Fragmentation - Where to from here?

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tdgeek

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#248642 3-Apr-2019 19:26

I wish to include Sky here. While Sky is linear, it has OD, and also SkyGo, these days its about TV. It might be FTA TV or PayTV and not necessarily just On Demand (as per this Forum category)

Its about viewing

We have FTA, we have Sky which is linear paytv and OD, and we have SVOD.

Its all very very fragmented.

Where to from here?

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Networkn
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#2210324 3-Apr-2019 19:38

Mergers and Acquistions as there can be no way to sustain the costs related to running SVOD Content without large market share.

I forsee a few years of consumer unhappiness when consumers are forced to accept higher total price tag or less selection due to cost sensitivity, a drop shortly in amount of original content being provided, and in the longer term, as is cyclical, 2-3 big players in a "monopoly" position that consumers will all pile hate upon for restricting their viewing preferences.

And in the middle of this, steadily increasing fees per provider till the market can bear no more.

chevrolux

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#2210325 3-Apr-2019 19:38

I still download all my TV for this reasons.

I'm just not going to maintain three different accounts just to watch TV. Admittedly it's easier now to do with apps for the likes of LG TV, apple TV etc. You still can't keep a proper 'recently watched' or 'continue watching' list until you go in to the individual apps. It's all just annoying.

Download it, add to Plex, happy days.

ockel

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#2210326 3-Apr-2019 19:41

Good article in The Economist on exactly this. And the notion that 6 major players in the US/globally cant survive. War chests, content libraries, first-mover-advantage, etc etc. The Economist, which has a chequered history of predictions thinks 2 majors will be left at the end of the process.

https://www.economist.com/business/2019/03/30/disney-at-and-t-and-comcast-v-netflix-amazon-and-apple

The article is also available by syndication on the NBR.

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tdgeek

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#2210329 3-Apr-2019 19:53

ockel:

Good article in The Economist on exactly this. And the notion that 6 major players in the US/globally cant survive. War chests, content libraries, first-mover-advantage, etc etc. The Economist, which has a chequered history of predictions thinks 2 majors will be left at the end of the process.

https://www.economist.com/business/2019/03/30/disney-at-and-t-and-comcast-v-netflix-amazon-and-apple

The article is also available by syndication on the NBR.

The trick is, will we be paying 6 providers $20 each per month. Or just two at $60??

gzt

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#2210332 3-Apr-2019 19:57

One way to deal with this is a lower subscription price and a per item price that rapidly drops at the medium / high consumption end.

networkn

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#2210334 3-Apr-2019 20:00

gzt: One way to deal with this is a lower subscription price and a per item price that rapidly drops at the medium / high consumption end.

I think the minority of consumers would feel this way. People don't like to be nickle and dimed. It's a well studied topic. They would rather spend $50 a month and have everything, than $40 a month starting with a $20 base fee and $2 an item all the way to 40.

ockel

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#2210342 3-Apr-2019 20:12

There are now 300 streaming services in the US - this time last year it was something like 200. Its highly fragmented - and has many niche providers to address individual tastes.

Deloitte publishes a good media trends report each year - here is the link to the latest. https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/industry/technology/digital-media-trends-consumption-habits-survey/summary.html

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tdgeek

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#2210387 3-Apr-2019 21:31

ockel:

There are now 300 streaming services in the US - this time last year it was something like 200. Its highly fragmented - and has many niche providers to address individual tastes.

Deloitte publishes a good media trends report each year - here is the link to the latest. https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/industry/technology/digital-media-trends-consumption-habits-survey/summary.html

But what is mainstream fragmentation? Not "Hot Springs Docos from Arkansas". But the main big ones, plus significant minorities? That's bound to be MUCH less than 200-300. If it was 30 thats too much, they all disappear into oblivion, and make searching for TV too hard, so we just throw the toys and subscribe to 4 and leave it at that.

Rikkitic

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#2210426 3-Apr-2019 23:21

So far not a problem for me. Can't speak for the future of course, but I do not have mainstream taste and that works out to my advantage. Niche providers work well for me, along with public broadcasting. How much television can normal people consume, anyway?

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#2210430 3-Apr-2019 23:41

I'd prefer six providers at $20 each then 2 at $60.

I don't consume all the content at once, and have full range of choice at beginning of each month when deciding who to subscribe to that month. Worth 5 minutes of time to quit one, and join another one for saving of $40 to $100.

For a bigger household they may need more choice then one provider a month, but still should be able to manage without subscribing to all six in one go.

For long term profitability I don't know what the end out come will be. Also lot of providers work out for people that have niche preferences.

tdgeek

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#2210475 4-Apr-2019 07:29

rugrat: I'd prefer six providers at $20 each then 2 at $60. I don't consume all the content at once, and have full range of choice at beginning of each month when deciding who to subscribe to that month. Worth 5 minutes of time to quit one, and join another one for saving of $40 to $100. For a bigger household they may need more choice then one provider a month, but still should be able to manage without subscribing to all six in one go. For long term profitability I don't know what the end out come will be. Also lot of providers work out for people that have niche preferences.

But if you follow say two series, and say a couple of factuals, and these cover 4 providers, what then? As series and factuals run wrekly, would you save them up and binge rather than watch as they are released?

shk292

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#2210533 4-Apr-2019 08:38

tdgeek:

But if you follow say two series, and say a couple of factuals, and these cover 4 providers, what then? As series and factuals run wrekly, would you save them up and binge rather than watch as they are released?

That seems like the sensible model. You have a "background" viewing library from NZ Freeview and sources such as Youtube, BBC, UK ITV etc

Then, on a monthly basis, if a series catches your eye, subscribe to a suitable service for a month or two and add this to the mix

I seriously wonder how much TV some people watch when there's talk of subscribing to six different SVOD services to get enough viewing

tdgeek

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#2210535 4-Apr-2019 08:49

shk292:

I seriously wonder how much TV some people watch when there's talk of subscribing to six different SVOD services to get enough viewing

True. Its probably not how much they watch but what they do watch isn't on one "channel" If you watch GoT that's Neon, and Lightbox has some good exclusives too. Netflix does too, as do others . You probably don't need to be a big TV watcher and still enjoy 3 or 4 weekly series, which could be on 4 providers. But Married At First Sight AU is on FTA so thats a help..... :-)

gzt

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#2210540 4-Apr-2019 08:53

networkn:
gzt: One way to deal with this is a lower subscription price and a per item price that rapidly drops at the medium / high consumption end.

I think the minority of consumers would feel this way. People don't like to be nickle and dimed. It's a well studied topic. They would rather spend $50 a month and have everything, than $40 a month starting with a $20 base fee and $2 an item all the way to 40.

$60 per month?! That's Sky TV's problem ; ).

tdgeek

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#2210543 4-Apr-2019 09:02

gzt:
networkn:

gzt: One way to deal with this is a lower subscription price and a per item price that rapidly drops at the medium / high consumption end.

I think the minority of consumers would feel this way. People don't like to be nickle and dimed. It's a well studied topic. They would rather spend $50 a month and have everything, than $40 a month starting with a $20 base fee and $2 an item all the way to 40.

$60 per month?! That's Sky TV's problem ; ).

Exactly! The Sky non likers said it was too expensive, they wanted competition, and here we are

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