What do you think is the most important trend that is cutting across all media industries and having the biggest impact on both professionals and users/consumers?
*Note: For the final blog posting, you must use at least one reading posted for this week in the “Tu 4/19” folder. Your other two sources can be assigned readings from any point in the semester. No additional outside article/source is required this week. Limit: 15 responses
Allison Kelleher
ReplyDeletePart 1
I think the most important trend that is cutting across all media industries is steaming. This is because streaming impacts the film, television, sports, and music industry. No matter the industry, streaming has a prominent role and has changed the original and traditional way of viewing, watching, and listening to entertainment. For instance, “the average number of video streaming service subscriptions per use has increased 51% in the U.S. since the beginning of 2019” (Faughnder). This is a huge jump for streaming platforms, and this is just including the film and television industries. When we take a look at the numbers in the music industry, they are just as impressive. For example, according to Musically, “At the end of 2021, Spotify had 406 million monthly active users, including 180 million premium subscribers and 226 million ad-supported listeners” (Dredge). This data proves that Spotify is the top of its competitors. Yet, it still goes to show just how many consumers are utilizing music streaming platforms, compared to traditional radio. Although the sports industry may be a little behind on dominating streaming, they are taking a slower approach but still have their foot in the door. This has to do with because sports is one of the only live content that still racks in views. As NFL Media COO Hans Schroeder says, "while digital is growing, the traditional TV ecosystem is still incredibly rich, incredibly deep, incredibly broad. We reach over 200 million people a year through television. We’re certainly excited about the opportunity that Disney is going to have to grow new platforms with our content, but the existing and traditional ones are still really big, even if they’re not growing like they once were, and there’s still a ton of our fans that we know look there first to get our games and our content.” (Weprin). This proves that sports are still profiting from a traditional broadcast set-up, but they are still slowly but surely transitioning with the way the industry is progressing towards streaming.
Allison Kelleher
DeletePart 2
Not only does streaming affect all media industries, but it also has the biggest impact on both professionals and consumers. First off, streaming has become very profitable for not only the companies, but the actors, artists, and athletes as well. Streaming has opened doors for more opportunities to put a large quantity of content out for users to consume at their leisure. Which brings me directly to my next point, how streaming is extremely beneficial for consumers as well. Streaming puts the power in the user’s hands, giving them the choice of what to watch or listen to at any time. Unlike traditional viewing where consumers would have to tune in at certain days and times to their favorite content. All in all, there is no doubt that streaming is the most important trend that is cutting across all media industries and has had the biggest impact on both professionals and users. It will be interesting to see what the future holds in regards to streaming services dominating these various media industries.
Works Cited
Faughnder, Ryan. “Want to Understand the State of Streaming Churn? Here Are Four Charts to Help.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2022, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/newsletter/2022-04-05/here-are-four-charts-that-explain-future-of-streaming-the-wide-shot#:~:text=Data%20analytics%20firm%20Antenna%20found,in%20the%20last%20six%20months.
Dredge, Stuart. How Many Users Do Spotify, Apple Music and Streaming Services Have?, https://musically.com/2022/02/03/spotify-apple-how-many-users-big-music-streaming-services/.
Weprin, Alex. “With $100B NFL Deal, TV Networks Keep One Foot in the Bundle and Another in Streaming.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Mar. 2021, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/nfl-tv-streaming-analysis-4153564/.
Elisa Leone
ReplyDeletePart 1
The most important and cutting-edge trend that is becoming extremely relevant across all media industries is streaming. Streaming can come in all different forms like streaming tv shows, movies, sports games, and music. Every media industry is directly affected by streaming. Streaming is the media industry’s biggest competitor in the long run. Disney+ is one of the biggest streaming services right behind Netflix. They are in a really good place right now but still want to expand and evolve to become the biggest streaming platform. They are implementing a new subscription plan for their users hoping to expand in size. The Hollywood Reporter states, “Disney’s reveal March 4 that it would launch a less expensive, advertising-supported tier of Disney+ spurred consternation from some Wall Street analysts, with firms like MoffettNathanson lowering their price targets for the entertainment giant” (Weprin, 2022). This is a great plan for Disney+ because they will be able to reach their target subscriber count projected for 2024 with this plan. They will be gaining money off the ads while still receiving revenue from the many subscription plans. Disney+ also has a bundle that users receive access to Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu all under the same subscription. By them doing this, it is promoting streaming more than ever and taking away from linear television. Almost every big-name channel or production company has switched to streaming because the younger generation primarily does not use linear television.
With mentioning ESPN+, the sports networks are also transitioning to streaming. I do think that sports games will continue to stay on linear television, but they are also slowly transitioning to streaming. Like I said earlier, Gen Z most likely does not have linear television so to watch sports games they will either legally or illegally stream them. ESPN did take a $100 billion offer for staying on linear tv for 11 years. The Hollywood Reporter states, “For the legacy entertainment companies that signed on: Disney, NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS, and Fox; the deal is both a long-term commitment to the declining pay-tv bundle and a bet on a future where viewers stream their sports, most likely through a direct-to-consumer offering” (Weprin, 2021). Since Disney, NBC, Viacom, and Fox are all on this contract, I believe that within a couple of years, one of their streaming services will begin to stream live NFL games. Another good idea is for the NFL to come out with their own streaming service and stream their live games. This is just another reason why streaming has impacted linear television negatively.
