Welcome to the blog of Dr. Lisa Burns' Media Studies senior capstone class (2 pm section) at Quinnipiac University. If you're looking for the latest on media industry trends and insightful media analysis, you've come to the right place!
Thursday, January 20, 2022
Media Economics Blog 1, Question 1 (Feb. 1)
Which major media conglomerate is best positioned to succeed
and which organization will face the most challenges in 2022? Limit: 16
responses
As of today, there are six media corporations that essentially own the media industry. Out of those six, I think Walt Disney is positioned the best to succeed this year due to its streaming platforms as well as other entities. Disney owns or has stakes in ABC, ESPN (80% stake), Touchstone Pictures, Marvel, Lucasfilm, A&E (50% equity holding with Hearst Corporation), The History Channel (50% equity holding with Hearst Corporation), Lifetime (50% equity holding with Hearst Corporation), Pixar, Hollywood Records, Vice Media (10% stake), Core Publishing (Tom, 2021). These corporations touch on major industries like sports, film, children, and family channels, and more; all of which give them continuous viewings from a variety of audiences. Going off that, Disney+ has become one of the more prominent streaming platforms, especially since its exclusive addition of Marvel films and original television shows. Since 2020, Disney+ has reached over 100 million subscribers, but since has had a slowing, but steady growth (Staff T.H.R, 2022). While this could be seen as a negative, I see it as a positive, showing a consistent and steady following and places Walt Disney better than other media conglomerates.
For example, Comcast, while owning entities such as Universal Studios, NBCuniversal, Peacock Productions, SNL Studio, CNBC and more (“What Companies Does Comcast Own”, 2022); the media giant’s growth is not just slowing but declining in all areas. According to an article by Hollywood Reporter, “Comcast's earnings report also highlights an adjusted loss of $1.7 billion related to the streamer for all of 2021 on $778 million in revenue, compared with a loss of $663 million on $118 million in revenue in 2020” (Szalai & Vlessing, 2021). Along with Comcast's overall decline, in terms of streaming, they are also lagging Disney. Comcast's primary streaming platform is Peacock, which only has 54 million users monthly and “[Comcast] reported high quarterly earnings for NBCU, despite a $363 million loss related to the streaming service” (Szalai & Vlessing, 2021). This shows a lack of consistency and a continuous decline in the platform, and therefore in Comcast.
Overall, these two conglomerates differ the most when looking at what they own. When you compare the two outright and compare them to the other four media giants that own the industry, Disney is positioned the best to succeed, and Comcast will have the most to overcome. Disney having ownership of Marvel is what separates them from the rest. Marvel has been shown to continuously make films that people see, and break box office records. That, coupled with them being able to exclusively stream those films on Disney+, makes it so Peacock cannot truly compete in that field. Comcast also has extensive stakes and ownership in theme parks. This is where a large portion of revenue comes from. With the pandemic, the reopening of theme parks could prove to be a huge obstacle and could be hard to maintain (“What Companies Does Comcast Own”, 2022). Disney also has stakes and ownership in these parks, but they are not as reliant on them, since it seems they focus most on the entertainment industry and their ownership on Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, and the Disney Princesses (Tom, 2021).
Work cited Staff, T. H. R. (2022, January 3). The high highs (and lower lows) of Hollywood in 2021. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hollywood-2021-highs-and-lower-lows-1235062740/
Szalai, G. (2022, January 27). NBCU's Peacock reaches 24.5m U.S. Monthly Active Accounts, quarterly loss hits $559M. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/peacock-nbcuniversal-subscribers-monthly-accounts-quarterlyloss-1234990017/
Tom. (2021, November 3). What Disney owns: An in-depth breakdown of Disney's assets. iFilmThings. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://ifilmthings.com/disney-owns/
What Companies Does Comcast Own 【in 2022. DATAROMA. (2022, January 1). Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://dataromas.com/what-companies-does-comcast-own/
Media has become such a huge part of many of our lives. When looking at media, it’s important to note that the majority of the media we consume comes from a handful of companies. These companies are commonly known as “The Big Six”. A prime example of this consolidation comes from Disney and all the entities they own. Disney has a market cap of 321 billion dollars, including now having a 67 percent stake in Hulu as well as ESPN+(Molla and Kafka). They have their hands on many different companies in the media space, covering many different aspects ranging from sports to movies. Many streaming services are still growing, but it appears the growth is topping off. Disney+ reports having 2.1 million new users, down from 12.6 million in the previous quarter. However, I still believe Disney still is in the best position for continued success above all other companies. In further reading, “Disney's streaming service Disney+ only launched 16 months ago, but it already has more than 100 million subscribers globally, a number it took Netflix 10 years to reach,” (Love Money Staff). Disney+ is already pretty close to catching Netflix considering it hasn’t been around as long. That gap has since closed since the writing of that article as well. Disney+ is well on it’s way to eclipsing that mark. Disney+ is only one aspect of Disney’s ventures like I mentioned before, they have hands in just about every industry. Disney parks, as well as live sports, weren’t operating at full capacity for some time. This resulted in lost revenue, especially for ESPN advertising revenue. Once this pandemic ends, Disney will come out on top again as they have already proven themselves in the industry. The possibilities are endless for them with sequels, prequels, and spin offs. It’s going to be a while before they run out of content to produce as they have whole cinematic universes such as Star Wars and Marvel. I believe Disney has set the bar and everyone else is just trying to catch up, like with Amazon purchasing MGM for 8.5 billion dollars (Molla and Kafka). They are hoping to use characters and brands to recreate old movies like Rocky and Pink Panther, just as Disney already has done.
Part 2 One company I believe could be in trouble is Warner Media. In reading, it seems as though they have many issues to work out. One of those issues being pricing of HBO Max. The 14.99 price point has drawn some criticism as its twice the price of Disney+ and about the same as Netflix (James). Another issue with the service includes customer complaints about the glitches in the software. This is especially annoying as people want easy to use interfaces when looking for streaming platforms. In addition, the deal with Discovery faced significant backlash as well as review by regulatory agencies. Some complained that the move reversed 6 years of strategic change as they decided to release all of the movies simultaneously, hurting their reputation with filmmakers (Lyons). It’s clear Warner Media has some real big challenges ahead for them before they can reach Disney’s level.
References James, Meg. “After a Turbulent Year, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar Touts HBO Max Gains.” Los Angeles Times. Lyons, Kim. “AT&T CEO John Stankey Says It Was 'Time to Unleash' Warnermedia Assets.” The Verge, The Verge, 24 May 2021, https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/24/22451111/att-ceo-stankey-unleash-assets-warnermedia-discovery-hbo. Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart. Staff. “How Disney Has Taken over the World in the Past 50 Years.” Lovemoney, https://www.lovemoney.com/gallerylist/82821/how-disney-has-taken-over-the-world-in-the-past-50-years.
As has been the case for nearly 100 years (an incomprehensible number at this point), Disney continues to steamroll its media conglomerate peers. While the gap is rapidly closing, with tech companies like Apple, Amazon, and Google threatening to disrupt the content landscape (Molla) — if they haven’t already — Disney appears to still be best positioned to succeed moving forward into 2022. What impresses me the most about Disney’s approach to dominating the media world is how dynamic its holdings are. Big-budget movie franchises? Marvel and 20th Century Studios, check. Wide-ranging sports coverage? ESPN, check. Streaming? Disney+ and Hulu, check. Traditional news? ABC, check. In an age where media trends change so quickly and dynamically, Disney putting its (very expensive) eggs in multiple baskets seems like the smartest approach.
It’s worth highlighting Disney+ in particular. Even though its growth has slowed as pandemic trends begin to neutralize (Sherman), its rapid ascent in just two years since launch has been nothing short of impressive. In fact, even in spite of Disney+’s slowing growth, analysts project it to surpass Netflix’s subscriber base in 2026 (Szalai). That trend may even be apparent now as Netflix’s stock fell under projections to begin 2022 (Spangler). Disney+’s bright future can be attributed to its unparalleled intellectual property library and relatively low-risk spending power (Kline). And in the end, Disney+ could take a hit and the Walt Disney Company would still survive off its diverse army of sub companies. All Netflix has is Netflix.
I’d project WarnerMedia to face the most challenges in 2022. It starts with name recognition. Speaking from personal experiences, people my age don’t really turn up for CNN, HBO, and Discovery. Young people are the future consumers of these conglomerates so it makes sense when Disney continues to target that age range while also appealing to its established base. WarnerMedia puts a lot of money into the Turner family of networks, which simply isn’t sustainable. Since 2011, TNT has seen a 53 percent decrease in viewership and TBS has dropped by 36 percent (Adgate). Cable subscriptions aren’t coming back, so it remains to be seen what WarnerMedia will get out of their investment going forward. Even its movie studio holdings pale in comparison to what Disney offers. WarnerMedia operates the DC Comics films which haven’t come close to competing with Disney’s Marvel films. As of April 2021, the top seven highest grossing films between the two studios came courtesy of Marvel (Marvel).
Barring something unforeseen, all media conglomerates are going to come out on top in 2022. They invest and make too much money and have smart enough people working for them to avoid the catastrophic. But that doesn’t mean that these companies can’t separate themselves from the pack through savvy decision making and expert forecasting techniques.
Works Cited
Adgate, Brad. “As Media Companies Focus on Streaming, the Audience of Their Cable Networks Continue to Drop.” Forbes, 6 Jan. 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2022/01/05/as-media-conglomerates-focus-on-streaming-the-audience-of-their-cable-networks-continue-to-drop/?sh=6b6d125f7a84.
Kline, Daniel. “Netflix's Problem Isn't Membership. It's What Disney Has That It Doesn't.” TheStreet, 24 Jan. 2022, https://www.thestreet.com/investing/netflix-has-a-content-problem-not-a-membership-problem.
“Marvel vs DC Films: A Visual Analysis.” Thinking Machines Data Science, Inc., 26 Apr. 2021, https://stories.thinkingmachin.es/marvel-vs-dc-films/.
Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart.
Sherman, Alex, and Samantha Subin. “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html.
Spangler, Todd. “Netflix Falls Short of Q4 Subscriber Target, Stock Tumbles on Weak Forecast.” Variety, 26 Jan. 2022, https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/netflix-q4-2021-earnings-subscribers-1235158494/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7.
Szalai, Georg. “Disney+ to Surpass Netflix in 2025, Hit 284m Subscribers in 2026, Analyst Forecasts.” The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Oct. 2021, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/disney-plus-surpass-netflix-2025-analyst-1235029497/.
There are six media conglomerates that currently own most of the media we see, those being Comcast, Walt Disney, AT&T, ViacomCBS, Sony, and Fox, but it would seem Disney is going to come out on top in the next few years.
Disney has been able to put themselves in the position where they have their hands in multiple different industries including major movie franchises, streaming, sports coverage, children’s programming, traditional news and more making them the best diversified and therefore most likely to succeed.
Even though their overall subscriber growth has slowed since the end of the COVID-19 lockdown, its overall growth since its original launch on November 12th of 2019 has been impressive enough that it seems their momentum will continue (Sherman). Disney+ in specific has one thing going for it that unfortunately for their competitors is never going to change: nostalgia. Their current library has fan favorites and childhood hits for an entire generation that generate rewatch value like no other content being produced by any other streaming service. In addition, their other services like ESPN, Marvel, and 20th Century Studios produce content that I just don’t see going out of style any time soon. Viewers are not suddenly going to stop watching sports, the entire massive Marvel fan base would take a lot to drive away and movies are always going to be a preferred form of entertainment for many, pandemic or otherwise. On the other side, I think Warner Media could be in massive trouble and may be getting lost among other programs. Right now many are being driven to their streaming service, HBO Max, because of the hit series Euphoria… but who knows if they can create another massive success and if people will end their subscriptions once the show is over? Moreso, the expensive price point may be benefitting them in terms of profit, but it may still be decreasing the overall amount of subscribers (James). They had a rocky start in terms of technical glitches in the service, difficult to use interfaces, and pushback about their day-and-date releases of major films (Faughnder). Additionally, much of Warner Media relies on traditional forms of media like CNN, HBO, and Discovery (Molla, Kafka), and we know that Cable subscriptions are decreasing rapidly. In my opinion, Warner Media knows they have too much emphasis in a quickly dying form of TV viewership, but may have jumped in too quickly to the streaming game without putting their absolute best foot forward or checking the pros and cons.
