We are now in the middle of the streaming wars.
Unfortunately, this is now the end of the golden age of streaming. In every war, there has to be a loser. In this one, it is the customer.
This was not the case a decade ago. Yet, starting in 2019, everything changed.
Hence why the consumer is going to be drug through the muck before this gets resolved. Eventually, I believe this opens the door for Web3.
Let us take a look at what is going on.
A decade ago Netflix was king.
At that time, it was the only streaming service. It was buying content from other studios, providing them with a stream of revenues. It was also producing hits like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black.
In hindsight, the Netflix model was fool's gold. Nevertheless, the studios fell for it, with everyone deciding to get into the streaming game. If, after all, Netflix could clean up, what would entities that have 100 years worth of content do?
This was the viewpoint that they had.
Fast forward to now, the answer is simple: lose money.
Streaming has turned into a bottomless pit of money. Disney has spent over $10 billion so far and there is no end in sight as to what they are going to put into it. Profit is unlikely every to come.
The same is true for the others. Only Netflix is making money. In spite of not getting the top notch content like a decade ago, they still have the first mover advantage. They are also bringing out a few shows that do keep people coming back.
You wonder how long the executives at these companies will keep chasing this fantasy.
Anyone who is looking at this objectively is seeing how this is a bad deal for the consumer. The number of apps (and payments) one has to carry is getting insane. We are seeing monthly costs rivaling cable, something that was suppose to be eliminated by cutting the cord.
With so much money going out, you would think people are filled with choices. Sadly, the content itself is of poor quality. The major studios are not putting out the hit television shows. This is a major blow to their services.
In the end, one widespread recession and the cancellations will be across the board.
It is likely we see most of these studios toss in the towel within the next 5 years. While streaming isnt going away, it will likely only have one or two players at the end of the decade. It simply is not profitable going direct.
The major oasis in this could be web3. Here we have a new medium entirely emerging.
It is also likely the epicenter for advancement in technology and all the facet of artificial intelligence.
Content distribution is at the core of what is being discussed. The next leg will affect content creation What happens when feature length films are generated on a few laptops using software? This means that eyeballs could move further away from these traditional companies.
All of this is a major war. Whatever the genre, it is all merging.
Where are people spending their time?
Of course, there is one advantage that web3 can offer: incentivization.
The ability to tokenize a project opens up enormous opportunities. What if the viewers (fans) actually has a piece of the production? Could we tokenize these projects in such a way that viewers are stakeholders, increasing the chance they watch the film?
I believe it will happen.
So far, there is no experimentation in that area. However, we are seeing alternatives popping up all over the place. The first major player was YouTube. While that still have the lion's share of the social video market, we are also happening upon a time when other platforms are gaining traction.
All of this leads to further thinning of the consumer base. Content consumers are being presented with many choices. It ultimately comes down to where one is spending his or her time.
An hour away from traditional broadcast media and the major studios is an hour focused elsewhere.
The pay model is going to die. We are embarking upon a new paradigm. While it is difficult to see how it will be done, there is going to be a day when people are paid to consume the content.
Ultimately the value is in the eyeballs. At some point the consumer is going to say "pay me".
