New York marketing professor Scott Galloway has predicted who will win the streaming war, and why. In his No Mercy/No Malice blog, the respected influencer made the most pertinent point yet on the future of streaming.
The winners of the streaming wars, as defined by which platforms add the most incremental stakeholder value, will be Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV+. Media has now become a customer acquisition vehicle, vs. a stand-alone business. So, the firms with the most seamless means of speedballing the media crack will win. The media business is now about phones, cruises, and paper towels.
Scott Galloway
Here’s a breakdown of that paragraph.
- Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV+ will win.
- They’ll win because their business isn’t about streaming content.
- Their other businesses put their content in front of people.
It seems the future of streaming is all about acquisition and convenience. When Netflix is spending $2.37 billion on marketing, and that expenditure is getting bigger yearly, it’s no surprise the services with captive audiences will come out on top.
The important numbers
Anyone who works in content knows that buying consumer attention is both a priority and a never-ending expense. This is where owning and controlling platforms become vital.
Amazon Prime Video:
- Amazon has 206 million monthly unique visitors in the United States alone.
- They have an installed base of 34 million Fire TV devices globally (as of May 2019).
- An estimated half of U.S. households will have Prime in 2019.
Apple TV+
- According to MacRumors Apple have 1.4 billion devices in use globally.
- Since 2016, people who subscribed to Apple Music have increased by 300% to 60 million.
- Apple TV+ is being given away for free in countless bundles; free makes it a bargain.
Disney+
- ESPN, ABC, Lifetime, A&E, The History Channel, Hollywood Records, and Core Publishing are all owned by Disney.
- Eight out of the top 10 most visited theme parks in the world are owned by Disney. That’s an estimated 157 million visitors yearly.
- Disney’s weakest revenue segment is direct-to-consumer (Disney+’s segment). Their networks and physical products make up more than two-thirds of their revenue.
Changing opinions
Despite Netflix winning the streaming battle this month, it is a losing war unless they can find new ways to get consumer attention. Their biggest problem is that analysts believe Netflix has hit peak numbers globally, so their battle is retaining attention against these new services. This is why their marketing budget will continue to explode.
Check out this content for more on the streaming war.
- Price of streaming Netflix and Disney+ to rise in the next five years
- Apple TV+ better for new content than Disney+
- HBO Max strategy questioned by billionaire media investor