Faughnder , Ryan. “HBO Max Is Doing Fine. but Is Streaming Actually a Good Business?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2022, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/newsletter/2022-01-11/hbo-max-is-doing-fine-but-is-streaming-actually-a-good-business-the-wide-shot.
James, Meg. “After a Turbulent Year, Warner Media CEO Jason Kilar Touts HBO Max Gains.” Los Angeles Times. Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart.
Almost every area within the media industry is already in a state where it is run exclusively by a very small group of huge companies. Giants like Disney, Apple and Comcast possess assets in multiple media fields and have huge profit margins from their streaming services, films and other endeavors. Yet still, I think there is an even larger company that is in an even better position than these, and this company is Amazon. The total value of all of Amazon’s stock in 2021 was $1,711 billion (statistia.com, 100 Largest Companies…). This total is the third highest media related total. It is slightly below Apple’s $2,252 billion (statista.com) and Microsoft’s $1,996 billion (statista.com). However, I believe that Amazon is still in a better position to succeed as a media platform than both of these companies, and every other media company, going forward.
Why do I believe this? Mostly, because of its streaming service Amazon Prime. The pandemic devastated almost every industry that wasn’t streaming, resulting in streaming booming during 2020 with signs showing they’ll continue to grow. Their projected growth from now until 2025 is second to only virtual reality (Sidhu, 2). Pair this with the whopping 175 million subscribers (Persaud, 12 Most Popular…) that the service has. This makes for quite a compelling argument to be the top of the media food chain moving forward.
But personally I believe there is more to this than just the numbers. First off they have an unfair advantage over all other media companies. This being that they are primarily a delivery company not a media producer. This means that even in times of hardship, they don’t have to rely on their streaming service as their only asset. Netflix on the other hand, the only company with more subscribers, is seeing a very sharp decline on it’s hold on the market. In 2019 it had 44% of the OTT media share in 2019 (Brumley, Netflix is losing…) as of 2022 this is down to 25% (Esposito, Apple TV+ Market…). Netflix is being strong armed out by the other services that have entered the game with a lot more to offer customers.
The only thing that can hinder them now is content. The key to finding success in television is to create content with an established audience. Disney+, HBO Max and Paramount all have the rights to media content with millions of established fans, Amazon does not. In order to completely secure their future, HBO Max should look to purchase the rights to create content for an established audience. For example, the video game series Dark Souls, which has sold over 27 million copies (Tolbert, Dark Souls Series…) is something that may be able to draw in an established audience and create a popular show for them.
Statista. (2021, September 10). Biggest Companies in the World by Market Cap 2020. Statista. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/263264/top-companies-in-the-world-by-market-capitalization/
Sindhu, J. (2021, August 17). 4 Things to Know About the Future of Media and Entertainment. World Economic Forum . Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet02-xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com
Persaud, C. (2021, November 21). 12 Most Popular Streaming TV Services, Ranked By Subscriber Numbers. ScreenRant. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://screenrant.com/ten-most-popular-streaming-services-ranked-subscriber-numbers/
Brumley, J. (2021, April 15). Netflix is Losing Market Share, But This is The Actual Risk to Shareholders. The Motley Fool. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/04/15/netflix-is-losing-market-share-but-thats-not-the-a/
Espósito, F. (2022, January 25). Apple TV+ Market Share Grows in The US While Netflix Loses Ground to its Competitors. 9to5Mac. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://9to5mac.com/2022/01/24/apple-tv-market-share-grows-in-the-us-while-netflix-loses-ground-to-its-competitors/
Tolbert, S. (2020, May 19). Dark Souls Series Crosses 27 Million Copies Sold. Windows Central. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.windowscentral.com/dark-souls-series-crosses-27-million-copies-sold
With the presence of Covid-19 brings unprecedented times, especially for many large media conglomerates who have faced challenges in the new world we are living in. Many of these companies have openly discussed their plans for the future when it comes to transitioning into different industries. Determining who is now best positioned to succeed will be based on predicting where companies will choose to expand and how they will spend their money to meet the needs of 2022.
A huge factor in this consideration comes also from the idea of non-media related giants beginning to own media companies and therefore, becoming potential media conglomerates. According to the article “Here’s Who Owns Everything in Media Today” from Vox’s Recode, “older media companies are trying to compete by consolidating” (Molla & Kafka, 2021). This is where the competition for who is most positioned for success becomes interesting. Well established and older companies such as Amazon and Apple are already leading the way in their respective industries and the impact that they could have as they transition into partnerships with more media-based companies could be huge in comparison to their smaller and more narrow competitors. For example, Amazon has plans to buy MGM (Molla & Kafka, 2021). This can be viewed as a way in which they’re positioning themselves for success because it allows for the constituents and stake holders of two very different industries to collide. However, MGM is heavily reliant on movie theaters being open which is certainly a gamble in today’s climate. Similarly, Apple expanded into the media realm after putting out the Apple TV which had strong ties with several streaming services and other tv networks. For a company like Apple who “doesn’t need Apple TV to be profitable” in order for them to be successful (Katz, 2021), this shows how their success in general does not necessarily equate to them positioning themselves for unique success in the media. Instead, their name allows them to just be successful in general.
Disney, who is almost always at the top of the success lists, continues to position themselves to be successful and is likely the best positioned going into 2022. According to the graph from Vox’s Recode, Disney is currently worth $321 billion along with 21st Century Fox and several other large media companies. Disney also has a 67% stake in Hulu which falls second behind Netflix for popular streaming services. One thing to note based on this graph is that Disney is the owner of all content driven media companies, while other large conglomerates are successful as distribution companies who then own content media companies. Despite their obvious success, Disney has been slowing down in terms of their growth for subscribers on Disney +. According to an article from CNBC, Disney’s growth in subscribers has slowed tremendously from 12.6 million new subscribers to now only 2.1 million (Sherman, 2021). When looking at what is causing this decline in growth, it can be argued that people are ditching Disney + for a more diverse streaming service like Netflix. However, my prediction is that Disney’s involvement with a company as large as Hulu has contributed to the decline in growth for Disney + subscribers as they spread among platforms. This, in turn, benefits Disney as a whole but hurts Disney +.
The company who may face the most challenges in 2022 is Comcast. In a time where cord cutting has become normalized and where the traditional “linear TV is dying,” (Bisnoff, 2021) Comcast is one of the few who does not have a developed streaming service under their name. Peacock, a mildly successful streaming service below NBC Universal, does not offer enough leverage to position Comcast (as a parent company) to find success. Aside from this, Comcast’s main media companies are Universal Studios, NBC, and E! Undoubtedly Comcast is successful, but when it comes to positioning themselves to meet the demands of people in 2022, they’re traditional approach to media doesn’t make the cut. If people are cord cutting and no longer going to the movies, they will be in trouble. Media analyst Brian Weiser even says in regard to Comcast, “Spending on streaming is going to come at the expense of their traditional services” and “They will starve their legacy services for resources to find new business” (Weiser, 2021).
Works Cited Katz, B. (2021, November 4). Has Apple TV+ clawed its way out of the basement? Observer. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://observer.com/2021/11/apple-tv-plus-subscribers-growth-netflix-disney-plus-amazon-ted-lasso/#:~:text=A%20report%20from%20The%20Information,and%2020%20million%20paying%20customers
Sherman4949. (2021, November 11). Disney makes the trend clear: Growth is slowing for streaming services. CNBC. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html Bisnoff, J. (2021, May 13). The world's largest media companies 2021: Comcast and charter lead as streaming disruption looms. Forbes. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbisnoff/2021/05/13/the-worlds-largest-media-companies-2020-comcast-and-charter-lead-as-streaming-disruption-looms/
Molla, R., & Kafka, P. (2021, May 27). Here's who owns everything in Big Media today. Vox. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart
In recent times, the streaming of TV and movies has completely taken over societies and the media industry. We know the big six conglomerates, Comcast, Disney, AT&T, Viacom, Sony, and Fox. Then we watched Netflix, which does not even have a parent company, wipe out all of these conglomerates for most subscribers and revenue (Kline, 2022). The streaming industry has taken over so much so, that “companies are willing to shake up their 100-year-old legacy businesses (these old-fashioned things called movie studios) on the idea that streaming represents a better future, or at least one in which they remain relevant in a world of TikTok, video games and metaverses” (Faughnder, 2022). Faughnder is talking about Warner Bros here. Warner bros is cutting its theatrical output by nearly half, sending many of its movies directly to streaming this year (Faughnder, 2022). But as for which is best positioned to succeed in 2022, I think it is Disney+. The reason why I think Disney+ is best positioned to succeed in 2022 is because of their quality of content, and their already leveraged platform. According to Daniel Kline, and I agree, there is no other platform that steadily releases hits like Disney does. From classic hits like Suite Life of Zack and Cody, to new hits like Soul, anybody can find something they enjoy watching on Disney+. Not only this, but Disney+ is also rumored to release content from ESPN, ABC, and any cable network Disney owns in 2022, which will keep bringing in NEW subscribers because of the variety of quality content (Kline, 2022). The addition of ESPN will bring an entire new group of subscribers to Disney+, again, doing what Netflix can’t. Disney has so much room to grow still because it is such a massive company, whereas Netflix (already deemed top streaming site) is kind of at a standstill because it already has so many subscribers. Netflix is a provider of subscription streaming entertainment service, where Disney is a conglomerate and owns things like ABC, ESPN, and various cable networks, which is why I think it will be so much more successful in 2022.
I think the organization that will face the most challenges in 2022 is Warner Media, which includes HBOMax and Warner Bros. To start, the streaming industry is extremely competitive. With people binge-watching all kinds of different content for hours on end, the money spent on creating new content has to increase dramatically (Faughnder, 2022). Faughnder describes streaming content as “endless and unlimited”. So, for a media company that is a new relative leader of the streaming industry with HBOMax, they are going to have to spend a lot to create new content to become even more successful with streaming. As stated before, Warner Bros is ready to give up the formula that’s worked for them for years, which is in traditional media (Faughnder, 2022). They are cutting down the amount of theatrical content by almost half and the movies planned for theaters are only getting 45 days (Faughnder, 2022). Another challenge for Warner Media is that their already popular streaming service HBOMax is $15 a month, which is more expensive than its competitors, giving Warner Media more revenue, but it leaves potential subscribers not the happiest. I think Warner Media will face the most challenges because as a conglomerate, they don’t have the leverage some of these other streaming services do, and they are new to the list of leaders in the streaming industry and challenges automatically arise with being new to anything.
Faughnder, R. (2022, January 11). HBO Max is doing fine. but is streaming actually a good business? Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/newsletter/2022-01-11/hbo-max-is-doing-fine-but-is-streaming-actually-a-good-business-the-wide-shot
Kline, D. (2022, January 24). Netflix's problem isn't membership. it's what Disney has that it doesn't. TheStreet. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.thestreet.com/investing/netflix-has-a-content-problem-not-a-membership-problem Molla, R., & Kafka, P. (2018, January 23). Here's who owns everything in Big Media today. Vox. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart
With changes in the way media is consumed, it is an exciting and curious time to be in the media industry, let alone being a media giant. With such rapid developments in technology and consumer behavior, it is essential to be able to read trends for the future of the industry. The Capital Group’s Nathan Meyer made a few predictions for the future of media that I think can be applied to the upcoming year. These predictions include video games closing the gap with pay TV as the largest in-home entertainment market, the U.S. pay TV bundle subscribers will gradually fall, and video streaming rapidly grows into the primary form of movie and TV consumption. Based on these trend predictions I believe The Walt Disney Company (Disney) is best positioned to succeed in 2022, meanwhile, ViacomCBS will most likely have the most challenging year. The Walt Disney Company is a major media conglomerate that is the parent company of brands such as ABC, ESPN, Marvel, Pixar, Touchstone Pictures, and more. The company also owns streaming services; Disney+, which has approximately 118 million subscribers worldwide, Hulu subscription video on-demand and Hulu+Live Tv, which has a combined 43.7 million subscribers, and ESPN+, which has 17.1 million subscribers worldwide, (Sherman & Subin, 2021). Just from these two factors we can see that Disney has one foot in pay TV programs as well as one in streaming, and appears to be successful in both realms. Along with these factors, Disney also has recently had a video game renaissance. The company’s Disney Interactive Studios, or formerly known as Buena Vista Software, was shut down in 2016. This allowed Disney to outsource and focus on their third party developers such as Electronic Arts, WB Games, Capcom, and more, (Contributors to Wikimedia projects, 2004). With all of these factors it is clear to see that based on the trend prediction that The Walt Disney Company is in the best position as a major media conglomerate to succeed in 2022.
