers in 2020, and Disney+ 4.5 million in the month of April alone.

Of course, Quibi lacks a lot of what these preexisting services have to offer. It does not possess the name brand recognition of a Netflix or Amazon, nor does it have have the vast, familiar library of Disney+. Despite its impressive rolodex of attached producers and a few reboots of popular shows, Quibi has had to build from the bottom up with original programming.

No Blockbuster (yet?) and Now A Changed Attitude Re: TV

Unfortunately, on top of all the circumstantial roadblocks facing Quibi as a company right now, its shows have not been well received either. Many critics and consumers are not buying into the concept of watching content on a phone. Even though Quibi invested lots of effort into creating “turnstyle” technology for a seamless vertical/horizontal viewing experience, the final product has been underwhelming. A review from The Vulture called the technological attempt’s outcome, “a sad cropped, vertical version of a show that looked better in widescreen.”

Now, Quibi is looking towards the future. With so much money and human capital tied up in the project, it has no choice but to keep moving forward, trying to rebound and improve upon itself.

Read more: “Five Stories perfect for our time“

Marketing-wise, Quibi plans to start advertising for individual shows. Up until now, the platform has marketed itself as a whole, with celebrity-endorsed commercials promoting the overall site rather than specific programs. Going forward, Quibi will create more ads centered on particular shows, much in the same vein as Netflix and Disney+.

The site will also be updating its terms of usage. For starters, Quibi users will no longer be tethered to their phone screens. Subscribers will soon be able to watch Quibi shows on their televisions. This was always something that Quibi aspired to in the longterm, but wanted to get its customers used to the small screen standard first. Given the users’ apparent aversion to mobile viewing, though, Quibi is accelerating the process.

Moreover, Quibi content will be sharable on social media going forward. At first, Katzenberg and Whitman wanted to keep all of Quibi (including screenshots) behind its subscriber paywall. Those walls are now becoming permeable, as Quibi demands more traction. Allowing users to share Quibi shows on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter will help spread its popularity and get more people talking about it.

Evidently, Quibi is undergoing some changes at the moment. Regardless of the peculiar situation, the bottom line is that Quibi has not been so successful out the gate. Things will probably get even more competitive in the coming months as NBCUniversal’s Peacock and AT&T’s HBOMax enter the streaming world. Consequentially, Quibi executives are changing their approach immediately, lest the Quibi craze be over before it even begins.

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Books, Coronavirus, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Movies

Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington star in Hulu’s Latest Miniseries “Little Fires Everywhere”

Photo Collage / Lynxotic

It only takes one spark to start a fire

With mass closures of schools, many working remotely, and even more practicing social distancing,  TV and reading will be a primary source of entertainment as just some of the ways to distract ourselves in the next coming weeks.  

Hulu will be premiering its new miniseries this week based  Celeste Ng 2017 bestseller title “Little Fires Everywhere” starting March 18th.  The series will have eight – one hour long episodes exclusively on the streaming site.

Reese Witherspoon selected the title as her book pick of the month in September of 2017. She fell in love with the story and was compelled to see in on the big screen. Reese later teamed up with Kerry Washington, where they worked together, alongside with writer/executive producer Liz Tigelaar to adapt the novel into the upcoming TV series. 

Aside from being producers – Reese and Kerry play the main characters in the show. Their fellow costars include: Rosemarie DeWitt, Joshua Jackson, Lexi Underwood, Jade Pettyjohn, Jordan Elsass, Megan Stott and Gavin Lewis.

One way to stream – Click to Buy “Fire Stick” Available on Amazon.

The first 3 episodes will be available on March 18th, with reports of the subsequent episodes to premier weekly after that; March 25, April 1, April 8, April 15, and the finale on April 22.

The only way to currently watch the show is through a Hulu subscription – the streaming service offers a free month long trial, after that the most basic plan is just $5.99 a month. Subscribers can watch via the Hulu app using: smart phones, tablets, Fire TV stick, Roku and most Smart TVs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWGkX8ClhBI
official trailer for “little fires everywhere”

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Click to Buy “Little Fires Everywhere” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon and Walmart.