Elisa Leone
DeletePart 2
Lastly, streaming has impacted the music industry as well. Streaming has altered the way people consume and listen to music forever. Music streaming services offer hundreds of millions of songs from a ton of artists for either free or a fee. This enables users to access music at a rather cheap rate than many years ago. According to Music:)ally, “At the end of 2021, Spotify had 406 million monthly active users, including 180 million premium subscribers and 226 million ad-supported (i.e. free) listeners” (Music:)ally, 2022). When you pay for a streaming service and stream an artist’s song, the money mostly goes to the streaming service, the label then the artist. The artist is not getting as much money as you would think, which is not right. This is both impacting the artists who are the professionals and the consumers because you would think listening to your favorite artists’ songs on repeat would help them.
Work Cited
How many users do Spotify, Apple Music and streaming services have? (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://musically.com/2022/02/03/spotify-apple-how-many-users-big-music-streaming-services/
Weprin, A. (2021, March 19). With $100B NFL deal, TV networks keep one foot in the bundle and another in streaming. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/nfl-tv-streaming-analysis-4153564/
Weprin, A. (2022, March 9). Behind disney+'s ad pivot: A drive for streaming profits. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/disney-advertising-pivot-a-drive-for-streaming-profits-1235107252/
The biggest trend that is cutting across all media industries and having the biggest impact on professionals and consumers is social media. Though social media has been around for quite some time now, in its most recent years, social media has become a driving force for catapulting people into fame and making music, film, and television reach a new level of popularity. This can likely be explained by talking about TikTok, which really only became as popular as it is two years ago in 2020. Though most may say that the streaming industry is a new trend that will have the biggest impact, I believe that streaming would not survive without social media and the “viral” aspect of it. According to Bloomberg Newsletter, “The services aren’t just fighting to get people to shift from cable to the internet now. They are competing with one another for attention and share of wallet. That means services will thrive when they have a big new hit, but slow down when they don’t” (Shaw, 2022). This shows how streaming has now become a norm for those who consume this kind of media. The difference maker, as seen in this quote from the Bloomberg Newsletter, is which streaming service has a big new hit. All things considered; social media is the driving force nowadays for what makes a hit. Think of shows like Squid Games and how much leverage that gained. Without social media, would that show have made as big of a mark as it did? For them, social media is like word-of-mouth persuasion with an unlimited number of connections.
ReplyDeleteFor music, social media platforms have served as a liaison between the artists and their fans and has given artists a bigger chance at success with new music. According to Bloomberg, Spotify views the TikTok as a “funnel” and a way for Spotify to gain new users from TikTok as people begin listening on TikTok and finish on Spotify (Shaw, 2021). Social media has transitioned into a marketing tool that is necessary for the vast majority of people considered to have celebrity status. Aside from using it as a promotional tool, social media has transitioned into a way for celebrities to give their fans a glimpse of their personal lives and be “relatable” in some shape or form.
Social media not only plays a role in giving new shows or movies a chance to flourish, but it has also contributed heavily to making stars out of content creators. TikTok is the prime example of this. Charli D’Amelio is the first person that comes to many people’s minds when they think of people who became famous and successful through social media. As someone who started their career solely on TikTok, she is living proof of how social media is a media trend that is making a massive impact on Creators like Charli D’Amelio become so popular and successful, as fans become “emotionally invested in the creator” (Pisani and Francis, 2022). Ultimately, this is why social media is the most important trend cutting through all industries right now.
Not only does social media allow for creators to be transparent, promote their work, and garner interest from fans, but social media also allows fans to be in the driving seat when it comes to determining what music we should listen to, what movies to watch, and what shows to stream. I believe that without social media, there would be nothing “trending” or no “must watch” out there and I think it has definitely changed how media is consumed.
Works Cited
ReplyDeleteShaw, L. (n.d.). A Few Predictions – and Questions – for Hollywood in 2022. Bloomberg.com. Retrieved April 14, 2022, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-01-02/netflix-adds-sports-programming-disney-looks-overseas
Shaw, L. (n.d.). Spotify has a Gen Z Problem. Or is it an opportunity? Bloomberg.com. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2021-12-19/spotify-has-a-gen-z-problem-here-s-how-it-s-learning-from-tiktok
Pisani, J. (2022, January 14). These TikTok stars made more money than many of America's top CEOS. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 14, 2022, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/these-tiktok-stars-made-more-money-than-many-of-americas-top-ceos-11642078170?utm_id=46862&sfmc_id=4782528
Elias King
ReplyDeleteThe future of the media industry has been developing and changing over the last few years. The most important media trend that is cutting across all the media industries is streaming. Streaming has become a huge business and a lot of media companies are adopting the idea of streaming things. Consumers can stream a lot of media related things like music, film, television, and sports. Consumers are realizing that streaming media related things is really easy, and, in some ways, streaming is cheaper. According to the Latimes.com, “The video subscription business has gone through rapid growth in recent years, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and new services coming onto the market.” The video streaming service business has grown rapidly especially since the Covid 19 pandemic happened. People weren’t going out as much, so they were staying home with nothing to do. More people started signing up for video streaming services. People are realizing that they could also save a lot of money if they get rid of their cable service and just sign up for video streaming services. According to AdAge.com, “The Stream projects that half of all internet users will use free streaming services by 2024, and by 2026 revenue from ad-supported video on demand will triple 2021 levels, reaching $31.5 billion.” There is big business for the streaming services companies as they continue to see a rise in subscriptions. Video streaming companies are looking into have ad-supported platforms that allow ads to be played during the shows. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “announcing that Disney+ would get a cheaper, ad-supported tier later this year, with international markets to follow in 2023.” With Disney+ now making an ad supported tier for their consumers, they are joining other video streaming platforms like Peacock, Paramount+, Hulu and other companies.