Part 2 ViacomCBS has had a lackluster year in 2021, and I predict this will be repeated. According to Sherman and Subin, in the streaming world ViacomCBS owns Paramount+, Showtime, Noggin, and BET+, as well as PlutoTV. Although the number of platforms is impressive, the majority of them are rather niche. In 2021, ViacomCBS had more than 47 million global streaming services and over 54 million monthly average Pluto TV users, (Sherman & Subin, 2021). It appears, from a consumer perspective, that ViacomCBS’s most successful platforms are Paramount+, which is where many of their metrics come from including the majority of their overall streaming subscribers, (Sherman & Subin, 2021). And, although this platform has released many originals and interesting content, it cannot compete with the other streaming platforms. So, looking back to trend predictions outlined in the beginning, it is clear that the transition to streaming content, ViacomCBS seems to be falling behind the curve when compared to competitors. In terms of video game production, it is unclear ViacomCBS’s path, but one recognizable point is that in Jan. 2022 Microids, a French video game publisher, and ViacomCBS Consumer Products signed a deal to produce “three original games based on the globally recognized famous cat, Garfield,” (Claret & Gallopain, 2022). One last point about ViacomCBS possibly having a difficult year is their confirmation of selling their “legendary CBS Studio Center in California,” as well as their CBS’s original headquarters in Manhattan, (Kellaher, 2021). Although the company claims that they will still occupy stages and produce content, these transactions are cause for concern. So, to recap, ViacomCBS is tailing behind competitors in terms of streaming, video games, and possible issues creating content for both pay TV and streaming services, which puts them in a position to face the most challenges in 2022. But, The Walt Disney Company appears to have a handle on tackling the predicted trends.
Claret, A., & Gallopain, V. (2022, January 20). “MICROIDS INKS VIDEO GAME PUBLISHING AGREEMENT WITH VIACOMCBS CONSUMER PRODUCTS TO PRODUCE 3 NEW GAMES BASED ON ICONIC CAT, GARFIELD” - Games Press. Games Press: The Resource for Games Journalists. https://www.gamespress.com/tr/MICROIDS-INKS-VIDEO-GAME-PUBLISHING-AGREEMENT-WITH-VIACOMCBS-CONSUMER- Contributors to Wikimedia projects. (2004, November 14). Disney Interactive Studios - Wikipedia. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_Interactive_Studios Hayes, D. (2021, November 17). ViacomCBS Claims Paramount+ Had Its “Most Successful Week Ever”, Adding 1M Subscribers; No Other Stats Given – Deadline. Deadline; Deadline. https://deadline.com/2021/11/viacomcbs-paramount-plus-streaming-week-million-subscribers-clifford-1234876338/ Kellaher, C. (2021, November 30). ViacomCBS to Sell CBS Studio Center For $1.85 Billion >VIAC - MarketWatch. MarketWatch; MarketWatch. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/viacomcbs-to-sell-cbs-studio-center-for-1-85-billion-viac-271638282249 Sherman, A., & Subin, S. (2021, November 10). Disney+, Netflix, and other streaming services: Subs, ARPU, Q3 2021. CNBC; CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html
Olivia Kettell 1/2 In the past two years, the way we watch TV has been completely revolutionized with the advent of many new streaming services, all with their own strategy for content creation and distribution and their own libraries of franchises to base new original content off of. Although we know Netflix as the most standard streaming service and the one that has been around the longest, its new competitors are finally starting to catch up and its large presence in the market is beginning to dwindle. Most recently, the company released a statement to its shareholders cautioning that the predicted subscriber growth would decrease to about half of what it was last year in 2021 (Adalian). Meanwhile, smaller companies are seeing growth that is likely being taken out of Netflix’s share. Apple TV+ is an example of a less competitive platform that has been seeing recent milestones in growth despite being released around two years ago. It’s clear that the abundance of streaming services now available is finally causing us to see effects on larger and longtime players like Netflix.
Netflix recently announced its Q4 2021 earnings, which were almost as predicted for the quarter. However, the company predicted that for the beginning of this year the subscriber growth would likely amount to just half of what was seen in the first quarter of 2021 (Adalian). Compared to other companies, like Disney+ for example, Netflix releases over 100 new shows and movies each quarter, and does so rather silently, whereas Disney has only a handful of new content each month or so and makes it like a big event. Disney also has many previously popular franchises to pull from, like Star Wars or Marvel, and it knows that any spinoffs will be a sure hit. Netflix takes a risk with any new content it puts out (Kline). Additionally, in 2020 the global demand for Netflix original shows amounted to 55% but most recently last quarter it dropped ten points to just 45%. To boost revenue, Netflix increased its monthly subscription price in the US to $15.49 a month, making it the most expensive streaming service, with HBO Max coming in second at fifty cents cheaper (Lee). Overall, Netflix still has the largest market share of 25%, but last year its share continually lost points to up-and-coming players like HBO Max and Paramount+ (Esposito).
Olivia Kettell 2/2 Conversely, an example of a company playing the long game that has begun to see its efforts pay off is Apple TV+. Unlike Netflix, Apple doesn’t have much to lose with its streaming service because it has revenue coming in from additional sources and not just its subscribers. However, its original content like Ted Lasso and The Morning Show have drawn in more and more viewers – with Ted Lasso’s second season even coming in at #5 on Nielsen’s Originals list (Katz). Apple TV+’s model is different from Netflix and other services, but has been growing the most out of its competitors in the past year. Apple TV+ houses a “careful curation of quality” content, not “endless seas of content” like its competitors, which draws in new subscribers (Katz). Additionally, the company had the advantage of marketing a free year of the subscription with the purchase of an Apple product, which resulted in 75% of new Apple TV+ paid subscriptions, and also gave Apple TV+ the highest percentage of gross subscriber additions in Q3 2021, with 26% (Katz). Apple TV+ is relatively small now, with just a 5% market share, but has been showing silent and steady growth. The company is not as interested in competition with the larger players, but is focused on long-term growth and the “long game approach” which is proving successful (Katz). In the future, Apple plans to take inspiration from Disney and has purchased franchises such as Godzilla to pull original content from in the future (Esposito).
Works Cited Adalian, Josef. “The Great Netflix Panic of '22.” Vulture, Vulture, 28 Jan. 2022, https://www.vulture.com/2022/01/netflix-panic-of-22.html?utm_source=Sailthru&%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_campaign=Vulture+-+January+28%2C+2022&%3Butm_term=Subscription+List+-+Vulture+%281+Year%29. Espósito, Filipe. “Apple TV+ Market Share Grows in the US While Netflix Loses Ground to Its Competitors.” 9to5Mac, 25 Jan. 2022, https://9to5mac.com/2022/01/24/apple-tv-market-share-grows-in-the-us-while-netflix-loses-ground-to-its-competitors/. Katz, Brandon. “Has Apple TV+ Clawed Its Way out of the Basement?” Observer, Observer, 4 Nov. 2021, https://observer.com/2021/11/apple-tv-plus-subscribers-growth-netflix-disney-plus-amazon-ted-lasso/#:~:text=A%20report%20from%20The%20Information,and%2020%20million%20paying%20customers. Kline, Daniel. “Netflix's Problem Isn't Membership. It's What Disney Has That It Doesn't.” TheStreet, TheStreet, 24 Jan. 2022, https://www.thestreet.com/investing/netflix-has-a-content-problem-not-a-membership-problem. Lee, Wendy. “Netflix's Subscriber Growth Slows as Streaming Rivals Challenge Its Market Share.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 20 Jan. 2022, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2022-01-20/netflix-fourth-quarter-earnings-subscriber-growth.
Conglomerate media entertainment companies before the pandemic have changed the way we interact with content. Since being hit with Covid-19, media companies have flourished and grown in a multitude of ways in regards to new platforms being available and more shows at our fingertips. Growth and competition are starting to slow the innovation progress for these conglomerates. In the fourth fiscal quarter this past year, Disney was down 12.6 million subscribers added from the previous quarter (Sherman, 2021). Even though Disney is one of the most successful media conglomerates in the competition ring, they still struggled this past year with aspects referring to subscription growth.
Now that massive tech companies like Apple and Amazon have started offering entertainment services to their platforms, the stakes are only getting higher. With the industry becoming more crowded, In 2022, these companies need to spark innovation and position their content and financials at an advantage to differentiating from the competition (Molla, Kafka)
The four entertainment companies that are considered “too big to sell” are Amazon, Apple, Disney, and Netflix (Shaw). These companies hold Ownership over other smaller companies and contain an extensive history that sets them apart from their smaller competitors such as Viacom CBS, Comcast, and NBC Universal. Apple is currently opening a Los Angeles-based studio to expand programming opportunities they have as a company with Apple TV (Shaw). Amazon and Apple hold such a strong grip on the tech industry with their revenues being $1.6T and $2.1T (Molla, Kafka). Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV hold promise in regards to streaming when competing with companies like Disney and Netflix.
Things in the media industry are changing at a rapid pace. Currently, I believe major media conglomerate Disney is best positioned to succeed. With Disney’s revenue being $321B (Molla, Kafka) the company is reported to spend $33 billion on their programming next year which is more than their competition (Shaw). Disney’s ownership of content with a low subscription fee of $8.00 per month. Netflix releases approximately 100-125 new shows, movies, etc each quarter but they don’t necessarily benefit the companies viewership or subscription rates (Kline). Their entertainment choices occasionally spark controversy resulting in loss of subscribers.
Netflix’s fourth-quarter earnings predicted such a slow growth for the beginning of 2022 that their stock recently dropped 40 percent which is almost half of the company’s value. (Adalian). Since Netflix mostly operates and positions itself in the streaming industry, I believe it will face challenges in 2022. Yes, they will still compete with smaller media services, but unless Netflix diversifies their content like other media conglomerates, they most definitely run into some challenges. As the media industry becomes more crowded, Netflix needs to reposition itself and financially expand into other forms of entertainment to keep up.
Works Cited:
Kline, D. (2022, January 24). Netflix's problem isn't membership. it's what Disney has that it doesn't. TheStreet. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.thestreet.com/investing/netflix-has-a-content-problem-not-a-membership-problem
Molla, R., & Kafka, P. (2018, January 23). Here's who owns everything in Big Media today. Vox. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart
Sherman, Alex, and Samantha Subin (2021, November 10). Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services. CNBC. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html.
Adalian, Josef. (2022, January 28). The Great Netflix Panic of '22. Vulture. Retrieved January 31, 2022 from https://www.vulture.com/2022/01/netflix-panic-of-22.html?utm_source=Sailthru&%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_campaign=Vulture+-+January+28%2C+2022&%3Butm_term=Subscription+List+-+Vulture+%281+Year%29.
Shaw, Lucas. (2021, November 28). These Five Companies Are Big Enough to Run Hollywood. Bloomberg. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2021-11-28/these-five-companies-are-big-enough-to-run-hollywood.
