At the height of the video streaming hype, the services just shot out new content and intoxicated themselves with soaring subscription numbers. In the meantime, however, the proverbial hangover mood has prevailed: Nobody knows anymore how the situation could escalate and where the money went. The pounding headaches, however, are a testament to just how much they overdid it. Now it’s about limiting the damage and achieving a state that you can live with – which is to be taken literally in the case of the services. Your ultimate goal now is to work profitably in the future.
Customers are also feeling the effects of this turnaround. When Disney CEO Bob Iger says he wants to return to traditional film distribution, he means that Disney+ won’t show new theatrical productions until they’ve generated revenue through theatrical releases, purchase and rental services like iTunes, and physical media. It’s over with “today in the cinema, tomorrow at Disney+”. And it’s probably only a matter of time before Disney + also offers a discounted subscription with advertising in Germany. There is nothing wrong with that in itself, but at the same time the service in the USA drastically increased the price for the ad-free subscription.
Services have to tighten their belts
Iger is even considering selling film and series licenses to other services. Although there is no interest in giving Marvel, Disney, Pixar or Star Wars productions to third parties, Iger did not exclude content from 20th Century Studios (formerly Fox) or ABC from being passed on. The series “The Rookie” shows it: The fourth season is only available on Disney +, the previous episodes also on Netflix, Prime Video and Sky. Marvel remains Disney-exclusive, but wants to produce less and more high-quality content – probably in response to growing criticism from fans of weak content and effects.
Video streaming services like Disney+ are doing everything they can to become profitable. To do this, expenses have to be reduced, but subscribers still have to be retained – if necessary with emotional appeals.
(Image: Source: Disney+)
Netflix gave itself some breathing room with its new standard plan with ads. According to Bloomberg, the service gained around 1 million active users in the US in two months, but too much money is still flowing out. Movies are the main target: after most major studios were eliminated as suppliers, Netflix averaged over 50 strips a year, more than any other company in Hollywood — with three groups for indie, mid-range, and big-budget films divided independently decided what was implemented. Now areas are to be merged and decisions made jointly. Above all, according to US reports, the output of films will be reduced and preference will be given to series that keep viewers longer.
Small quality offensive
After all, Netflix seems to have recognized that German customers for 18 euros per month in the premium subscription have to be offered more than before. Since the beginning of the year, Netflix has released at least two films with German Dolby Atmos sound every month.
The series “The Rookie” comes from Disney’s ABC TV channel, but the first seasons are also available from Disney+ competitors. It’s top of the charts on Netflix.
Prime Video is not that far yet, but the Amazon service seems to be finally making 4K resolution with Dolby Vision as the HDR format (alongside HDR10 and HDR10+) and English Dolby Atmos sound the standard, at least for its Originals series: In In 2023, three series were already published in these formats.
Paramount+ remains a closed book: in mid-March, the service finally released its long-awaited TV app for smart TVs from LG. So far, however, he has not kept his promise to provide content in 4K/HDR and with German multi-channel sound. Maybe that’s no coincidence, because in the US, Paramount+ announced a price increase for the third quarter of 2023. Should the service also plan this for the German market, better picture and sound quality could serve as an argument.
(Bild: c’t 10/2023 )
The language models learn to surf! AI search engines scour the web for you and link your sources. c’t tests seven search services with AI support and shows new security risks that arise as a result. The upcoming end of support for Windows 10 threatens to turn working computers into electronic waste, because many computers do not meet the requirements for Windows 11. We ask what politics and business actually have to say about this. We also tested mini PCs, explain how to bring back deleted files under Linux and remember the c’t “Hommingberger Gepardenforelle” campaign. You can read that and more in c’t 10/2023!
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