From the bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You, a riveting novel that traces the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives.

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned–from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren–an enigmatic artist and single mother–who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

“Celeste Ng writes with stunning accuracy about the power of motherhood, the intensity of teenage love and the danger of perfection – and the fire that destroys it all.”


Quote Reese witherspoon on her website hello-sunshine.com

When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town–and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs.

Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood–and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster. Also Available on Amazon and Walmart.

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Entertainment, Tech

Quibi Embraces Smallest Screens and Biggest Talent in New Mobile Streaming Service from Jeffrey Katzenberg

Video

Aging Mogul and CEO Eye Disruption with Innovative Mobile Platform

In a market apparently oversaturated with online video streaming platforms, it may seem like an inopportune time to start up a brand new service for audiences to consume content on their personal screens. This outlook, however, has not stopped Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, two aging entertainment tycoons, in raising over a billion dollars to fund their novel mobile streaming project, Quibi.

Katzenberg and Whitman is, on paper, a corporate match made is heaven. Katzenberg was the chief of Walt Disney Studios during its 1990s animation renaissance and then went on to create DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen. Whitman, meanwhile, was a tech mogul, formerly serving as CEO of eBay and Hewlett-Packard. Both in their sixties, these two veteran experts in their respective industries have recently combined their knowledge to launch Quibi—an upcoming streaming service made for the smallest of screens. Namely, mobile devices.

Of course, watching content on a smartphone or tablet is nothing new. Almost every streaming service has a mobile app, and YouTube alone has a seemingly endless amount of free content for viewers to watch wherever is convenient. Nevertheless, while most of these platforms hold true to the philosophy that the bigger-the-screen-the-better, Quibi embraces the small, personalized screen format exclusively, working it into their very production model.

https://video-lynxotic.akamaized.net/Quibi-Demo.mov

Can “Turnstyle” Take Off along with 10 min “Quick Bites”?

Quibi is incorporating new technologies and resources to make their content highly personalized and appropriate for smartphone screens. Perhaps the company’s most innovative initiative is its “Turnstyle” format, whereby all content is made for both vertical and horizontal screens.

Unlike most mobile videos that are best watched horizontally, Quibi content will adjust for the phone’s orientation. Thus, there is no optimal way to watch Quibi; viewers can do so however they deem comfortable and switch back and forth in a seamless fashion.

Furthermore, Quibi has factored in the short attention spans of young audiences using mobile devices. Realizing that most mobile viewers seek quick bursts of information or entertainment, Quibi aims to keep its shows between seven and ten minutes long, providing episodic gusts of action often ending on cliffhangers. Moreover, the company is also looking to expand its daily video programming, whereby new content comes out each day.

While this high-turnover temporal model may appear as a mere means of reducing costs for the up-and-coming Quibi, Katzenberg and Whitman are far from pinching pennies for the service. Estimates claim that Quibi will pay its creators up to $125,000 for every minute of scripted and unscripted content, and around $10,000 for the daily programming. This is a bold, yet consciences effort to ensure quality, thus helping Quibi stand out amongst the competition and justify its subscription cost—$4.99 a month with ads, or $7.99 without ads.

The prospect of quality content on Quibi is further confirmed by the copious prestigious names already attached to the service. As aforementioned, Katzenberg and Whitman are far from beginners in the industry, and they have long lists of professional connections. Hence, Steven Spielberg, Guillermo Del Toro, Steven Soderbergh, Sam Raimi, Anna Kendrick, Kevin Hart, Jennifer Lopez and Zac Efron amongst other A-list names have already committed to Quibi.

Likewise, the company already has investment deals with some of the biggest studios in Hollywood including Disney and Warner Brothers, and will have content connected to ESPN, NBC News, and BBC.

Quibi’s exhaustive and impressive list of attached talent is made possible in no small part thanks to Katzenberg and Whitman’s networking prowess. However, the company is also incentivizing its creative minds with unprecedented terrain to explore on.

