The Paid Video Renaissance Is Maturing
We are entering the next stage in which efficiency will be the word.
We still find ourselves in a paid video streaming renaissance. A significant amount of high-quality scripted content is available at our fingertips without the need for complicated contracts and subscriptions. However, it increasingly doesn’t feel like we are still in the golden age of streaming. The parade of sizeable price increases, combined with streamers leaning on tried-and-tested practices from the big cable bundle era, have removed some of the magic from the equation. Instead of this change boding poorly for the video streaming industry, it is more likely a sign of the video renaissance maturing. We are entering the next stage in which efficiency will be the word.
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The Year of Paid Video Streaming Price Hikes
Paid video streaming has provided analysts and pundits plenty to talk about in 2022. Competition has intensified as Disney goes after Netflix for the subscriber crown (Disney has already won). Wall Street also turned sour on most streamers, driven by the higher competition and concerns with business model sustainability.
Set within this change and chaos, there is one theme that ended up being quite reliable: subscription price hikes.
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Payment is processed and secured by Stripe. Apple Pay and other mobile payment options are accepted. Special bundle pricing is available for Above Avalon members.
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Streaming Video’s Ongoing Revolution
There continues to be something that I call the “iPhone mentality” in tech. A singular product or service is positioned as quickly transforming a market or industry. A byproduct of this thinking is the tendency for consensus to prematurely declare that first movers are winners.
Netflix was declared the winner in paid video streaming back in 2018.
Spotify was declared the winner in music streaming in 2015.
Tesla was declared the winner in electric vehicles in 2017.
In each example, a winner was declared before we even knew what it meant to win in that respective industry.
New data out from Nielsen suggests that streaming video remains in a different place than what consensus assumes.
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Receive Exclusive Essays. The cornerstone of an Inside Orchard subscription is access to Neil’s weekly essays on the latest developments in the technology industry. Weekly essays are 1,000 words and sent via email on Mondays. Essays revolve around the following topics: technology industry analysis, business model analysis, technology’s impact on societal and consumer trends. A sample essay can be viewed here.
Access Exclusive Private Podcast. Listen to Inside Orchard essays via an exclusive private podcast. After becoming a paid subscriber, all previously-published podcast episodes become available in your favorite podcast player. Podcast episodes never become available to the public.
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