The six largest media conglomerates as of 2020 are Comcast, Walt Disney, AT&T, ViacomCBS, Sony and Fox. All six clearly have an overwhelming presence in media and majority of all telecommunications is provided through these conglomerates. Disney, known for its Pixar and marvel films is a huge conglomerate, but I do not believe that it is the best positioned to succeed in 2022. However, ViacomCBS shows great promise, which is the result of two major conglomerates merging into one. With the assets of both companies, it allows the conglomerate more freedom to grow their streaming base. Why I believe that Disney will not be the best positioned is because although they are an established source of media, Disney Plus has had years to create a base and although their starting numbers were fantastic for their streaming service, Disney Plus, their subscriptions have tapered off tremendously now that people have seen what they have to offer. And apparently, what they have to offer is not worth the hype. During the pandemic Disney Plus skyrocketed and was one of the most successful streaming services, but although consumption of media habits are apparently here to stay, users are not going to stick around and pay for a service that does not fulfill their needs. (Lang. 2021) Essentially, with ViacomCBS merging into one conglomerate, it allows for Paramount Plus, one of the newest streaming services to create a platform, create and maintain their established brand, and learn from the mistakes of Disney. Ultimately, ViacomCBS has much more room to make a first impression, and Disney has already made their impression and failed to keep users engaged. Additionally, with paramount studios, this gives ViacomCBS the ability to create new and unique content that will appeal to a wider audience, rather than Disney, who has a much more specific audience to tend to. Ultimately, ViacomCBS is in an excellent position for growth over the next year.
Lang, B. (2021, March 18). Post-pandemic Hollywood: Why working in entertainment will never be the same. Variety. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://variety.com/2021/film/entertainment-industry/working-in-hollywood-after-covid-19-1234932406/ Levy, A. (2022, January 3). The Big 6 Media Companies. The Motley Fool. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.fool.com/investing/stock-market/market-sectors/communication/media-stocks/big-6/ Written by Jatinder Sidhu, W. (n.d.). 4 things to know about the future of media and entertainment. World Economic Forum. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/08/4-things-to-know-about-the-future-of-media-and-entertainment/
There are a handful of major conglomerates that make up the media industry today. Specifically, Comcast, Walt Disney, AT&T, ViaComCBS, Sony, and Fox are known as “The Big 6” (Levy). These six in particular are very large companies that own mostly all of the media we consume. Although these companies provide similar services and content, there are always going to be some that are more successful, and some that will face more challenges.
After looking further into the recent activity of these big media companies, I believe that Disney is best positioned to succeed in 2022. First off, when looking at the Media Landscape by Vox, it is evident that Disney has the largest market cap of $321 billion. This proves that the company as a whole is already prospering in the media industry, which is why I think Disney will be able to further ride out this success. The diagram also displays other impressive statistics such as, 100 million subscriptions for Disney+, being one of the most popular streaming platforms in the industry. But, this doesn’t come as a surprise to me because “Disney is home to some of the best known characters and brands around the world” (Levy). This goes to show how consumers will always purchase Disney products and services simply because of their devotion for Disney in itself. The various brands that Disney has acquired only adds to their success, and allows their content to almost always be a money maker in the box offices. For instance, Disney owns multiple film studios including Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm. Disney is also able to demand premium prices for their popular streaming services such as, Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. Disney is also able to capitalize through their cable networks like the ABC broadcast network and ESPN. Not even to mention the facy that Disney possesses multiple theme parks, cruise lines, and resorts that contribute to the company's overall undeniable and everlasting triumph in the media industry.
On the other hand, I think ViaComCBS will face the most challenges in 2022. It appears that ViaComCBS has been focusing a lot of their time promoting Paramount+, mainly because the industry as a whole is currently fixated on streaming services (Hayes). ViaComCBS has recently announced that Paramount+ had its “most successful week ever” since rebranding and launching last March. This headline might catch your eye as positive, but after diving deeper, it might not be the case. It turns out ViaComCBS has yet to really share specific numbers from their overall portfolio, according to Deadline. Their press release suggests that they have hit a “new record for total signups since its rebrand”, but withholds any actual numbers to support their statement (Hayes). This raises serious questions for ViaComCBS if they are not confident enough to share their data with the public, as well as their shareholders. Another factor contributing to hardships going forward is that ViaComCBS holds one of the smallest market caps at $28 billion as of May 2021. This is evident when looking at the Media Landscape provided by Vox. The fact of the matter being that Paramount+ is not quite as popular as other streaming platforms. Overall, ViaComCBS as a whole has to become more transparent and improve their services to adequately compete with the other major conglomerates within the media industry. With these points in mind, it is no doubt that ViaComCBS will be facing challenges this upcoming year.
Works Cited Levy, Adam. “The Big 6 Media Companies.” The Motley Fool, The Motley Fool, 3 Jan. 2022, https://www.fool.com/investing/stock-market/market-sectors/communication/media-stocks/big-6/. Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart.
After reading the articles and doing my own research, I came to conclude that the media conglomerate that seems the best positioned to succeed in 2022 is Disney. I based this decision on the overall well-being of the company in the past year and the predicted success of their streaming platform, Disney+. I personally feel a connection to Netflix as it was “the first” streaming service that everyone was using and a whole generation binged. When a whole generation is able to feel a connection to a platform or product, it could be a challenge to get them to change their habits. However, the addition of Disney+ was exciting and successful and I personally felt that I used Disney+ for the nostalgic feeling. As new competition arose, Netflix stayed on top for as long as it could. Netflix still remains number one in many categories such as subscribers and viewers. However, Disney has proven some serious competition for Netflix. In an online article, trend analysts forecast that by 2025, Disney+ will surpass Netflix and hit 284 million subscribers (Szalai, 2021). Disney as a conglomerate is has way more to offer viewers and customers than Netflix does. I can see Netflix struggling to be able to keep up with Disney as they practically take over the world of media in every category.
One of the biggest reasons I don’t believe Netflix will be more successful is due to the fact that Netflix lost nearly half of its value recently. The article from Vulture explains how “the market went into all-out panic mode” due to Netflix’s fourth-quarter earnings (Adalian, 2022). This highlights a huge red flag for Netflix and a huge opportunity for Disney in the near future. Disney as a conglomerate is has way more to offer viewers and customers than Netflix does (such as Hulu, Marvel, theme parks, and more). I think that Disney sees Netflix’s recent incident as an opportunity for them to takeover Netflix’s number one spot.
I believe that the media conglomerate that will face the most challenges in 2022 will be Comcast. Over the past two years, Comcast has faced millions of dollars in losses (Szalai, 2022). A large part of this is due to COVID-19 related expenses and losses such as delays in production and closure of theme parks. COVID-19 brought about struggles for every company and organization. However, some were able to survive better than others. Comcast is also secretive with their subscriber count as well as their average revenue per unit which could potentially mean their numbers are not good (Szalai, 2022). However, one aspect that Comcast has over other media conglomerates such as Netflix, is their theme parks that, after shutting down due to COVID-19, could potentially bring in a lot of earnings in the future. I think that in order to grow as a business and become a top competitor, Comcast is going to have to get creative in the year 2022 and stand out among the rest of the streaming services and media conglomerates.
Adalian, J. (2022, January 28). The Great Netflix Panic of '22. Vulture. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.vulture.com/2022/01/netflix-panic-of-22.html?utm_source=Sailthru&%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_campaign=Vulture+-+January+28%2C+2022&%3Butm_term=Subscription+List+-+Vulture+%281+Year%29
Szalai, G. (2021, October 13). Disney+ to surpass Netflix in 2025, hit 284m subscribers in 2026, analyst forecasts. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/disney-plus-surpass-netflix-2025-analyst-1235029497/ Szalai, G. (2022, January 27). NBCU's Peacock reaches 24.5m U.S. Monthly Active Accounts, quarterly loss hits $559M. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/peacock-nbcuniversal-subscribers-monthly-accounts-quarterlyloss-1234990017/
In today’s day in age there are a group of six major media corporations, commonly referred to as “The Big Six”, which essentially control and own the media landscape. Out of these six media superpowers, I believe that Disney is best suited to see success moving forward. This is for a handful of reasons, but most importantly the array of streaming platforms and services in their possession. Disney now owns outright or has stakes in a plethora of major media corporations and streaming services. This is largely due in part to their 321 billion dollar market cap, which is far and away the largest of the six competing conglomerates (Molla and Kafka, 2021). Some of the services that Disney has their hands on are ESPN, ABC, Hulu, Marvel, Lucasfilm, A&E, The History Channel, E!, etc. (Hallman, 2021). All of these corporations help Disney have a branch over every field of media from entertainment, sports, news and children's programming. This variety in content is what has helped Disney garner millions of viewers that are drawn to all different forms of media. The introduction of Disney’s streaming service Disney+, has been monumental in their success over the past couple years. The streaming service has shown its ability to compete with the likes of Netflix, Peacock, Paramount+, etc after providing content suitable for all age demographics. The addition of Marvel and Lucasfilm have only further propelled the success of Disney, given the fact that Star Wars and Marvel have two of the largest followings amongst film franchises. Although Disney has reaped its rewards from the introduction of Disney+, studies have begin to show a decrease in new subscribers to the platform. This can be seen through an excerpt from a CNBC article that reads “Disney announced added 2.1 million subscribers for its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Oct. 2. That’s down from 12.6 million added the previous quarter.” (Sherman, Subin, 2021). Although this may raise some concern, it still shows that the platform is actively getting new interactions, which cannot be said for other platforms who have begun to see record losses.
One company from the “Big Six” that I feel might be in trouble is Comcast. It seems that Comcast has many issues that must be attended to within their array of services. The conglomerate owns CNBC, NBC, Bravo and their exclusive streaming platform “Peacock”. Despite having ownership of these networks, Comcast has shown struggles to stay in the green from each fiscal quarter to the next. Data suggests that the media powerhouse’s growth is not just slowing, it is falling across the board. According to an article published by the Hollywood Reporter, “For the full year 2021, media unit results included an adjusted loss of $1.7 billion related to Peacock on $778 million in revenue. That compared to $118 million in revenue and an adjusted loss of $663 million in 2020.” (Szalai,2022). This excerpt shows the stark decline within Comcast’s sales and how hard the annual losses are amounting to. Turns out Comcast is relying heavily upon the re-opening of Universal Studios, which has helped in the attempt to level off the losses the corporation has suffered. While Comcast’s exclusive streaming service “Peacock” only has roughly 54 million subscribers, which is less than half of Disney+ and their 118 million paid monthly subscribers.
In conclusion, these two conglomerates have two very different situations. On one hand, Disney has a plethora of services, networks and other entities at their disposal. The Marvel and Star Wars (Lucasfilm) franchises are at the forefront of Disney’s revenue makers, along with the Disney+ streaming platform. On the flip side of the coin, Comcast has Peacock streaming service and several other networks. However, Peacock’s struggles have taken a huge hit, negating the increase in revenue from NBC network. Both parks have theme parks, Disney with Disney World/Land and Comcast with Universal Studios. The pandemic hurt both theme parks temporarily, but now they are re-opened at full capacity. The difference is that during the shutdown, Disney wasn’t as reliant on theme park revenue as Comcast was. All in all, these are some of the reasons why I see Disney continuing to thrive and why Comcast will struggle moving forward.
Works Cited: Hallman, Carly. “Every Company Disney Owns: A Map of Disney's Worldwide Assets.” TitleMax, 16 Dec. 2021, https://www.titlemax.com/discovery-center/money-finance/companies-disney-owns-worldwide/. Staff, T. H. R. (2022, January 3). The high highs (and lower lows) of Hollywood in 2021. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hollywood-2021-highs-and-lower-lows-1235062740/ Szalai, G. (2022, January 27). NBCU's Peacock reaches 24.5m U.S. Monthly Active Accounts, quarterly loss hits $559M. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/peacock-nbcuniversal-subscribers-monthly-accounts-quarterlyloss-1234990017/ Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart.
Erin Fennell
ReplyDelete2/1
MSS495 blog #1
Pt. 1
As of today, there are six media corporations that essentially own the media industry. Out of those six, I think Walt Disney is positioned the best to succeed this year due to its streaming platforms as well as other entities. Disney owns or has stakes in ABC, ESPN (80% stake), Touchstone Pictures, Marvel, Lucasfilm, A&E (50% equity holding with Hearst Corporation), The History Channel (50% equity holding with Hearst Corporation), Lifetime (50% equity holding with Hearst Corporation), Pixar, Hollywood Records, Vice Media (10% stake), Core Publishing (Tom, 2021). These corporations touch on major industries like sports, film, children, and family channels, and more; all of which give them continuous viewings from a variety of audiences. Going off that, Disney+ has become one of the more prominent streaming platforms, especially since its exclusive addition of Marvel films and original television shows. Since 2020, Disney+ has reached over 100 million subscribers, but since has had a slowing, but steady growth (Staff T.H.R, 2022). While this could be seen as a negative, I see it as a positive, showing a consistent and steady following and places Walt Disney better than other media conglomerates.
