2017 saw two turning points in the video stream segment. At the beginning of the year, Amazon and Netflix together won three Oscars. This past week, the whole world was amazed to learn that Disney will soon be releasing all of its content from Netflix to launch a service launched in 2019.
These two events forced both the technology world and the content industry to rethink the role of streaming in the new age of entertainment.
In essence, Disney's walk was confusing but not unexpected. Disney owns a string of expensive franchises, from Star Wars, Marvel to dozens of "princesses" from popular films. Pixar is also owned by Disney, in addition to dozens of television series for children.But a major player in the content industry as Disney suddenly opened a self-service stream is almost never appeared. By comparison, Disney's move may be justified by Sony's acquisition of Columbia Pictures: Sony, meanwhile, has created a medium of transmission (tape recorder) and has been directly involved in the production of content.
But in the early 21st century, Sony suddenly encountered a shock called "iTunes". As the world entered the digital age along with the popularity of the iPod, Sony and all the other labels could not provide a convenient mp3 selling model. Apple launches iTunes and CDs are becoming increasingly outdated. A portion of the music sales from iTunes must be distributed to Apple, while direct revenue from physical media is on the decline.
The iTunes event has made the world a lesson: in the age of physical media giving way to digitization, if the content industry is not fast, it will be disadvantaged by technology firms.That is the lesson that the Disney empire is permeating. When the Netflix craze began, Disney would soon realize that the meager profits from each stream would not compensate for the huge amount of $ 20 Blu-ray Discs. But like Sony, Disney can not stand a new revolution: users really love stream services. If it's slow, Disney will be dependent on Netflix and Amazon.
And Disney decided not to go to Sony's fault. Mickey Mouse is not the first to make the right move: HBO has had HBO Go / Now since last year. Why do HBO have to spend tens of millions of views on every episode of Game of Thrones falling into the hands of Netflix or Amazon?
Essentially, Netflix and Amazon all understand that tomorrow's gloomy future will have to happen. For years, before Disney announced its ambitions, Netflix and Amazon have spent money on their own series of content. Both understand that depending on Hollywood is not the thing.The four Oscars in early 2017 are proof that the world's number one stream services have become real content leaders. Over the past several months, Netflix has been reducing the amount of content purchased from outside to increase its self-produced series. When Disney becomes a streaming service, Netflix will also launch a total war against Hollywood with House of Cards or Stranger Things.
An unpleasant scenario opens up to the viewer. Instead of enjoying the code or tricks of the tech world, where each competitor brings competitive advantages at a pleasing price, streaming viewers may have to spend a few dozen. USD per month to just watch the quality series of Netflix and Amazon, have just enjoyed the blockbuster movies from Marvel or Universal.
But that scenario is also inevitable. No one in Hollywood or Silicon Valley wants to suffer, and Steve Jobs taught them a painful lesson about the word "disadvantage".