Additionally, Quibi promises its talent the right to retain ownership, after a specified interval, over creations. That way, no projects or characters are eternally bound to Quibi—directors can take their ideas to new platforms if need be and can keep all merchandizing and marketing rights to themselves. In a world where syndication dominates the entertainment industry, this is a very rare and appealing offer.

”Too Rich to Fail” Motto seems Apt, and Resonates with with Big Name Talent

Some of the shows on Quibi are already well into production or even post-production. Sam Raimi is working on an anthology series titled “Fifty States of Fright,” where he will be going back to his early horror roots as a filmmaker. Meanwhile, Steven Soderbergh is directing a suspenseful series called “Wireless” for the platform.

The projects that have garnered the most buzz, however, include a documentary series on DC and Marvel Comics spearheaded by “Avengers: Endgame” directors Joe and Anthony Russo, as well as a revived continuation of the hit Comedy Central show “Reno 911!” Projects from Spielberg and Del Toro are yet to be fleshed out, but the two filmmakers’ unparalleled reputations are likely to bring Quibi even more interest.

In short, the industry is certainly on board with Quibi. The real question now is whether or not consumers will be into it. With so much free content to scroll through on one’s phone, many viewers might not see adequate reason to pay a monthly fee for particular shows—especially when they are already paying for Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other services.

Quibi is certainly showing creativity in their use of the mobile platform and they definitely have a lot of promising talent in their corner. Nevertheless, some might deem Quibi’s mobile innovations as excessive gimmicks, and their talent as impressive, but not quite alluring enough of an end to justify the means.

A lot of skepticism existis that this entirely new format, in terms of show length, cost and price as well as the somewhat wacky “turnstyle” tech has a chance to become established. In some ways it is similar to Apple TV+ in the sense that the massive cash hoard backing each service (Quibi at least $1.4 Billion, Apple TV+ $6 Billion+) will ensure that, regardless of how long it takes to become popular with the public, in the end they are “too rich to fail”.

We won’t really know until April 6th, when Quibi officially launches and enters into the streaming war as a tactical and unpredictable underdog.

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Entertainment, Movies

“D’oh!”—Disney+ Modifies ‘The Simpsons’ to 16:9 Aspect Ratio at the Expense of Series’ Trademark Humor

Graphic Collage / Lynxotic

Disney+ reels Subscribers in with Massive, Nostalgia-Inducing Hoard, such as 30 Seasons of “The Simpsons”!

Disney+ is here, and for the most part, it is living up to astronomical expectations. The streaming service has everything it promised under the Walt Disney Studios banner, from Marvel, to Pixar, to Star Wars, to Disney Animation vault material, to originals and more. The service allows its 10 million patrons to re-watch childhood classics and also discover something new, all for the affordable price of $7 per month.

One of the most appealing pieces of content available on Disney+ is all 30 seasons of “The Simpsons,” which Disney acquired when it purchased 20th Century Fox earlier this year. “The Simpsons” has been on the air since 1989, making it the longest running scripted television series. Its characters are household names and its humor has transcended generations.

Visual Humor is Extremely Delicate, and the Aspect Ratio makes can make a Huge Difference

Naturally, many people were eager to watch their favorite episodes of “The Simpsons” when Disney+ launched last Tuesday. Given that “The Simpsons” golden years are often considered between seasons 3 and 8, most users flocked to these chapters in the show’s history. 

However, when fans finally selected the episodes and pressed play, they may have found themselves confused and disappointed to see that the show looks different than it did in their memory, and that it is missing a few jokes as a result.

This is not a case of people misremembering something as better than it actually is—“The Simpsons” is undoubtedly a hilarious show. The reality is that Disney adjusted the show’s aspect ratio for seasons 1-19 when adding it to the streaming service. While seasons 1-19 originally aired in a primitive 4:3 aspect ratio, Disney+ edited the episodes to fall in line with its contemporary widescreen 16:9 ratio. 