For example, Comcast, while owning entities such as Universal Studios, NBCuniversal, Peacock Productions, SNL Studio, CNBC and more (“What Companies Does Comcast Own”, 2022); the media giant’s growth is not just slowing but declining in all areas. According to an article by Hollywood Reporter, “Comcast's earnings report also highlights an adjusted loss of $1.7 billion related to the streamer for all of 2021 on $778 million in revenue, compared with a loss of $663 million on $118 million in revenue in 2020” (Szalai & Vlessing, 2021). Along with Comcast's overall decline, in terms of streaming, they are also lagging Disney. Comcast's primary streaming platform is Peacock, which only has 54 million users monthly and “[Comcast] reported high quarterly earnings for NBCU, despite a $363 million loss related to the streaming service” (Szalai & Vlessing, 2021). This shows a lack of consistency and a continuous decline in the platform, and therefore in Comcast.
Erin Fennell
DeletePt. 2
Overall, these two conglomerates differ the most when looking at what they own. When you compare the two outright and compare them to the other four media giants that own the industry, Disney is positioned the best to succeed, and Comcast will have the most to overcome. Disney having ownership of Marvel is what separates them from the rest. Marvel has been shown to continuously make films that people see, and break box office records. That, coupled with them being able to exclusively stream those films on Disney+, makes it so Peacock cannot truly compete in that field. Comcast also has extensive stakes and ownership in theme parks. This is where a large portion of revenue comes from. With the pandemic, the reopening of theme parks could prove to be a huge obstacle and could be hard to maintain (“What Companies Does Comcast Own”, 2022). Disney also has stakes and ownership in these parks, but they are not as reliant on them, since it seems they focus most on the entertainment industry and their ownership on Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, and the Disney Princesses (Tom, 2021).
Work cited
Staff, T. H. R. (2022, January 3). The high highs (and lower lows) of Hollywood in 2021. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hollywood-2021-highs-and-lower-lows-1235062740/
Szalai, G. (2022, January 27). NBCU's Peacock reaches 24.5m U.S. Monthly Active Accounts, quarterly loss hits $559M. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/peacock-nbcuniversal-subscribers-monthly-accounts-quarterlyloss-1234990017/
Tom. (2021, November 3). What Disney owns: An in-depth breakdown of Disney's assets. iFilmThings. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://ifilmthings.com/disney-owns/
What Companies Does Comcast Own 【in 2022. DATAROMA. (2022, January 1). Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://dataromas.com/what-companies-does-comcast-own/
Paul Logue
ReplyDeleteMSS Blog 1
February 1st, 2022
Part 1
Media has become such a huge part of many of our lives. When looking at media, it’s important to note that the majority of the media we consume comes from a handful of companies. These companies are commonly known as “The Big Six”. A prime example of this consolidation comes from Disney and all the entities they own. Disney has a market cap of 321 billion dollars, including now having a 67 percent stake in Hulu as well as ESPN+(Molla and Kafka). They have their hands on many different companies in the media space, covering many different aspects ranging from sports to movies. Many streaming services are still growing, but it appears the growth is topping off. Disney+ reports having 2.1 million new users, down from 12.6 million in the previous quarter. However, I still believe Disney still is in the best position for continued success above all other companies. In further reading, “Disney's streaming service Disney+ only launched 16 months ago, but it already has more than 100 million subscribers globally, a number it took Netflix 10 years to reach,” (Love Money Staff). Disney+ is already pretty close to catching Netflix considering it hasn’t been around as long. That gap has since closed since the writing of that article as well. Disney+ is well on it’s way to eclipsing that mark. Disney+ is only one aspect of Disney’s ventures like I mentioned before, they have hands in just about every industry. Disney parks, as well as live sports, weren’t operating at full capacity for some time. This resulted in lost revenue, especially for ESPN advertising revenue. Once this pandemic ends, Disney will come out on top again as they have already proven themselves in the industry. The possibilities are endless for them with sequels, prequels, and spin offs. It’s going to be a while before they run out of content to produce as they have whole cinematic universes such as Star Wars and Marvel. I believe Disney has set the bar and everyone else is just trying to catch up, like with Amazon purchasing MGM for 8.5 billion dollars (Molla and Kafka). They are hoping to use characters and brands to recreate old movies like Rocky and Pink Panther, just as Disney already has done.
Part 2
ReplyDeleteOne company I believe could be in trouble is Warner Media. In reading, it seems as though they have many issues to work out. One of those issues being pricing of HBO Max. The 14.99 price point has drawn some criticism as its twice the price of Disney+ and about the same as Netflix (James). Another issue with the service includes customer complaints about the glitches in the software. This is especially annoying as people want easy to use interfaces when looking for streaming platforms. In addition, the deal with Discovery faced significant backlash as well as review by regulatory agencies. Some complained that the move reversed 6 years of strategic change as they decided to release all of the movies simultaneously, hurting their reputation with filmmakers (Lyons). It’s clear Warner Media has some real big challenges ahead for them before they can reach Disney’s level.
References
James, Meg. “After a Turbulent Year, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar Touts HBO Max Gains.” Los Angeles Times.
Lyons, Kim. “AT&T CEO John Stankey Says It Was 'Time to Unleash' Warnermedia Assets.” The Verge, The Verge, 24 May 2021, https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/24/22451111/att-ceo-stankey-unleash-assets-warnermedia-discovery-hbo.
Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart.
Staff. “How Disney Has Taken over the World in the Past 50 Years.” Lovemoney, https://www.lovemoney.com/gallerylist/82821/how-disney-has-taken-over-the-world-in-the-past-50-years.
Jacob Resnick
ReplyDeleteDr. Burns
MSS 495
1 Feb 2022
As has been the case for nearly 100 years (an incomprehensible number at this point), Disney continues to steamroll its media conglomerate peers. While the gap is rapidly closing, with tech companies like Apple, Amazon, and Google threatening to disrupt the content landscape (Molla) — if they haven’t already — Disney appears to still be best positioned to succeed moving forward into 2022. What impresses me the most about Disney’s approach to dominating the media world is how dynamic its holdings are. Big-budget movie franchises? Marvel and 20th Century Studios, check. Wide-ranging sports coverage? ESPN, check. Streaming? Disney+ and Hulu, check. Traditional news? ABC, check. In an age where media trends change so quickly and dynamically, Disney putting its (very expensive) eggs in multiple baskets seems like the smartest approach.
It’s worth highlighting Disney+ in particular. Even though its growth has slowed as pandemic trends begin to neutralize (Sherman), its rapid ascent in just two years since launch has been nothing short of impressive. In fact, even in spite of Disney+’s slowing growth, analysts project it to surpass Netflix’s subscriber base in 2026 (Szalai). That trend may even be apparent now as Netflix’s stock fell under projections to begin 2022 (Spangler). Disney+’s bright future can be attributed to its unparalleled intellectual property library and relatively low-risk spending power (Kline). And in the end, Disney+ could take a hit and the Walt Disney Company would still survive off its diverse army of sub companies. All Netflix has is Netflix.
Jacob Resnick
DeleteDr. Burns
MSS 495
1 Feb 2022
I’d project WarnerMedia to face the most challenges in 2022. It starts with name recognition. Speaking from personal experiences, people my age don’t really turn up for CNN, HBO, and Discovery. Young people are the future consumers of these conglomerates so it makes sense when Disney continues to target that age range while also appealing to its established base. WarnerMedia puts a lot of money into the Turner family of networks, which simply isn’t sustainable. Since 2011, TNT has seen a 53 percent decrease in viewership and TBS has dropped by 36 percent (Adgate). Cable subscriptions aren’t coming back, so it remains to be seen what WarnerMedia will get out of their investment going forward. Even its movie studio holdings pale in comparison to what Disney offers. WarnerMedia operates the DC Comics films which haven’t come close to competing with Disney’s Marvel films. As of April 2021, the top seven highest grossing films between the two studios came courtesy of Marvel (Marvel).
Barring something unforeseen, all media conglomerates are going to come out on top in 2022. They invest and make too much money and have smart enough people working for them to avoid the catastrophic. But that doesn’t mean that these companies can’t separate themselves from the pack through savvy decision making and expert forecasting techniques.
Works Cited
Adgate, Brad. “As Media Companies Focus on Streaming, the Audience of Their Cable Networks Continue to Drop.” Forbes, 6 Jan. 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2022/01/05/as-media-conglomerates-focus-on-streaming-the-audience-of-their-cable-networks-continue-to-drop/?sh=6b6d125f7a84.
Kline, Daniel. “Netflix's Problem Isn't Membership. It's What Disney Has That It Doesn't.” TheStreet, 24 Jan. 2022, https://www.thestreet.com/investing/netflix-has-a-content-problem-not-a-membership-problem.
“Marvel vs DC Films: A Visual Analysis.” Thinking Machines Data Science, Inc., 26 Apr. 2021, https://stories.thinkingmachin.es/marvel-vs-dc-films/.
Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart.
Sherman, Alex, and Samantha Subin. “Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services.” CNBC, 11 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html.
Spangler, Todd. “Netflix Falls Short of Q4 Subscriber Target, Stock Tumbles on Weak Forecast.” Variety, 26 Jan. 2022, https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/netflix-q4-2021-earnings-subscribers-1235158494/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7.
Szalai, Georg. “Disney+ to Surpass Netflix in 2025, Hit 284m Subscribers in 2026, Analyst Forecasts.” The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Oct. 2021, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/disney-plus-surpass-netflix-2025-analyst-1235029497/.
Corinna Caimi
ReplyDeleteDr. Burns
MSS 495
31 February 2021
There are six media conglomerates that currently own most of the media we see, those being Comcast, Walt Disney, AT&T, ViacomCBS, Sony, and Fox, but it would seem Disney is going to come out on top in the next few years.
Disney has been able to put themselves in the position where they have their hands in multiple different industries including major movie franchises, streaming, sports coverage, children’s programming, traditional news and more making them the best diversified and therefore most likely to succeed.
Even though their overall subscriber growth has slowed since the end of the COVID-19 lockdown, its overall growth since its original launch on November 12th of 2019 has been impressive enough that it seems their momentum will continue (Sherman). Disney+ in specific has one thing going for it that unfortunately for their competitors is never going to change: nostalgia. Their current library has fan favorites and childhood hits for an entire generation that generate rewatch value like no other content being produced by any other streaming service. In addition, their other services like ESPN, Marvel, and 20th Century Studios produce content that I just don’t see going out of style any time soon. Viewers are not suddenly going to stop watching sports, the entire massive Marvel fan base would take a lot to drive away and movies are always going to be a preferred form of entertainment for many, pandemic or otherwise.
On the other side, I think Warner Media could be in massive trouble and may be getting lost among other programs. Right now many are being driven to their streaming service, HBO Max, because of the hit series Euphoria… but who knows if they can create another massive success and if people will end their subscriptions once the show is over? Moreso, the expensive price point may be benefitting them in terms of profit, but it may still be decreasing the overall amount of subscribers (James). They had a rocky start in terms of technical glitches in the service, difficult to use interfaces, and pushback about their day-and-date releases of major films (Faughnder). Additionally, much of Warner Media relies on traditional forms of media like CNN, HBO, and Discovery (Molla, Kafka), and we know that Cable subscriptions are decreasing rapidly. In my opinion, Warner Media knows they have too much emphasis in a quickly dying form of TV viewership, but may have jumped in too quickly to the streaming game without putting their absolute best foot forward or checking the pros and cons.
Faughnder , Ryan. “HBO Max Is Doing Fine. but Is Streaming Actually a Good Business?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2022, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/newsletter/2022-01-11/hbo-max-is-doing-fine-but-is-streaming-actually-a-good-business-the-wide-shot.
James, Meg. “After a Turbulent Year, Warner Media CEO Jason Kilar Touts HBO Max Gains.” Los Angeles Times.
Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart.
Lachie Harvey pt. 1
ReplyDeleteAlmost every area within the media industry is already in a state where it is run exclusively by a very small group of huge companies. Giants like Disney, Apple and Comcast possess assets in multiple media fields and have huge profit margins from their streaming services, films and other endeavors. Yet still, I think there is an even larger company that is in an even better position than these, and this company is Amazon. The total value of all of Amazon’s stock in 2021 was $1,711 billion (statistia.com, 100 Largest Companies…). This total is the third highest media related total. It is slightly below Apple’s $2,252 billion (statista.com) and Microsoft’s $1,996 billion (statista.com). However, I believe that Amazon is still in a better position to succeed as a media platform than both of these companies, and every other media company, going forward.
Why do I believe this? Mostly, because of its streaming service Amazon Prime. The pandemic devastated almost every industry that wasn’t streaming, resulting in streaming booming during 2020 with signs showing they’ll continue to grow. Their projected growth from now until 2025 is second to only virtual reality (Sidhu, 2). Pair this with the whopping 175 million subscribers (Persaud, 12 Most Popular…) that the service has. This makes for quite a compelling argument to be the top of the media food chain moving forward.
Lachie Harvey pt.2
ReplyDeleteBut personally I believe there is more to this than just the numbers. First off they have an unfair advantage over all other media companies. This being that they are primarily a delivery company not a media producer. This means that even in times of hardship, they don’t have to rely on their streaming service as their only asset. Netflix on the other hand, the only company with more subscribers, is seeing a very sharp decline on it’s hold on the market. In 2019 it had 44% of the OTT media share in 2019 (Brumley, Netflix is losing…) as of 2022 this is down to 25% (Esposito, Apple TV+ Market…). Netflix is being strong armed out by the other services that have entered the game with a lot more to offer customers.
The only thing that can hinder them now is content. The key to finding success in television is to create content with an established audience. Disney+, HBO Max and Paramount all have the rights to media content with millions of established fans, Amazon does not. In order to completely secure their future, HBO Max should look to purchase the rights to create content for an established audience. For example, the video game series Dark Souls, which has sold over 27 million copies (Tolbert, Dark Souls Series…) is something that may be able to draw in an established audience and create a popular show for them.
Statista. (2021, September 10). Biggest Companies in the World by Market Cap 2020. Statista. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/263264/top-companies-in-the-world-by-market-capitalization/
Sindhu, J. (2021, August 17). 4 Things to Know About the Future of Media and Entertainment. World Economic Forum . Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet02-xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com
Persaud, C. (2021, November 21). 12 Most Popular Streaming TV Services, Ranked By Subscriber Numbers. ScreenRant. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://screenrant.com/ten-most-popular-streaming-services-ranked-subscriber-numbers/
Brumley, J. (2021, April 15). Netflix is Losing Market Share, But This is The Actual Risk to Shareholders. The Motley Fool. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/04/15/netflix-is-losing-market-share-but-thats-not-the-a/
Espósito, F. (2022, January 25). Apple TV+ Market Share Grows in The US While Netflix Loses Ground to its Competitors. 9to5Mac. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://9to5mac.com/2022/01/24/apple-tv-market-share-grows-in-the-us-while-netflix-loses-ground-to-its-competitors/
Tolbert, S. (2020, May 19). Dark Souls Series Crosses 27 Million Copies Sold. Windows Central. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.windowscentral.com/dark-souls-series-crosses-27-million-copies-sold
With the presence of Covid-19 brings unprecedented times, especially for many large media conglomerates who have faced challenges in the new world we are living in. Many of these companies have openly discussed their plans for the future when it comes to transitioning into different industries. Determining who is now best positioned to succeed will be based on predicting where companies will choose to expand and how they will spend their money to meet the needs of 2022.
ReplyDeleteA huge factor in this consideration comes also from the idea of non-media related giants beginning to own media companies and therefore, becoming potential media conglomerates. According to the article “Here’s Who Owns Everything in Media Today” from Vox’s Recode, “older media companies are trying to compete by consolidating” (Molla & Kafka, 2021). This is where the competition for who is most positioned for success becomes interesting. Well established and older companies such as Amazon and Apple are already leading the way in their respective industries and the impact that they could have as they transition into partnerships with more media-based companies could be huge in comparison to their smaller and more narrow competitors. For example, Amazon has plans to buy MGM (Molla & Kafka, 2021). This can be viewed as a way in which they’re positioning themselves for success because it allows for the constituents and stake holders of two very different industries to collide. However, MGM is heavily reliant on movie theaters being open which is certainly a gamble in today’s climate. Similarly, Apple expanded into the media realm after putting out the Apple TV which had strong ties with several streaming services and other tv networks. For a company like Apple who “doesn’t need Apple TV to be profitable” in order for them to be successful (Katz, 2021), this shows how their success in general does not necessarily equate to them positioning themselves for unique success in the media. Instead, their name allows them to just be successful in general.
Disney, who is almost always at the top of the success lists, continues to position themselves to be successful and is likely the best positioned going into 2022. According to the graph from Vox’s Recode, Disney is currently worth $321 billion along with 21st Century Fox and several other large media companies. Disney also has a 67% stake in Hulu which falls second behind Netflix for popular streaming services. One thing to note based on this graph is that Disney is the owner of all content driven media companies, while other large conglomerates are successful as distribution companies who then own content media companies. Despite their obvious success, Disney has been slowing down in terms of their growth for subscribers on Disney +. According to an article from CNBC, Disney’s growth in subscribers has slowed tremendously from 12.6 million new subscribers to now only 2.1 million (Sherman, 2021). When looking at what is causing this decline in growth, it can be argued that people are ditching Disney + for a more diverse streaming service like Netflix. However, my prediction is that Disney’s involvement with a company as large as Hulu has contributed to the decline in growth for Disney + subscribers as they spread among platforms. This, in turn, benefits Disney as a whole but hurts Disney +.
The company who may face the most challenges in 2022 is Comcast. In a time where cord cutting has become normalized and where the traditional “linear TV is dying,” (Bisnoff, 2021) Comcast is one of the few who does not have a developed streaming service under their name. Peacock, a mildly successful streaming service below NBC Universal, does not offer enough leverage to position Comcast (as a parent company) to find success. Aside from this, Comcast’s main media companies are Universal Studios, NBC, and E! Undoubtedly Comcast is successful, but when it comes to positioning themselves to meet the demands of people in 2022, they’re traditional approach to media doesn’t make the cut. If people are cord cutting and no longer going to the movies, they will be in trouble. Media analyst Brian Weiser even says in regard to Comcast, “Spending on streaming is going to come at the expense of their traditional services” and “They will starve their legacy services for resources to find new business” (Weiser, 2021).
ReplyDeleteWorks Cited
Katz, B. (2021, November 4). Has Apple TV+ clawed its way out of the basement? Observer. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://observer.com/2021/11/apple-tv-plus-subscribers-growth-netflix-disney-plus-amazon-ted-lasso/#:~:text=A%20report%20from%20The%20Information,and%2020%20million%20paying%20customers
Sherman4949. (2021, November 11). Disney makes the trend clear: Growth is slowing for streaming services. CNBC. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html
Bisnoff, J. (2021, May 13). The world's largest media companies 2021: Comcast and charter lead as streaming disruption looms. Forbes. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbisnoff/2021/05/13/the-worlds-largest-media-companies-2020-comcast-and-charter-lead-as-streaming-disruption-looms/
Molla, R., & Kafka, P. (2021, May 27). Here's who owns everything in Big Media today. Vox. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart
Julianna Kessel
ReplyDeleteBlog 1/31
Prof. Burns
Pt. 1
In recent times, the streaming of TV and movies has completely taken over societies and the media industry. We know the big six conglomerates, Comcast, Disney, AT&T, Viacom, Sony, and Fox. Then we watched Netflix, which does not even have a parent company, wipe out all of these conglomerates for most subscribers and revenue (Kline, 2022). The streaming industry has taken over so much so, that “companies are willing to shake up their 100-year-old legacy businesses (these old-fashioned things called movie studios) on the idea that streaming represents a better future, or at least one in which they remain relevant in a world of TikTok, video games and metaverses” (Faughnder, 2022). Faughnder is talking about Warner Bros here. Warner bros is cutting its theatrical output by nearly half, sending many of its movies directly to streaming this year (Faughnder, 2022). But as for which is best positioned to succeed in 2022, I think it is Disney+. The reason why I think Disney+ is best positioned to succeed in 2022 is because of their quality of content, and their already leveraged platform. According to Daniel Kline, and I agree, there is no other platform that steadily releases hits like Disney does. From classic hits like Suite Life of Zack and Cody, to new hits like Soul, anybody can find something they enjoy watching on Disney+. Not only this, but Disney+ is also rumored to release content from ESPN, ABC, and any cable network Disney owns in 2022, which will keep bringing in NEW subscribers because of the variety of quality content (Kline, 2022). The addition of ESPN will bring an entire new group of subscribers to Disney+, again, doing what Netflix can’t. Disney has so much room to grow still because it is such a massive company, whereas Netflix (already deemed top streaming site) is kind of at a standstill because it already has so many subscribers. Netflix is a provider of subscription streaming entertainment service, where Disney is a conglomerate and owns things like ABC, ESPN, and various cable networks, which is why I think it will be so much more successful in 2022.
Part 2
DeleteI think the organization that will face the most challenges in 2022 is Warner Media, which includes HBOMax and Warner Bros. To start, the streaming industry is extremely competitive. With people binge-watching all kinds of different content for hours on end, the money spent on creating new content has to increase dramatically (Faughnder, 2022). Faughnder describes streaming content as “endless and unlimited”. So, for a media company that is a new relative leader of the streaming industry with HBOMax, they are going to have to spend a lot to create new content to become even more successful with streaming. As stated before, Warner Bros is ready to give up the formula that’s worked for them for years, which is in traditional media (Faughnder, 2022). They are cutting down the amount of theatrical content by almost half and the movies planned for theaters are only getting 45 days (Faughnder, 2022). Another challenge for Warner Media is that their already popular streaming service HBOMax is $15 a month, which is more expensive than its competitors, giving Warner Media more revenue, but it leaves potential subscribers not the happiest. I think Warner Media will face the most challenges because as a conglomerate, they don’t have the leverage some of these other streaming services do, and they are new to the list of leaders in the streaming industry and challenges automatically arise with being new to anything.
Faughnder, R. (2022, January 11). HBO Max is doing fine. but is streaming actually a good business? Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/newsletter/2022-01-11/hbo-max-is-doing-fine-but-is-streaming-actually-a-good-business-the-wide-shot
Kline, D. (2022, January 24). Netflix's problem isn't membership. it's what Disney has that it doesn't. TheStreet. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.thestreet.com/investing/netflix-has-a-content-problem-not-a-membership-problem
Molla, R., & Kafka, P. (2018, January 23). Here's who owns everything in Big Media today. Vox. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart
Part 1
ReplyDeleteJennifer Greene
With changes in the way media is consumed, it is an exciting and curious time to be in the media industry, let alone being a media giant. With such rapid developments in technology and consumer behavior, it is essential to be able to read trends for the future of the industry. The Capital Group’s Nathan Meyer made a few predictions for the future of media that I think can be applied to the upcoming year. These predictions include video games closing the gap with pay TV as the largest in-home entertainment market, the U.S. pay TV bundle subscribers will gradually fall, and video streaming rapidly grows into the primary form of movie and TV consumption. Based on these trend predictions I believe The Walt Disney Company (Disney) is best positioned to succeed in 2022, meanwhile, ViacomCBS will most likely have the most challenging year.
The Walt Disney Company is a major media conglomerate that is the parent company of brands such as ABC, ESPN, Marvel, Pixar, Touchstone Pictures, and more. The company also owns streaming services; Disney+, which has approximately 118 million subscribers worldwide, Hulu subscription video on-demand and Hulu+Live Tv, which has a combined 43.7 million subscribers, and ESPN+, which has 17.1 million subscribers worldwide, (Sherman & Subin, 2021). Just from these two factors we can see that Disney has one foot in pay TV programs as well as one in streaming, and appears to be successful in both realms. Along with these factors, Disney also has recently had a video game renaissance. The company’s Disney Interactive Studios, or formerly known as Buena Vista Software, was shut down in 2016. This allowed Disney to outsource and focus on their third party developers such as Electronic Arts, WB Games, Capcom, and more, (Contributors to Wikimedia projects, 2004). With all of these factors it is clear to see that based on the trend prediction that The Walt Disney Company is in the best position as a major media conglomerate to succeed in 2022.