The reason why they have created an ad-supported tier is because they want to make a cheaper option for their consumers to have when choosing a video streaming service. Streaming services will impact consumers in many ways, and I think it will affect them in a positive way. One of the reasons why streaming is good for consumers is because they get access to a lot of content all in one place. According to digitalcontentnext.org, “Boasting deep libraries of content, streaming are convenient and appealing entertainment resources.” Consumers want to be able access as much content as they can, and they want to do it easily. Prior to streaming, consumers couldn’t access that much content all in one place. Now with video streaming services and music streaming apps, it gives the consumer more power and control in what content they want to access. We will see the continued growth of the streaming over the next few years.
DeleteDawson, Karl. “Streaming into 2022: Key Trends Shaping the Future of TV.” Ad Age, 22 Feb. 2022, https://adage.com/article/media/5-key-trends-shaping-future-streaming-2022/2400866.
“The Market Is Flooded with Streaming Video. Are Customers Happy about It?” Digital Content Next, 10 July 2020, https://digitalcontentnext.org/blog/2020/07/14/the-market-is-flooded-with-streaming-options-but-are-consumers-satisfied/.
“Want to Understand the State of Streaming Churn? Here Are Four Charts to Help.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2022, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/newsletter/2022-04-05/here-are-four-charts-that-explain-future-of-streaming-the-wide-shot#:~:text=Data%20analytics%20firm%20Antenna%20found,in%20the%20last%20six%20months.
Weprin, Alex. “Behind Disney+'s Ad Pivot: A Drive for Streaming Profits.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Mar. 2022, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/disney-advertising-pivot-a-drive-for-streaming-profits-1235107252/.
Madison Bopp 1
ReplyDeleteAfter reflecting on several media related industries this semester, one trend caught my eye the most. The film industry has been facing unprecedented times with the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. The most important trend we need to scrutinize is the movie box offices. 2020 was the worst year for domestic and even international box office revenue. As the theatrical business struggled to recover from the COVID-19 crisis, box office revenue did rise to $4.5 billion in 2021 (McClintock, 2022a). The recovery for theaters continues to be a slow process as continuous hurdles are being thrown their way.
The main question on everyone's mind is will the movie industry ever bounce back? Essentially, in 2021 any movie studio that did release blockbusters in theaters lost money (Shaw, 2022). Shaw addressed that the only movie that did cross the $1 billion threshold was Spider-Man: No Way Home (2022) Hence, this film gave studios the confidence again that theaters may be making a comeback. Challenging times call for adversary and Spider-Man did just that. It is already one of the 20 biggest movies of all time even though it was released during a new COVID variant (Shaw, 2022).
One of the biggest impacts of the low box office rates would be on the professionals in the film industry. This includes movie producers, directors, actors and of course movie theater owners and operators. Chaos ensued throughout the film industry when Hollywood was shut down. A new strategy for the studios was to race to get their films in homes early. Beginning with Universal who struck landmark deals with theater owners to make the studio’s films available on premium VOD for $19.99 as early as 17 days after opening (McClintock, 2022b). Others followed including WarnerMedia, HBO Max, and Disney (McClintock, 2022b). The bar is now set for the type of movies that are actually worth it to make it to the big screen in theaters. 2022 is a crucial year to see what the future of film entails.
Additionally, consumers of films have been majorly impacted. There is a realization in the world that the film industry has been forever changed. This includes the way people consume movies. 2022 is an important year to bring all audiences, especially older moviegoers, back into the habit of seeing films on the big screen in a communal setting (McClintock, 2022b). The pandemic has caused many people to stay home and watch movies rather than going out to the movie theater. Consumers have realized the savings by not having to buy tickets, snacks and beverages and not worrying about transportation with the rising gas prices. There is hope that over time we will see more of these mature demographics returning to the cinemas (McClintock, 2022a). Personally, I still enjoy going to the theater because nothing beats the authentic theater experience. Unfortunately, people are suffering from the anxieties of the coronavirus that has presented a huge challenge for theaters worldwide.