A Funny Case in which Opting for a “modern upgrade” Backfires

This change could maybe be forgiven or perhaps even go unnoticed if it weren’t for the fact that the adjusted ratio comes at the expense of some of show’s humor. With the adapted framing, shots are cut off at unnatural edges. Therefore, some of the visual jokes in “The Simpsons” end up entirely out of frame.

Sometimes these graphic gags are subtle, but other times they are the focus of the entire scene or episode. Either way, many users consider this change insulting to both “The Simpsons” fandom and its creators. Viewers want to watch “The Simpsons” how they fondly remember it, in its original form.

Disney+ Responds Timely to Criticism Handling an American Television Staple

Seasons 20-30 of “The Simpsons” have gone untouched on Disney+ simply because these episodes were already made in 16:9 ratio. Disney+ wanted to create consistency amongst the series so it went for the latest, most often seen ratio. Unfortunately, it is the show’s development over time and that very inconsistency that enriches “The Simpsons’” as the series is watched in its original form, one can see its evolution over the years and better appreciate its long run as a staple of American television.

Disney has responded to complaints about the change, stating that it will soon release seasons 1-19 in their rightful 4:3 aspect ratios. This will happen in early 2020, at which time users will have the choice of how they want to watch “The Simpsons.” Nevertheless, it will keep the 16:9 ratio available for the sake of oncoming Disney+ features and unspecified digital viewing innovations. 

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Entertainment, Movies

Netflix: Smell the Roses or Binge in Overdrive @1.5 Original Speed

Graphic Collage / Lynxotic

Netflix Ignores Creative Intention as they Scramble After gimmicky Innovation

Ever since Netflix got the world hooked on online streaming, the company has innovatively transformed how people consume both film and television. For a long time, it was also uncontested, seemingly secured as the premiere streaming service. However, with the launches of Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock, Apple+, and the streaming war that will ensue by the end of the year, Netflix will no longer be in the safe zone. 

To survive this oncoming competition, Netflix has been looking for ways to distinguish itself. It has done this partially by creating more original content and making a name for itself as a production company. At the same time, though, Netflix is also trying to get creative within its distinct medium.

Unlike Disney, WarnerMedia, or NBCUniversal, Netflix did not begin as a TV station or a film studio. It started as a DVD rental site and evolved into streaming to keep up with the digital age. Therefore, the company has always been seeking ways to use its online platform to its advantage—from offering multi-lingual subtitles, to recording new dubs, to implementing the choose-your-own adventure model in “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.”

1.5 Playback Speed Isn’t New, but for Movies? That’s Uncharted Territory with Good Reason

Almost all of these innovations have been embraced and accepted by viewers and filmmakers alike. However, Netflix’s next move in harnessing its digital medium may be taking things a step too far.  

Currently in the works, Netflix may soon give its users the option to view content at 1.5 the original speed. This means that they could watch an hour-long television episode in just forty-five minutes, or a two-hour movie in no more than ninety minutes. Everything would go by 50% faster. The company has already started testing this development on Android mobile devices, but has not yet declared when or if it will become available to all subscribers.   

Granted, consuming media and watching videos at non-standard speeds is not completely novel. YouTube has been allowing its patrons to adjust playback speeds for a while now. At the most severe, viewers can speed through content twice as fast or slog through videos at a mere quarter of the original pace. These options are also common on podcast sites, allowing listeners to hear material more efficiently.

However, there is a difference between watching a five-minute video on YouTube and watching a full-length movie on Netflix. The service’s extensive library contains the work of many esteemed filmmakers—its original content alone comes from the directorial likes of Steven Soderbergh, Alfonso Cuarón, Martin Scorsese, and even Orson Welles. It seems borderline blasphemous to consider rushing these masters’ works with improper haste.  

Film Playback Speed-up option Cheapens Work Extracted from Movie Industry Creators

Likewise, all of the content available on Netflix has a degree of artistic merit. There are screenwriters, directors, cinematographers, animators, editors, and many more people behind each of the titles. Film being a collaborative art-form, there are hundreds of names (and not to mention millions of dollars) attached to every project. Perhaps Netflix ought to honor all of the individuals who creatively and financially slaved over its material.