Part 2
DeleteViacomCBS has had a lackluster year in 2021, and I predict this will be repeated. According to Sherman and Subin, in the streaming world ViacomCBS owns Paramount+, Showtime, Noggin, and BET+, as well as PlutoTV. Although the number of platforms is impressive, the majority of them are rather niche. In 2021, ViacomCBS had more than 47 million global streaming services and over 54 million monthly average Pluto TV users, (Sherman & Subin, 2021). It appears, from a consumer perspective, that ViacomCBS’s most successful platforms are Paramount+, which is where many of their metrics come from including the majority of their overall streaming subscribers, (Sherman & Subin, 2021). And, although this platform has released many originals and interesting content, it cannot compete with the other streaming platforms. So, looking back to trend predictions outlined in the beginning, it is clear that the transition to streaming content, ViacomCBS seems to be falling behind the curve when compared to competitors. In terms of video game production, it is unclear ViacomCBS’s path, but one recognizable point is that in Jan. 2022 Microids, a French video game publisher, and ViacomCBS Consumer Products signed a deal to produce “three original games based on the globally recognized famous cat, Garfield,” (Claret & Gallopain, 2022). One last point about ViacomCBS possibly having a difficult year is their confirmation of selling their “legendary CBS Studio Center in California,” as well as their CBS’s original headquarters in Manhattan, (Kellaher, 2021). Although the company claims that they will still occupy stages and produce content, these transactions are cause for concern. So, to recap, ViacomCBS is tailing behind competitors in terms of streaming, video games, and possible issues creating content for both pay TV and streaming services, which puts them in a position to face the most challenges in 2022. But, The Walt Disney Company appears to have a handle on tackling the predicted trends.
Claret, A., & Gallopain, V. (2022, January 20). “MICROIDS INKS VIDEO GAME PUBLISHING AGREEMENT WITH VIACOMCBS CONSUMER PRODUCTS TO PRODUCE 3 NEW GAMES BASED ON ICONIC CAT, GARFIELD” - Games Press. Games Press: The Resource for Games Journalists. https://www.gamespress.com/tr/MICROIDS-INKS-VIDEO-GAME-PUBLISHING-AGREEMENT-WITH-VIACOMCBS-CONSUMER-
Contributors to Wikimedia projects. (2004, November 14). Disney Interactive Studios - Wikipedia. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_Interactive_Studios
Hayes, D. (2021, November 17). ViacomCBS Claims Paramount+ Had Its “Most Successful Week Ever”, Adding 1M Subscribers; No Other Stats Given – Deadline. Deadline; Deadline. https://deadline.com/2021/11/viacomcbs-paramount-plus-streaming-week-million-subscribers-clifford-1234876338/
Kellaher, C. (2021, November 30). ViacomCBS to Sell CBS Studio Center For $1.85 Billion >VIAC - MarketWatch. MarketWatch; MarketWatch. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/viacomcbs-to-sell-cbs-studio-center-for-1-85-billion-viac-271638282249
Sherman, A., & Subin, S. (2021, November 10). Disney+, Netflix, and other streaming services: Subs, ARPU, Q3 2021. CNBC; CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html
Olivia Kettell 1/2
ReplyDeleteIn the past two years, the way we watch TV has been completely revolutionized with the advent of many new streaming services, all with their own strategy for content creation and distribution and their own libraries of franchises to base new original content off of. Although we know Netflix as the most standard streaming service and the one that has been around the longest, its new competitors are finally starting to catch up and its large presence in the market is beginning to dwindle. Most recently, the company released a statement to its shareholders cautioning that the predicted subscriber growth would decrease to about half of what it was last year in 2021 (Adalian). Meanwhile, smaller companies are seeing growth that is likely being taken out of Netflix’s share. Apple TV+ is an example of a less competitive platform that has been seeing recent milestones in growth despite being released around two years ago. It’s clear that the abundance of streaming services now available is finally causing us to see effects on larger and longtime players like Netflix.
Netflix recently announced its Q4 2021 earnings, which were almost as predicted for the quarter. However, the company predicted that for the beginning of this year the subscriber growth would likely amount to just half of what was seen in the first quarter of 2021 (Adalian). Compared to other companies, like Disney+ for example, Netflix releases over 100 new shows and movies each quarter, and does so rather silently, whereas Disney has only a handful of new content each month or so and makes it like a big event. Disney also has many previously popular franchises to pull from, like Star Wars or Marvel, and it knows that any spinoffs will be a sure hit. Netflix takes a risk with any new content it puts out (Kline). Additionally, in 2020 the global demand for Netflix original shows amounted to 55% but most recently last quarter it dropped ten points to just 45%. To boost revenue, Netflix increased its monthly subscription price in the US to $15.49 a month, making it the most expensive streaming service, with HBO Max coming in second at fifty cents cheaper (Lee). Overall, Netflix still has the largest market share of 25%, but last year its share continually lost points to up-and-coming players like HBO Max and Paramount+ (Esposito).
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DeleteOlivia Kettell 2/2
DeleteConversely, an example of a company playing the long game that has begun to see its efforts pay off is Apple TV+. Unlike Netflix, Apple doesn’t have much to lose with its streaming service because it has revenue coming in from additional sources and not just its subscribers. However, its original content like Ted Lasso and The Morning Show have drawn in more and more viewers – with Ted Lasso’s second season even coming in at #5 on Nielsen’s Originals list (Katz). Apple TV+’s model is different from Netflix and other services, but has been growing the most out of its competitors in the past year. Apple TV+ houses a “careful curation of quality” content, not “endless seas of content” like its competitors, which draws in new subscribers (Katz). Additionally, the company had the advantage of marketing a free year of the subscription with the purchase of an Apple product, which resulted in 75% of new Apple TV+ paid subscriptions, and also gave Apple TV+ the highest percentage of gross subscriber additions in Q3 2021, with 26% (Katz). Apple TV+ is relatively small now, with just a 5% market share, but has been showing silent and steady growth. The company is not as interested in competition with the larger players, but is focused on long-term growth and the “long game approach” which is proving successful (Katz). In the future, Apple plans to take inspiration from Disney and has purchased franchises such as Godzilla to pull original content from in the future (Esposito).
Works Cited
Adalian, Josef. “The Great Netflix Panic of '22.” Vulture, Vulture, 28 Jan. 2022, https://www.vulture.com/2022/01/netflix-panic-of-22.html?utm_source=Sailthru&%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_campaign=Vulture+-+January+28%2C+2022&%3Butm_term=Subscription+List+-+Vulture+%281+Year%29.
Espósito, Filipe. “Apple TV+ Market Share Grows in the US While Netflix Loses Ground to Its Competitors.” 9to5Mac, 25 Jan. 2022, https://9to5mac.com/2022/01/24/apple-tv-market-share-grows-in-the-us-while-netflix-loses-ground-to-its-competitors/.
Katz, Brandon. “Has Apple TV+ Clawed Its Way out of the Basement?” Observer, Observer, 4 Nov. 2021, https://observer.com/2021/11/apple-tv-plus-subscribers-growth-netflix-disney-plus-amazon-ted-lasso/#:~:text=A%20report%20from%20The%20Information,and%2020%20million%20paying%20customers.
Kline, Daniel. “Netflix's Problem Isn't Membership. It's What Disney Has That It Doesn't.” TheStreet, TheStreet, 24 Jan. 2022, https://www.thestreet.com/investing/netflix-has-a-content-problem-not-a-membership-problem.
Lee, Wendy. “Netflix's Subscriber Growth Slows as Streaming Rivals Challenge Its Market Share.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 20 Jan. 2022, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2022-01-20/netflix-fourth-quarter-earnings-subscriber-growth.
Part 1
ReplyDeleteKaitlyn Reilly
Conglomerate media entertainment companies before the pandemic have changed the way we interact with content. Since being hit with Covid-19, media companies have flourished and grown in a multitude of ways in regards to new platforms being available and more shows at our fingertips. Growth and competition are starting to slow the innovation progress for these conglomerates. In the fourth fiscal quarter this past year, Disney was down 12.6 million subscribers added from the previous quarter (Sherman, 2021). Even though Disney is one of the most successful media conglomerates in the competition ring, they still struggled this past year with aspects referring to subscription growth.
Now that massive tech companies like Apple and Amazon have started offering entertainment services to their platforms, the stakes are only getting higher. With the industry becoming more crowded, In 2022, these companies need to spark innovation and position their content and financials at an advantage to differentiating from the competition (Molla, Kafka)
The four entertainment companies that are considered “too big to sell” are Amazon, Apple, Disney, and Netflix (Shaw). These companies hold Ownership over other smaller companies and contain an extensive history that sets them apart from their smaller competitors such as Viacom CBS, Comcast, and NBC Universal. Apple is currently opening a Los Angeles-based studio to expand programming opportunities they have as a company with Apple TV (Shaw). Amazon and Apple hold such a strong grip on the tech industry with their revenues being $1.6T and $2.1T (Molla, Kafka). Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV hold promise in regards to streaming when competing with companies like Disney and Netflix.
Things in the media industry are changing at a rapid pace. Currently, I believe major media conglomerate Disney is best positioned to succeed. With Disney’s revenue being $321B (Molla, Kafka) the company is reported to spend $33 billion on their programming next year which is more than their competition (Shaw). Disney’s ownership of content with a low subscription fee of $8.00 per month. Netflix releases approximately 100-125 new shows, movies, etc each quarter but they don’t necessarily benefit the companies viewership or subscription rates (Kline). Their entertainment choices occasionally spark controversy resulting in loss of subscribers.
Part 2
ReplyDeleteKaitlyn Reilly
Netflix’s fourth-quarter earnings predicted such a slow growth for the beginning of 2022 that their stock recently dropped 40 percent which is almost half of the company’s value. (Adalian). Since Netflix mostly operates and positions itself in the streaming industry, I believe it will face challenges in 2022. Yes, they will still compete with smaller media services, but unless Netflix diversifies their content like other media conglomerates, they most definitely run into some challenges. As the media industry becomes more crowded, Netflix needs to reposition itself and financially expand into other forms of entertainment to keep up.
Works Cited:
Kline, D. (2022, January 24). Netflix's problem isn't membership. it's what Disney has that it doesn't. TheStreet. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.thestreet.com/investing/netflix-has-a-content-problem-not-a-membership-problem
Molla, R., & Kafka, P. (2018, January 23). Here's who owns everything in Big Media today. Vox. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart
Sherman, Alex, and Samantha Subin (2021, November 10). Disney Makes the Trend Clear: Growth Is Slowing for Streaming Services. CNBC. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/disney-netflix-and-other-streaming-services-subs-arpu-q3-2021.html.
Adalian, Josef. (2022, January 28). The Great Netflix Panic of '22. Vulture. Retrieved January 31, 2022 from https://www.vulture.com/2022/01/netflix-panic-of-22.html?utm_source=Sailthru&%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_campaign=Vulture+-+January+28%2C+2022&%3Butm_term=Subscription+List+-+Vulture+%281+Year%29.
Shaw, Lucas. (2021, November 28). These Five Companies Are Big Enough to Run Hollywood. Bloomberg. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2021-11-28/these-five-companies-are-big-enough-to-run-hollywood.