Madison Bopp 2
DeleteAll in all, the trend of declining box office sales is extremely important and needs to be addressed more. It seems as if it is just a side thought that is not gaining that much attention at this time. People need to realize that the film industry is a part of many individuals' livelihoods. Specifically, movie theaters are suffering, and many have already closed their doors due to revenue loss. Change must happen to save the theaters where so many of us grew up watching our favorite films.
References:
McClintock, P. (2022a, January 1). Box Office ends year 60 percent behind 2019 with $4.5B domestically. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 17, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/2021-box-office-revenue-stormy-year-1235067966/
McClintock, P. (2022b, January 5). "It's a leaner, meaner business": Hollywood braces for volatile 2022 box office. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 17, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/box-office-2022-1235070014/
Shaw, L. (2022, January 2). A Few Predictions – and Questions – for Hollywood in 2022. Bloomberg.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-01-02/netflix-adds-sports-programming-disney-looks-overseas
Glenna Gobeil
ReplyDeleteAccording to Lucas Shaw from the Bloomberg newsletter, one of the most important trends cutting across all media industries is the threat of the availability of too many streaming services in the next couple of years. Earlier this semester, we were assigned to read an article from TechJury called “19 Cord Cutting Statistics and Trends in 2021” which shows that a significant number of people stopped paying for pay-tv. In fact, the article says that 90% of young people prefer to watch television through streaming services (Nick G.). This further shows that the future of television and film lies in the hands of streaming platforms as a way for audiences to access them.
According to Shaw, society has moved past the point of the war on streaming and has already begun to make the switch to watching media on digital platforms. The stage we are at right now is what he refers to as a “combat portion” where services are competing with one another for attention and share of the wallet (1). Therefore, this trend may impact merges of streaming services which in turn could affect the number of streaming services we will have in the future.
Merges are already happening in the streaming industry today. Jennifer Maas from Variety describes Discovery Plus’ plan to combine with HBO Max. Therefore this means that HBO Max and Discovery Plus will be one platform and work in a bundle until the two services can figure out the logistics of working as one service. One concern that Maas brings up in her article is the potential cost of the new platform (2). Because of the difference in cost for HBO Max and Discovery, the cost is still indefinite but could mean that may either cost more or less for consumers. Despite the higher cost for HBO Max, Ryan Faughder reports in “HBO Max is Doing Fine. But is Streaming Actually a Good Business?” that the streaming service has exceeded its predicted growth and was the most-downloaded streaming video entertainment app last year in the U.S. (1). Considering the success HBO Max has had in this past year, according to Ryan Faughder, I would assume that the new platform could cost more for consumers because more content is being added to the new platform. However, this brings into question whether or not subscribers should have to pay more for a merge that they did not ask for.
ReplyDeleteWorks Cited:
Faughdner, 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.
G., Nick. “19 Cord Cutting Statistics and Trends in 2022 [the Dusk of TV Is Here].” Techjury, 2021, https://techjury.net/blog/cord-cutting-statistics/#gref.
Maas, Jennifer. “HBO Max and Discovery Plus Will Be Combined Onto One Platform.” Variety, 14 Mar. 2022, https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/hbo-max-discovery-plus-combined-streaming-service-bundle1235204060/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7.
Shaw, Lucas. “A Few Predictions — and Questions — For Hollywood in the New Year.” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, 2 Jan. 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-01-02/netflix-adds-sports-programming-disney-looks-overseas.
ReplyDeleteAbigail Rica
I think the most important trend is streaming. Streaming is changing the way we watch TV, how we pay for TV and what we enjoy. Streaming is also very popular in vacation rentals. There are countless streaming services from Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and Apple TV. More and more users are using streaming and figuring out where their money should go. Certain streaming services have original content that many want to watch, and sign up for. Variety states, “ In 2021, on Netflix, “Criminal Minds,” the crime-drama procedural that aired on CBS from 2005-20,scored as the most- viewed TV show among U.S. streaming platforms tracked by Nielsen”(Spangler). This is a perfect example of this, a Netflix series that has done very well. People aren’t even watching big events in TV history anymore thanks to streaming, like The Oscars and Emmys. According to Variety, “ Without fail, the Academy Awards always winds up as one of the top 10 most watched telecasts of the year in primetime. Until 2021. In a stunner, the Oscars didn’t even make this year’s list of the entire top 100” (Schneider). Streaming has a huge impact on consumers of what's important to the user. Is it no ads or a low budget plan? It seems like streaming services now want to join forces and combine streaming services together. Such as Hulu and Disney+ and now there are even more. This one source states, “Discovery which is about to become Warner Bros. Discovery within the next month, when its merger with AT&T’s WarnerMedia closes, confirmed its plans to combine its current streaming service Discovery Plus and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max into one service, rather than offer the two platforms as a bundle”(Maas). Streaming has changed the way we watch TV forever. I think many households prefer streaming. Streaming also impacts music, movies and social media. For instance if a Netflix original has great music, then people will download that music. If many users download music then it helps companies like Spotify and Apple Music. Streaming also has changed movies. As movies, can be easily downloaded. It makes the perfect road trip essential. Even streaming changes social media. As fans can be more interactive with their favorite actor/actresses. I know from personal experience I follow a few of my favorite Netflix originals instagram. They know how to market well to their fans. As they post stories with whos your favorite character or what did you think of the new episode. Streaming is now the new normal and everyone is on board. From toddlers to grandparents streaming has totally taken over cable. It's almost like every opportunity to make a streaming service, some company has taken over. Everyone wants customers to subscribe and use their streaming platform.