Ever since Netflix started creating more prestigious original work, it has been held to a new standard. Today, the company is a rather divisive topic amongst the Hollywood elite—Scorsese is obviously willing to work with it, while Spielberg openly dug into it following the 91st Academy Awards. This new 1.5 speed addition to the site, however, is unlikely to earn it any new friends in the filmmaking community. Judd Apatow and Brad Bird have already pushed back against the idea.

After all, a film’s timing is not a haphazard thing. Directors and editors take time and effort to create ideal pacing in a movie. When curated correctly, a movie’s tempo can be just as meaningful as its script. Imagine, for example, if Hitchcock’s camera ran through a house rather than crept through it, or if Kubrick’s painfully long takes were cut off too soon—we would all lose something.  

Watching content at 1.5 the speed is essentially watching content on fast-forward. While Netflix may be responsible for binge culture and slip-screen viewing, this latest idea of theirs may be pushing the envelope too severely. It jeopardizes filmic integrity and comes at the expense of so much creative effort. Netflix should certainly continue to think progressively and outside the box when it comes to entertainment, but meanwhile, it should also keep a toe in the waters of tradition and not forget the fundamental values of cinematic art upon which the company stands. 

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Cutting Edge, Tech

Tech Week in Review: Streaming Wars, Disney+ & AppleTV+, Zuckerberg’s 5th Estate, AirPods Pro, Tesla and more

Video
https://www.apple.com/105/media/us/airpods-pro/2019/1299e2f5_9206_4470_b28e_08307a42f19b/films/product/airpods-pro-product-tpl-cc-us-2019_1920x1080h.mp4
Apple Promotional Video for AirPods Pro
T-Mobile to Launch 5G Network Nationwide in December: iPhone 12 could start 5G Revolution
A Mass Tesla Fleet Invasion into Multiple Industries has Begun
The Streaming Wars are about to Erupt and TV will never be the same again
Zuckerberg claims Facebook is the ‘5th Estate’ while in Reality he runs Algorithmic Dictatorship
Watch Apple Video of New AirPods Pro: plus Memes and a Deep Dive into the Innovative Auditory Technology

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Entertainment, Movies, Tech

Netflix Aiming for Prestige to Combat Debt as Streaming War Brings Extreme Competition

Can this Digital GrandDaddy Stay Relevant as Disney+, Apple TV+ and more enter the Fray?

For years, Netflix has been pointed to as the premiere streaming service and the foremost company responsible for popularizing watching content online instead of on a television or movie screen. It has earned a spot alongside Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google as one of the most influential companies in the world of 21st century technology and entertainment—being the N in the notorious acronym FAANG. 

Recently, however, Netflix has been hitting some hard times. Its debt has been steadily increasing for a while and fewer companies are renewing their contracts with it, thus limiting the breadth of its library. Likewise, the launches of Disney+, HBO Max, NBCUniversal’s Peacock, and Apple+ are creeping closer and closer. When these new streaming services become available, their parent companies will stop licensing content to Netflix, and they will bring about unprecedented competition.

While Netflix has slowly been increasing its amount of original content over the years, its most popular offerings remain properties from outside sources. As it has been for a couple years now, the two most watched programs on Netflix are “The Office” and “Friends.” In fact, one has to go pretty far down the list before finding a Netflix original among company’s most popular shows.

Once the streaming war begins, though, Netflix will lose many of these licensed-out titles. Originally airing on NBC, “The Office” will be available exclusively on Peacock. Likewise, being a Warner Brother’s television production, “Friends” will find its new streaming home on HBO Max. Netflix will thus be in a pickle, as they will have fewer titles in their libraries and fewer active deals with pre-established studios and networks.

Nevertheless, Netflix is responding to the impending streaming war with surprising optimism. The company’s CEO, Reed Hastings has expressed feelings of confidence, explaining how the increased competition will force Netflix to be creative and improve its model.