Annie Morrison
ReplyDelete2/1
MSS 495
Blog #1
The six largest media conglomerates as of 2020 are Comcast, Walt Disney, AT&T, ViacomCBS, Sony and Fox. All six clearly have an overwhelming presence in media and majority of all telecommunications is provided through these conglomerates. Disney, known for its Pixar and marvel films is a huge conglomerate, but I do not believe that it is the best positioned to succeed in 2022. However, ViacomCBS shows great promise, which is the result of two major conglomerates merging into one. With the assets of both companies, it allows the conglomerate more freedom to grow their streaming base. Why I believe that Disney will not be the best positioned is because although they are an established source of media, Disney Plus has had years to create a base and although their starting numbers were fantastic for their streaming service, Disney Plus, their subscriptions have tapered off tremendously now that people have seen what they have to offer. And apparently, what they have to offer is not worth the hype. During the pandemic Disney Plus skyrocketed and was one of the most successful streaming services, but although consumption of media habits are apparently here to stay, users are not going to stick around and pay for a service that does not fulfill their needs. (Lang. 2021) Essentially, with ViacomCBS merging into one conglomerate, it allows for Paramount Plus, one of the newest streaming services to create a platform, create and maintain their established brand, and learn from the mistakes of Disney. Ultimately, ViacomCBS has much more room to make a first impression, and Disney has already made their impression and failed to keep users engaged. Additionally, with paramount studios, this gives ViacomCBS the ability to create new and unique content that will appeal to a wider audience, rather than Disney, who has a much more specific audience to tend to. Ultimately, ViacomCBS is in an excellent position for growth over the next year.
Lang, B. (2021, March 18). Post-pandemic Hollywood: Why working in entertainment will never be the same. Variety. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://variety.com/2021/film/entertainment-industry/working-in-hollywood-after-covid-19-1234932406/
Levy, A. (2022, January 3). The Big 6 Media Companies. The Motley Fool. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.fool.com/investing/stock-market/market-sectors/communication/media-stocks/big-6/
Written by Jatinder Sidhu, W. (n.d.). 4 things to know about the future of media and entertainment. World Economic Forum. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/08/4-things-to-know-about-the-future-of-media-and-entertainment/
Allison Kelleher
ReplyDeleteMSS495
1 February 2022
Blog 1
There are a handful of major conglomerates that make up the media industry today. Specifically, Comcast, Walt Disney, AT&T, ViaComCBS, Sony, and Fox are known as “The Big 6” (Levy). These six in particular are very large companies that own mostly all of the media we consume. Although these companies provide similar services and content, there are always going to be some that are more successful, and some that will face more challenges.
After looking further into the recent activity of these big media companies, I believe that Disney is best positioned to succeed in 2022. First off, when looking at the Media Landscape by Vox, it is evident that Disney has the largest market cap of $321 billion. This proves that the company as a whole is already prospering in the media industry, which is why I think Disney will be able to further ride out this success. The diagram also displays other impressive statistics such as, 100 million subscriptions for Disney+, being one of the most popular streaming platforms in the industry. But, this doesn’t come as a surprise to me because “Disney is home to some of the best known characters and brands around the world” (Levy). This goes to show how consumers will always purchase Disney products and services simply because of their devotion for Disney in itself. The various brands that Disney has acquired only adds to their success, and allows their content to almost always be a money maker in the box offices. For instance, Disney owns multiple film studios including Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm. Disney is also able to demand premium prices for their popular streaming services such as, Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. Disney is also able to capitalize through their cable networks like the ABC broadcast network and ESPN. Not even to mention the facy that Disney possesses multiple theme parks, cruise lines, and resorts that contribute to the company's overall undeniable and everlasting triumph in the media industry.
On the other hand, I think ViaComCBS will face the most challenges in 2022. It appears that ViaComCBS has been focusing a lot of their time promoting Paramount+, mainly because the industry as a whole is currently fixated on streaming services (Hayes). ViaComCBS has recently announced that Paramount+ had its “most successful week ever” since rebranding and launching last March. This headline might catch your eye as positive, but after diving deeper, it might not be the case. It turns out ViaComCBS has yet to really share specific numbers from their overall portfolio, according to Deadline. Their press release suggests that they have hit a “new record for total signups since its rebrand”, but withholds any actual numbers to support their statement (Hayes). This raises serious questions for ViaComCBS if they are not confident enough to share their data with the public, as well as their shareholders. Another factor contributing to hardships going forward is that ViaComCBS holds one of the smallest market caps at $28 billion as of May 2021. This is evident when looking at the Media Landscape provided by Vox. The fact of the matter being that Paramount+ is not quite as popular as other streaming platforms. Overall, ViaComCBS as a whole has to become more transparent and improve their services to adequately compete with the other major conglomerates within the media industry. With these points in mind, it is no doubt that ViaComCBS will be facing challenges this upcoming year.
DeleteWorks Cited
Levy, Adam. “The Big 6 Media Companies.” The Motley Fool, The Motley Fool, 3 Jan. 2022, https://www.fool.com/investing/stock-market/market-sectors/communication/media-stocks/big-6/.
Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart.
Kyra Moos
ReplyDeleteDr. Burns
MSS 495
1 February 2022
After reading the articles and doing my own research, I came to conclude that the media conglomerate that seems the best positioned to succeed in 2022 is Disney. I based this decision on the overall well-being of the company in the past year and the predicted success of their streaming platform, Disney+. I personally feel a connection to Netflix as it was “the first” streaming service that everyone was using and a whole generation binged. When a whole generation is able to feel a connection to a platform or product, it could be a challenge to get them to change their habits. However, the addition of Disney+ was exciting and successful and I personally felt that I used Disney+ for the nostalgic feeling. As new competition arose, Netflix stayed on top for as long as it could. Netflix still remains number one in many categories such as subscribers and viewers. However, Disney has proven some serious competition for Netflix. In an online article, trend analysts forecast that by 2025, Disney+ will surpass Netflix and hit 284 million subscribers (Szalai, 2021). Disney as a conglomerate is has way more to offer viewers and customers than Netflix does. I can see Netflix struggling to be able to keep up with Disney as they practically take over the world of media in every category.
One of the biggest reasons I don’t believe Netflix will be more successful is due to the fact that Netflix lost nearly half of its value recently. The article from Vulture explains how “the market went into all-out panic mode” due to Netflix’s fourth-quarter earnings (Adalian, 2022). This highlights a huge red flag for Netflix and a huge opportunity for Disney in the near future. Disney as a conglomerate is has way more to offer viewers and customers than Netflix does (such as Hulu, Marvel, theme parks, and more). I think that Disney sees Netflix’s recent incident as an opportunity for them to takeover Netflix’s number one spot.
Kyra Moos
DeletePart 2
I believe that the media conglomerate that will face the most challenges in 2022 will be Comcast. Over the past two years, Comcast has faced millions of dollars in losses (Szalai, 2022). A large part of this is due to COVID-19 related expenses and losses such as delays in production and closure of theme parks. COVID-19 brought about struggles for every company and organization. However, some were able to survive better than others. Comcast is also secretive with their subscriber count as well as their average revenue per unit which could potentially mean their numbers are not good (Szalai, 2022). However, one aspect that Comcast has over other media conglomerates such as Netflix, is their theme parks that, after shutting down due to COVID-19, could potentially bring in a lot of earnings in the future. I think that in order to grow as a business and become a top competitor, Comcast is going to have to get creative in the year 2022 and stand out among the rest of the streaming services and media conglomerates.
Adalian, J. (2022, January 28). The Great Netflix Panic of '22. Vulture. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.vulture.com/2022/01/netflix-panic-of-22.html?utm_source=Sailthru&%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_campaign=Vulture+-+January+28%2C+2022&%3Butm_term=Subscription+List+-+Vulture+%281+Year%29
Szalai, G. (2021, October 13). Disney+ to surpass Netflix in 2025, hit 284m subscribers in 2026, analyst forecasts. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/disney-plus-surpass-netflix-2025-analyst-1235029497/
Szalai, G. (2022, January 27). NBCU's Peacock reaches 24.5m U.S. Monthly Active Accounts, quarterly loss hits $559M. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/peacock-nbcuniversal-subscribers-monthly-accounts-quarterlyloss-1234990017/
Nick Federico
ReplyDeleteProfessor Burns
MSS 495
2/1/2022
Part 1
In today’s day in age there are a group of six major media corporations, commonly referred to as “The Big Six”, which essentially control and own the media landscape. Out of these six media superpowers, I believe that Disney is best suited to see success moving forward. This is for a handful of reasons, but most importantly the array of streaming platforms and services in their possession. Disney now owns outright or has stakes in a plethora of major media corporations and streaming services. This is largely due in part to their 321 billion dollar market cap, which is far and away the largest of the six competing conglomerates (Molla and Kafka, 2021). Some of the services that Disney has their hands on are ESPN, ABC, Hulu, Marvel, Lucasfilm, A&E, The History Channel, E!, etc. (Hallman, 2021). All of these corporations help Disney have a branch over every field of media from entertainment, sports, news and children's programming. This variety in content is what has helped Disney garner millions of viewers that are drawn to all different forms of media. The introduction of Disney’s streaming service Disney+, has been monumental in their success over the past couple years. The streaming service has shown its ability to compete with the likes of Netflix, Peacock, Paramount+, etc after providing content suitable for all age demographics. The addition of Marvel and Lucasfilm have only further propelled the success of Disney, given the fact that Star Wars and Marvel have two of the largest followings amongst film franchises. Although Disney has reaped its rewards from the introduction of Disney+, studies have begin to show a decrease in new subscribers to the platform. This can be seen through an excerpt from a CNBC article that reads “Disney announced added 2.1 million subscribers for its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Oct. 2. That’s down from 12.6 million added the previous quarter.” (Sherman, Subin, 2021). Although this may raise some concern, it still shows that the platform is actively getting new interactions, which cannot be said for other platforms who have begun to see record losses.
One company from the “Big Six” that I feel might be in trouble is Comcast. It seems that Comcast has many issues that must be attended to within their array of services. The conglomerate owns CNBC, NBC, Bravo and their exclusive streaming platform “Peacock”. Despite having ownership of these networks, Comcast has shown struggles to stay in the green from each fiscal quarter to the next. Data suggests that the media powerhouse’s growth is not just slowing, it is falling across the board. According to an article published by the Hollywood Reporter, “For the full year 2021, media unit results included an adjusted loss of $1.7 billion related to Peacock on $778 million in revenue. That compared to $118 million in revenue and an adjusted loss of $663 million in 2020.” (Szalai,2022). This excerpt shows the stark decline within Comcast’s sales and how hard the annual losses are amounting to. Turns out Comcast is relying heavily upon the re-opening of Universal Studios, which has helped in the attempt to level off the losses the corporation has suffered. While Comcast’s exclusive streaming service “Peacock” only has roughly 54 million subscribers, which is less than half of Disney+ and their 118 million paid monthly subscribers.
DeletePart 2
In conclusion, these two conglomerates have two very different situations. On one hand, Disney has a plethora of services, networks and other entities at their disposal. The Marvel and Star Wars (Lucasfilm) franchises are at the forefront of Disney’s revenue makers, along with the Disney+ streaming platform. On the flip side of the coin, Comcast has Peacock streaming service and several other networks. However, Peacock’s struggles have taken a huge hit, negating the increase in revenue from NBC network. Both parks have theme parks, Disney with Disney World/Land and Comcast with Universal Studios. The pandemic hurt both theme parks temporarily, but now they are re-opened at full capacity. The difference is that during the shutdown, Disney wasn’t as reliant on theme park revenue as Comcast was. All in all, these are some of the reasons why I see Disney continuing to thrive and why Comcast will struggle moving forward.
Works Cited:
Hallman, Carly. “Every Company Disney Owns: A Map of Disney's Worldwide Assets.” TitleMax, 16 Dec. 2021, https://www.titlemax.com/discovery-center/money-finance/companies-disney-owns-worldwide/.
Staff, T. H. R. (2022, January 3). The high highs (and lower lows) of Hollywood in 2021. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hollywood-2021-highs-and-lower-lows-1235062740/
Szalai, G. (2022, January 27). NBCU's Peacock reaches 24.5m U.S. Monthly Active Accounts, quarterly loss hits $559M. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/peacock-nbcuniversal-subscribers-monthly-accounts-quarterlyloss-1234990017/
Molla, Rani, and Peter Kafka. “Here's Who Owns Everything in Big Media Today.” Vox, Vox, 23 Jan. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/1/23/16905844/media-landscape-verizon-amazon-comcast-disney-fox-relationships-chart.