Work cited
Maas, J. (2022, March 15). HBO Max and Discovery Plus will be combined into one platform. Retrieved April 18, 2022, from https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/hbo-max-discovery-plus-combined-streaming-service-bundle-1235204060/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7
Schneider, Michael. “Top 100 Telecasts of 2021: 'NCIS,' 'Yellowstone,' NFL Dominate, as Oscars Fail to Make the Cut.” Variety, Variety, 4 Feb. 2022, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/top-rated-shows-2021-ncis-yellowstone-squid-game-1235143671/.
Spangler, Todd. “Surprise! 'Criminal Minds' Was 2021's Most-Streamed TV Show in the U.S.” Variety, Variety, 28 Jan. 2022, https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/most-streamed-tv-shows-movies-2021-criminal-minds-1235159626/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7.
Olivia Kettell 1/2
ReplyDeleteWe all know that streaming has been shaking up the media industry and anything at all related, but the streaming industry itself is still figuring out the best approach to manage unchartered territory and intense competition. As streaming is attempting to get its footing in the world, it has its hand in everything from sports to movies to award shows, and the effects of this debacle are being seen in all those industries, all the way down to the viewers.
For example, binge-watching, a streaming staple, is increasingly disappearing from streaming services as they attempt to hold onto viewers, and bundling, very common in the cable world, is being used to increase subscribership for services as well. Viewers ultimately don’t subscribe to an overwhelming number of platforms at a time, so when something new and popular comes out many just decide to take on the commitment of a month or two’s subscription in order to watch something specific, and Netflix’s complete season drops make it super easy for viewers to subscribe and then leave. Additionally, bundling services like Disney does with Hulu and ESPN+ gives subscribers more options, making them less likely to unsubscribe (Want to Understand…). Another hurdle that streaming companies have to evaluate is the great theatrical release window dilemma of balancing box office profits as well as streaming numbers. This has implications not only for the production companies but also actors who can miss out on the revenue (HBO Max is Doing Fine…). Scarlett Johansson is a prime example for this; after Disney neglected the exclusive theatrical release in favor of a simultaneous pay-to-watch option on Disney+ she sued the company for a breach of contract (THR Staff).
As for those on the other side of the screen, streaming has complicated live events recently. The NFL is effectively touring almost every streaming service each week this upcoming season, with the legacy media companies securing the rights for their respective platforms but additionally Amazon Prime Video entering the race. Apple TV+ also secured Friday Night Baseball and many streaming services are picking up soccer. Since the NFL deal will last 11 years, it gives the league as well as TV time to adjust and decide the best approach for streaming and sports going forward (Weprin). It seems almost contradictory that live events, especially those that have been consistently the most watched on TV, will now be spread across streaming as well, but this change was perhaps inevitable.
Olivia Kettell 2/2
DeleteStreaming took off in a way that no one was prepared for or could predict, in my opinion, not even streaming companies themselves. This is not to say that they haven’t been successful – various platforms have garnered more than 100 million subscribers and some of their productions have earned major awards such as Emmys and Oscars. But while these companies are working out their own successes, they are dismantling other media institutions that we have known for a long time. Movie production companies have adjusted to the new theatrical window, or lack thereof, and while $100 billion is no detriment to the NFL, the sport’s viewers will have to settle into a routine to watch different games, based on what streaming services they subscribe to and perhaps for how long. Overall, streaming is changing the way professionals are putting out content and also how viewers are consuming it in an unprecedented way.
Works Cited
Faughdner, 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.
Faughdner, Ryan. “Want to Understand the State of Streaming Churn? Here Are Four Charts to Help.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2022, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/newsletter/2022-04-05/here-are-four-charts-that-explain-future-of-streaming-the-wide-shot#:~:text=Data%20analytics%20firm%20Antenna%20found,in%20the%20last%20six%20months.
THR Staff. “The High Highs (and Lower Lows) of Hollywood in 2021.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Jan. 2022, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hollywood-2021-highs-and-lower-lows-1235062740/.
Weprin, Alex. “With $100B NFL Deal, TV Networks Keep One Foot in the Bundle and Another in Streaming.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Mar. 2021, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/nfl-tv-streaming-analysis-4153564/.
Jody Gallinger
ReplyDeleteThere have been so many important trends cutting across all media industries that have had big impacts on both professionals and consumers. In my opinion, the most important one has been streaming. Over the past few years, we have seen an increasing trend of streaming services and cord cutting. Based on how it has been growing, it will only continue to get even bigger and possibly one day take over cable as we know it.
