What They Say
It has been widely reported that Disney+ has hit 100 million subscribers just 16 months after its launch and is on track to hit its target of 260 million by 2024. In January, Netflix had 203.7 million.
The WSJ said that at the moment, only 45% of US movie theatres are open and that the Disneyland property in California is due to re-open in April, albeit with reduced capacity.
What We Think
It would be easy to fill WBS with articles on streaming, but this looked like a landmark worth noting. I used the phrase ‘the end of geography for TV’ in a speech at the US FPD In 2006 to describe the potential impact of IP technology on TV and it has taken a long time for this to work out, but it is happening, or has happened. I discussed this topic in a comment I made on a report of my keynote speech when Panasonic announced its VieraCast sets in March 2009 (Display Monitor Vol 16 #9).
So, will TV brands replace broadcasters? Clearly this will not happen. Broadcasters understand a lot about content, viewers, rights and developing packages that consumers want to buy. On the other hand, as it always does, the internet will ‘disintermediate’ the industry to some extent. Some content will go directly from the creator to the set, without a traditional broadcaster in between. So, will TV brands replace broadcasters? Clearly this will not happen. Broadcasters understand a lot about content, viewers, rights and developing packages that consumers want to buy. On the other hand, as it always does, the internet will ‘disintermediate’ the industry to some extent. Some content will go directly from the creator to the set, without a traditional broadcaster in between. Will TV set makers improve the experience of viewers by adding extra content? Certainly, this is already happening and it will change the relationship between TV set makers and their customers. The most exciting area will be new applications that are developed for the new platform. It was hard to imagine Skype, Twitter or Facebook until they happened. The new TV platform will also allow the development of new applications that will surprise us.
Looking back, it all looks pretty obvious, but I’m not sure it seemed so at the time. (BR)