Content is, once again, Key in a Competitive Market

Creativity will be the key to success in the streaming war, as original content will largely determine which platforms outlast the others. Netflix has certainly been upping its original content game throughout 2018 and 2019. On the series side, season three of “Stranger Things” broke records for the company, and the innovative “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” introduced the choose-your-own-adventure model to television and garnered a Primetime Emmy win in the process.

Likewise, ever since Alfonso Cuaron’s 2018 Netflix original film “Roma” earned several Oscar nominations—including wins for best director and best foreign film, and a nomination for best picture—Netflix has been seen as a far more legitimate production company, worthy of immense talent and prestigious content. To an extent, Netflix has ran with this new reputation in 2019, creating Steven Soderbergh’s “The Laundromat” starring Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, and Antonio Banderas, as well as Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” with Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci.

It is a bold strategy for Netflix, but it seems like the company is going for prestige as its new brand. When the streaming war takes place, one of the things Disney, Warner Brothers, and NBC have that Netflix currently lacks is an identifiable brand-type. For the majority of streaming history, a subscription to a service simply meant that you were paying for a smorgasbord of content that could range all different genres and cater to diverse tastes. Now that streaming services and production companies are merging into one entity, subscribing becomes a far more divisive strategy based on brand recognition.

In order for Netflix to remain afloat, they will need to sell themselves as offering something not available anywhere else. For years creative and business-minded people have scratched their heads trying to figure out what kind of content Netflix desires. Perhaps this prestigious trend brings us closer to an answer.

Nevertheless, Netflix has also employed a couple other strategies to keep itself moving through 2019. It has dug into some preexisting intellectual properties and expanded upon them. Recently, it re-capitalized on “Breaking Bad” with Vince Gilligan’s “El Camino” taking place in the same universe as the show. Meanwhile, it also exploited 1990s nostalgia by producing original movies based off of old Nickelodeon cartoon shows “Rocko’s Modern Life” and “Invader Zim.”

Therefore, Netflix’s playbook remains mysterious. Unlike other web-based companies of its caliber, Netflix keeps its data private. So while there are guesses and estimates about trends in Netflix’s model, it is quite possible that the company has a few unseen tricks still hidden up its sleeve. Only time will tell if Netflix will find a way to keep up with the competition, or if the service will go down as an immensely influential, yet tragically short-lived blip in entertainment history.

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Business, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Movies, Tech

The Streaming Wars are about to Erupt and TV will never be the same again

Video
https://www.apple.com/105/media/us/apple-tv-plus/2019/ca7883f2_885a_42c7_b0cc_529b287c1925/films/for-all-mankind/apple-tv-plus-for-all-mankind-tpl-cc-us-2019_1920x1080h.mp4
Official Trailer: “For All Mankind” from APple TV+

Everything You Need to Know before the Launch of Full Throttle Entertainment Competition

Over the past ten years, online streaming has changed the course of television history. Services like Netflix and Amazon Prime have transformed the way that we consume media, taking the physical TV out of TV and replacing it with laptops and handheld devices. In the upcoming months, however, history is about to take another enormous leap forwards, as the addition of several new streaming services will take entertainment to entirely new, competitive, and corporately segregated levels.

Enter the New Players: Every Other Major & Minor Studio

While Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu have more or less reigned supreme as the premiere streaming services since they launched, they will soon meet a new lineup of fierce rivals on the battlefield. Over the next few months, Disney, AT&T’s WarnerMedia, Apple, and NCBUniversal will all be entering the streaming world, respectively with the launches of Disney+, HBO Max, Apple+, and Peacock… and that is just a handful of them.

For the most part, each of these new streaming platforms will feature all of the content owned and created by their respective parent companies. With a Disney+ subscription, one can watch everything from Marvel movies to Star Wars to “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” HBO Max will offer every episode of “Game Of Thrones” and “Friends.” Peacock will give you every episode of “Saturday Night Live” and “The Office.” And so on.