In 2021, nearly 30% of US consumers had planned to cut the cord. It has been mostly popular among young people aged 18-24. To give some context of how many people now prefer streaming, Comcast, the biggest cable TV provider has 22.1 million subscribers. Netflix had 209.67 million subscribers just in the first quarter of 2021. In the US, the number of paid TV subscriptions has dropped by 2.7 million in the past few years (Nick G. 2021). These number are crazy if you really think about how many more people are watching content through streaming services. Streaming services have been gaining popularity very fast. Disney Plus was first released in 2019 and within 6 months of its launch they gained 54.4 million followers (Nick G. 2021). Streaming services are doing things that cable cannot. The whole idea of Disney Plus was putting all the classic Disney shows and movies that everyone love in one place. Streaming is such a unique opportunity that has been on the rise in the recent years.
News networks are even considering transferring to streaming. Ever since 2020, news networks have seen a decrease in ratings because of how crazy their ratings were that year with Covid-19 and the presidential election. Because of this decrease in viewership, it has caused many news networks to turn to creating streaming services (Johnson 2021). Channels such as Fox News, CNN, and NBC News have created streaming services (Fox Nation, CNN+ which is prepping launch, and MSNBC) (Johnson 2021). Thinking about the news being on streaming services is a little strange to me. When I think of the news, I think of it being on live cable TV, not on its own streaming service. This also poses the question of which news network do you watch? Since they will probably all come out with their own streaming services, and no one will want to purchase subscriptions to all news networks.
Pt. 2
DeleteOne thing that streaming services have been doing to promote themselves is bundles. It allows viewers to get more shows for less money. For example, Disney is offering Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN+ all for $14 a month. Paramount Global is offering Paramount Plus and ShowTime for $11.99 a month (Faughnder 2022). This gives viewers the motivation to keep paying their subscription, since they are getting more content. These streaming services have also taken advantage of sports fans. Thursday night Football has been streaming on Amazon Prime and Premier League soccer has been streaming on Peacock (Faughnder 2022). This is very smart because it allows viewers to be exposed to other shows and content that is available on the streaming platform (Faughnder 2022).
Streaming subscriptions have increased by 51% since January 2019 (Faughnder 2022). That is an insane amount of growth in just 3 years. Streaming services are doing something new and innovative, something we have never seen before. It will just continue to grow and expose us to new content as the years go on.
Works Cited:
Faughnder , Ryan. “Want to Understand the State of Streaming Churn? Here Are Four Charts to Help.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2022, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/newsletter/2022-04-05/here-are-four-charts-that-explain-future-of-streaming-the-wide-shot#:~:text=Data%20analytics%20firm%20Antenna%20found,in%20the%20last%20six%20months.
G, Nick. “19 Cord Cutting Statistics and Trends in 2022 [the Dusk of TV Is Here].” Techjury, Techjury, 2021, https://techjury.net/blog/cord-cutting-statistics/#gref.
Johnson, Ted. “A Look Back at 2021: Cable News Viewership Dropped - and There May Be More Disruption to Come (Analysis).” Deadline, Deadline, 3 Jan. 2022, https://deadline.com/2021/12/cable-news-ratings-2021-fox-cnn-1234899789/.
Jennifer Greene
ReplyDeleteThe most rapid and ever-evolving trend we see in the media industry today is streaming. Streaming has progressed beyond imagination in the last 5 years in the film, television, and music industries, but growth is slowing. There are two main areas of concern facing streaming providers and they are subscriber acquisition and subscriber retention. According to Bloomberg’s newsletter, Screentime, the overall subscription rate for streaming services has tempered following huge growth accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, (Shaw, 2022). With slowing growth, retention of subscribers is growing concern for the streaming world. LA Times explains this dynamic as “churn” as the worry of subscriber retention is becoming just as important as subscriber acquisition, (Faughnder, 2022). Shaw further explains the issue with subscriber retention, and states, “[Streaming services] are competing with one another for attention and share of wallet. That means services will thrive when they have a big new hit, but slow down when they don’t,” (Shaw, 2022).
I do think it is important to note that there is still a major shift away from traditional television subscription. A TechJury post by Nick G. in November of 2021 explained that nearly 30% of US consumers plan to cut the cord in 2021, and the number of cord-cutters is predicted to reach 55.1 million by 2022 in the US. Based on these stats, we can infer that consumers who are cutting the cord are then moving to streaming services. So, it is clear that streaming services still has the upper hand when competing with traditional or cable TV, but how will they combat churn and subscriber acquisition?
Jennifer Greene 2/2
DeleteIn my opinion, the US market for streaming is completely oversaturated, so it seems that it is time to expand overseas, but I am not the only one who thinks so. Shaw also recommends market expansion and used Netflix as an example. Netflix has already expanded a bit overseas with almost 140 million subscribers outside the US, and competitors are following with early stages of strategies to open in foregin markets, (Shaw, 2021). If we look into streaming in the music industry, we can see that these foregin markets have huge audiences. For example, Tencent Music, a chinese firm that owns three different streaming services, had 636 million monthly active users by the end of September 2021, (Dredge, 2022). This demonstrates the large and ready to infiltrate markets overseas for streaming entertainment.
All this information leads me to believe that the largest trend we should expect is streaming expanding overseas in order to combat churn while gaining new subscribers. This will just be one of many strategies for streaming providers in an attempt to keep and gain subscribers.
