The streaming wars will be starting very soon. For a long time, Netflix dominated the streaming market. However, things have changed a lot since then. Hulu and Amazon started streaming services a few years ago. Both have become very popular. For the past several years, those three companies have had the bulk of the streaming market. Things are poised to get a lot more competitive in the streaming industry over the next year. Some of the largest media companies in the world are looking to get a piece of the literally billions of dollars that are spent on streaming content every year.
Netflix had been growing at an amazing rate. It had seen an increase in subscribers every quarter since 2011. However, that streak ended earlier this year. More than 120,000 people jumped ship during the second quarter of 2019. All of these people were located in the United States. According to CNBC, this sent shock waves through Netflix and the entertainment industry as a whole. People were trying to figure out why the company lost so many subscribers. The reasons that were commonly cited involved a raise in price and a lack of compelling content. The real reason is probably a combination of both of those factors.
Disney, NBC/Universal, HBO and many other companies will be starting their own streaming services very soon. The problem for Netflix is much greater than having more streaming competition. These companies own some of the most popular shows that Netflix offers. Therefore, they are not going to allow Netflix to keep them. They are going to take these shows away from Netflix and put them on their own streaming services. This has already happened with the announcement that “The Office” and “Friends” will soon be leaving Netflix next year. However, Netflix was able to buy the rights to stream the popular “Seinfeld” show for the next five years.
There is no question that Netflix is going to need to shake things up to avoid another large exodus of subscribers. They are putting out a lot of very popular original shows. However, Disney is going to offer a very big challenge. Disney owns the rights to all of the very popular Star Wars and Marvel movies. They will also be making original shows that relate to both of those franchises. Netflix is still the biggest streaming company in the world by far. However, it might not be that way for much longer.
Dil Bole Oberoi
