Thursday, August 10, 2017

Streaming

Since we got rid of cable & satellite, our family watches a lot of stuff on streaming services. Primarily we use Netflix and Hulu, but also occasionally Amazon Prime and Crunchyroll. Recently, Disney announced that they are pulling out of their Netflix deal and starting their own streaming service. Unfortunately, I think this is a bad move.

CBS has already said that the only way to see Star Trek: Discovery (after the first episode) is on their own pay service. This has caused a lot of fans, myself included, to already decide not to watch it. While I have no problem with companies deciding what they think it best, they need to understand why the "Netflix Model" works so well. One work, variety.

There are very few streaming services that I would consider paying for that had such a narrow focus, and yes I consider Disney to be a narrow focus. I can watch a huge amount of things on the services that I use, some of which I can't see anywhere else. However, there are things on there that I'm not fond of, but that my wife and daughter love to watch. That variety makes it worth the monthly fee.

One way that Disney can make this work, for me at least, is to do what the WWE service does. Open the vaults. Give the viewers things that it is impossible to find elsewhere. Put the entire, unedited and uncensored, run of Disneyland and Wonderful World of Color on there. Put out those cartoons that we can't get on TV or YouTube. Heck, give us Song of the South and I'll sign up on the first day.

I think that the Walt Disney Company has had some great ideas and business strategies, but if they're just going to show their movies on this service, I don't think this is one of them. If they go the WWE way, it can be successful. If they follow CBS's idea, I think it will fail.

=========================
Like what I'm doing here on the blog and podcast? Why not check out my Patreon Page to see how you can help me do more? http://www.patreon.com/TheHammerStrikes

4 comments:

  1. My guess is they will also include ESPN content as well so they may be planning on sports revenue as well, both from consumers and from the leagues themselves for broadcast rights. I cut the cord to save money. Now with all these different single channel streaming...the pendulum is swinging in a way I don't like. TV is changing and evolving and I think companies aren't evolving with it and trying to stick to what they know best. Now am I complaining that they try to earn money? No of course not. But unless a bunch of companies take these streaming apps and merge...it's going to be so expensive that I think Cable will make a HUGE comeback and the cycle repeats itself. I think the whole exclusive content thing for channels that already have a major TV presence is a mistake as well. Discovery is a prime example of this. Nothing I've seen about this show is making me interested. It should be premiering on CBS and staying there and then go to streaming after the season wraps or even release episodes a couple weeks after airing. They're trying to do what Netflix does but again as you pointed out, Netflix isn't just about their own content but a MASSIVE variety of shows. As the song once said: The times...they are a'changing. We just need to figure out how to keep up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It looks like the ESPN content will be on a different service, so they won't even get that carry over. I know that Amazon has some tech that allows you to find what you want to watch on whatever service it's on, but that still requires you to subscribe to said service. I agree that cable/satellite will make a comeback once they're cheaper than X number of fractured streaming services.

      Delete
  2. I would like to see all those "old" Disney movies from the 80's!

    ReplyDelete