Dredge, S. (n.d.). How many users do Spotify, Apple Music and streaming services have? Music Ally Is A Knowledge Company. Retrieved April 19, 2022, from https://musically.com/2022/02/03/spotify-apple-how-many-users-big-music-streaming-services/
Faughnder, R. (2022, April 5). Want to understand the state of streaming churn? Here are four charts to help - Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times; Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/newsletter/2022-04-05/here-are-four-charts-that-explain-future-of-streaming-the-wide-shot#:~:text=Data%20analytics%20firm%20Antenna%20found,in%20the%20last%20six%20months
G., N. (2021, November 1). 19 Cord Cutting Statistics and Trends in 2021 [The Dusk Of TV is Here]. TechJury. https://techjury.net/blog/cord-cutting-statistics/#gref
Shaw, L. (2022, January 2). A Few Predictions – and Questions – for Hollywood in 2022. Screentime; Bloomberg.
Kaitlyn Reilly
ReplyDeletePart 1
A trend that is cutting across all media industries and having the greatest impact on professionals and consumers is streaming. This course has touched upon the influence streaming has generated several times and how it's shifting industries into another direction of media consumption.
A big contributor to this trend has been the Covid-19 pandemic. Pandemic consumption habits are predicted to stay (Sidhu, 2021). Meaning that traditional TV, newspapers, magazines, and cinema will continue to coexist, but their expiration date might just be around the corner. The accessibility and convenience streaming provides users with are unmatched. There are still forms of entertainment on traditional television that give this side of entertainment consumption a leg up in the streaming wars. Although as more and more content is being switched onto streaming platforms/services, the future does not look bright for cable holders.
In the past year, only 56% of Americans watched satellite or cable TV (Nick G., 2021). Cord-cutting is a new consumer behavior where an individual decides they want to cancel their subscription cable packages. This seems to just be the beginning of the cord-cutting era since cable and satellite TV penetration is expected to fall by 26% by 2030 (Nick G., 2021). As multichannel video programming distributors increase and merge with others, it's hard to think about the driving reason that would still make consumers keep their cable subscription packages.
Even with streaming's massive strides made in the past couple of years, streaming services face difficulties as the market continues to expand. Content, rights, and mergers are consistent key factors between big streaming and legacy media companies. The most important driving factor of it all has now become consumer retention. Streaming has become a crowded market and each company is dropping billions on different programming incentives to attract new/old subscribers (Faughnder, 2022). With several platforms available to stream from with even better package price deals, canceling subscriptions has been easy. The monthly churn for streaming services has reached 5.2% and according to a survey done by Deloitte, 37% of people canceled a streaming subscription service in the last six months (Faughnder, 2022).
Kaitlyn Reilly
ReplyDeletePart 2
To combat this consumer behavior, services such as Disney have now included a bundle of Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ for $14.00 per month (Faughnder, 2022). Within this bundle, Disney offers upgrades but compared to other subscription streaming services available, this is an extremely good deal. Professionals of these companies now have to think on behalf of their streaming service and come up with ways that they can stand out amongst the masses of their competitors. Mini-bundles and packages of services have now become a way for consumers to get more access to shows and programs for less money (Faughnder, 2022).
From a consumer standpoint, there are several options of streaming platforms to decide from. The Covid-19 pandemic sped up the pace of streaming consumption but has also sped up the pace of our content desires and needs. There is no happy medium for all the content a consumer could desire to be on one platform. Normally, consumers have a couple of streaming services that they can bounce between content. Maybe an individual purchases ESPN+ for a couple of months to watch their favorite sports team but then once it's over cancels their subscription. This is precisely where retention rate struggles stem from.
Over the past couple of years, streaming has impacted professionals, consumers, and several other entertainment content networks. From a traditional television perspective, the switch to streaming is a decision that can no longer be avoided. On the contrary, subscriber churn is something streaming services can no longer avoid either. The battle between streaming and traditional television will continue for a decade or more. Ultimately it is consumer consumption behavior and societal factors that will determine who will win.
References:
Faughnder, Ryan (2022, April 5). Want to understand the state of streaming churn? Here are four charts to help. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 19, 2022, from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/newsletter/2022-04-05/here-are-four-charts-that-explain-future-of-streaming-the-wide-shot#:~:text=Data%20analytics%20firm%20Antenna%20found,in%20the%20last%20six%20months
G, Nick (2021, November 1). 19 Cord Cutting Statistics and Trends in 2021 [The Dusk Of TV Is Here]. Tech Jury. Retrieved April 19, 2022, from https://techjury.net/blog/cord-cutting-statistics/#gref
Sidhu, Jatinder (2021, August 17). 4 things to know about the future of media and entertainment. World Economic Forum. Retrieved April 19, 2022, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/08/4-things-to-know-about-the-future-of-media-and-entertainment/
Nicholas Federico
ReplyDeleteThe one trend that is most important and can be seen cutting across the entirety of the media landscape is streaming. This is due in large part because the rise of streaming has significantly impacted almost every facet of the media-sphere. Streaming has influenced changes in a plethora of areas, causing audiences' viewing habits and preferences to shift. Streaming now shows itself in a handful of forms, whether it be television series, movies, sports, music, etc. Hundreds of full-length television series are now offered on streaming platforms for audiences to consume. These streaming services also have plenty of hit movies within their catalogs, as many new movies also form partnerships where they will be released both in theaters but exclusively on a streamer as well. The days of having to travel to buy a physical CD or album at a brick and mortar store are long gone, as services like Apple Music and Spotify allow for the streaming of millions of songs and the curation of personlized playlists. Even sports, which is one of the lone factors keeping traditional cable television afloat, has begun to see change with the introduction of streaming. Fans can now access hundreds of out-of-market games through various platforms, when they used to be limited to those in their region.