How will Disney Juggle their Family-Oriented Brand with their Monolithic IP Collection?

Of course, there are a few exceptions to this rule. For example, Disney plans to keep its streaming service relatively family-friendly, and therefore will not be offering some of its more mature properties—i.e. 20th Century Fox content such as “Deadpool” or Miramax titles such as “Pulp Fiction,” all of which are technically under the wing of Disney, but do not fit their wholesome brand. 

Owning intellectual properties from Fox, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, National Geographic and beyond, Disney+ is bound to be the biggest juggernaut in this oncoming streaming war. The service also comes at the most affordable price, costing only $7 a month as opposed to HBO’s estimated $15/month or Netflix’s current $12/month. 

The Walt Disney Company is not underestimating the significance of Disney+’s launch. CEO Bob Iger has frequently mentioned that it is Disney’s most important development in the fifteen years that he has led the company—and this is the man who spearheaded the Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm acquisitions. As a testament to its importance, Disney has also dropped over a billion dollars into marketing for Disney+, recently even releasing a 3-hour long trailer showing a taste of everything the service will offer.

Corporate Segregation and the IP Divide Demands Consumer Loyalties

Disney is doing all this because they know that they will have to compete with some very skilled rivals. While Disney may have a wide breadth of content in their libraries, they are limited to their own intellectual properties. If someone is a fan of DC over Marvel, then they may take their money over to Warner’s HBO Max. Likewise, if someone is a die hard Trekkie rather than a Star Wars enthusiast, they may opt to subscribe to CBS All Access so they can watch the new episodes “Star Trek: Discovery” and “Piccard.”

This is where the corporate segregation becomes a limitation for streaming. When it was just Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu in the ring, these services would license out content from larger film studios. Netflix, for example, could write a check to Warner Brothers to have their movies and TV shows on their site. Because of multiple deals like this, subscribing to a streaming service used to mean getting access to a wide-range of content made by many different companies. 

Now that the larger companies are creating services exclusively for their own libraries, taste and target audiences will play a larger role in the world of streaming. The streaming playing field is not just about to get far more competitive, but it is also about to get far more divisive. Rather than subscribe to a seemingly arbitrary collection of movies and shows via Netflix or Amazon, subscribers will have to chose based on the company whose work they prefer the most. 

Will Content Variety that Consumers Crave Disappear?

Unfortunately, this means that if someone is a fan of both Harry Potter and Star Wars, they are out of luck and will have to pay for two different services to get them both. This could even lead to an issue of oversaturation, as people are unlikely to pay for five different services just so they can get the variety they desire. If that is the case, they might as well go back to paying their cable bill.

Thus, the future may lie in mergers and bundles between the services. For small additional prices, subscribers could get extra content or access to more than one streaming platform at a time. Disney has already started offering bundle plans with Hulu, which will give subscribers access to some of those less wholesome titles excluded from Disney+. This may be the only way to keep streaming sustainable and affordable in such a corporately stratified landscape.

Who’s going to be the Winner? Bet on Creativity to come out on top, every time

What will really determine who gets out of this streaming war alive, however, will be original content. Regardless of how good Disney’s library is, viewers can only rewatch the Marvel and Star Wars movies so many times before they desire something new to keep them subscribing. Therefore, original shows and films will be the key to keeping audiences invested. Netflix and Amazon have already been slowly transitioning towards this, focusing more on their own productions of lately as the licensing model fizzles out.

Likewise, Disney+ is promoting itself in part with new movies and shows—among them a live action “Lady and the Tramp” remake, a Marvel series focused on Tom Hiddleson’s Loki, and Star Wars’ “The Mandalorian.” Meanwhile, HBO Max is promising a “Game of Thrones” prequel series. It is products like this that will be available exclusively through the streaming platforms that will keep certain companies’ services afloat over others. 

All in all, each company best saddle up with their best writers, directors, casts, and crews, because creativity will be the most powerful weapon in the streaming war. Whoever wields it best is most likely to stand triumphant in the end.

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