The Streaming Wars are a case study in the impact of interest rates.
Pre-COVInflation, money was free so it was all about subscriber growth (the VC/SV playbook).
Free money train ends & it’s about becoming financially sustainable.
When the dust settles, the profitable will remain.
2 theories on why the Great Rebundling is coming:
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Netflix was the default, everything else (except Disney) felt like an experimental subscription for users
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TV ads are purchased by legacy advertisers and agencies. Streaming doesn’t match their status quo. Digital ads are purchased by the new school. Non-self-serve platforms doesn’t match their status quo.
Ad-supported streaming offshoots got caught in the ad revenue valley between digital and legacy advertising powerhouses while linear TV became less enticing for ad buys. Double whammy.
FT: ‘Shakeout has begun’ after $5bn streaming loss for Netflix rivals
The Great Rebundling is coming.
Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, Comcast & Paramount
face a reckoning in 2024 after losing more than $5bn in the past year from the streaming services they built
&
pressure to shrink or sell legacy businesses, scale back production and slash costs following billions in losses
&
a weak advertising market, declining television revenues and higher production costs
Netflix turned a profit and keeps chugging. Sometimes patience is the best strategy. (1st mover advantage never hurts)
Jon Loomer: Are Blogs Making a Comeback?
Social devalues links in favor of videos. Search engines are devolving into AI-powered answer engines. Email open rates are falling.
Channels are composting. While blogs may not be the traffic machines they used to be, they are still a home base you own and can distribute/syndicate your content from.
“The story of Ender’s Game is not this book, though it has that title emblazoned on it. The story is the one that you and I will construct together in your memory. If the story means anything to you at all, then when you remember it afterward, think of it, not as something I created, but rather as something that we made together.” | Orson Scott Card
Stories are made together indeed.