One of the most successful competitors in the streaming landscape is the Disney+ service. This platform features a slew of older Disney television series, movies, animated short-films and new hit series. The platform has not only succeeded as a result of their brand name/loyalty. Although the latter definitely helps their cause, the Disney+ service has succeeded in large part because of their healthy balance in their catalog. The critique that many platforms face is that they often lean too heavily in favor of either films or television series. This is a problem that Disney has done a great job avoiding to this point. Many would assume that Disney+ is catered to specifically a younger demographic. Although the overall majority of users may be younger, the platform offers an abundance of media to consume that appeals to all ages. Disney+ offers a ton of older content that includes hit television series/movies, but they also include all of the Marvel and Star Wars universe. This is a major factor that helps them garner interest from viewers of many age demographics. This streaming service has managed to climb its way towards the top of the streaming service food chain, battling with the likes of Netflix, Hulu, Paramount+. One key talking point that should be addressed is Disney’s decision to push a tiered subscription option for the Disney+ platform that includes advertisements. The media powerhouse announced that despite originally shying away from the idea a few years back, the company will be introducing a different tier of Disney+ which will feature advertisements throughout the viewing experience. (Weprin). This makes it evident to audiences, that money does indeed play a motivating factor behind business decisions. Disney back in 2017 before Disney+ was created, said they would not sell advertisements to their customers. But as the platform has skyrocketed in popularity, the company sees the opportunity to capitalize on ad revenue for those who are willing to endure the commercial breaks in between episodes. The service “joins a crowded field of ad-supported streaming platforms, both subscription offerings like Paramount+, Peacock, Hulu and HBO Max…” (Weprin).
Moving on, the widespread impact of streaming is also on display in the world of sports. Sports is one of the last standing pillars that is holding up traditional cable television. Streaming has taken a massive toll on the linear television market, as countless hit shows and movies are available just a click away on these streaming services for just a fraction of the price. However, despite the loyal sports fans that still subscribe to traditional cable TV, many users have begun to either switch or show interest in alternatives to watching their favorite sports/teams. Platforms like ESPN+ now offer sports fans the ability to watch hundreds of different sports games from all sorts of different regions, which includes almost any sport you can think of (baseball, hockey, college athletics, tennis, golf, football, UFC, etc). These are all offered for a flat, monthly rate which is hundreds less than what customers would have to pay if they were using cable television packages. In an article from The Hollywood Reporter, it is noted how ESPN made the decision to sign an 11 year extension with traditional cable television. The article also goes on to address how other major media giants like NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS and Fox have also committed for the time being to remaining on cable TV, but have also laid their cards accordingly so that if the time comes they can easily transition to strictly streaming in the future. (Weprin)
DeleteThe last instance where we can see major influence in an area of media consumption, is the music industry. Music has been forever altered with streaming coming into the picture. Gone are the times where you would have to travel to a physical, brick&mortar store to purchase a CD or vinyl of an album. With the introduction of services like Apple Music and Spotify, users can now hand pick from millions of songs whenever they would like, and also have the ability to personally curate their own playlists. A staggering statistic that was found was that Spotify had 406 million monthly users, which included 180 million of those users paying for Spotify Premium (no ads), as of the final quarter of 2021. (Dredge). This information goes to show the vast amount of listeners who have carried over to streaming for their music. Even outlets like iTunes which is an Apple application, do not get as much traffic compared to Apple Music because one requires you to individually buy the songs/albums, while the other is streaming at a flat rate.
In conclusion, there is no denying that streaming has not only infiltrated the media landscape, but has essentially taken over in almost every facet. As the years go on, I can see this trend progressing more and more. However, I do think that in the near future, users will once again turn back to cable television as the cost of streaming will inevitably continue to rise until it is just as expensive.
Works Cited:
Weprin, Alex. “Behind Disney+'s Ad Pivot: A Drive for Streaming Profits.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Mar. 2022, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/disney-advertising-pivot-a-drive-for-streaming-profits-1235107252/.
Weprin, Alex. “With $100B NFL Deal, TV Networks Keep One Foot in the Bundle and Another in Streaming.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Mar. 2021, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/nfl-tv-streaming-analysis-4153564/.
Dredge, Stuart. How Many Users Do Spotify, Apple Music and Streaming Services Have?, https://musically.com/2022/02/03/spotify-apple-how-many-users-big-music-streaming-services/.