The Streaming Bubble Has Already Burst

 

The Streaming Bubble has Already Burst

by Kristin Battestella

There's much discourse on when the streaming bubble will burst, but it already has and we didn't even realize it.

Let's be honest. Exclusive content meant to lure viewers to individual platforms is out of control. Each streamer rushes to release new films that no one sees. Shows that don't trend are immediately canceled in favor of the next program. Where premium networks used to rotate four shows a year, today streamers release exclusives monthly, weekly, or even faster. Prestige names and networks flounder with projects falling through, selling off properties, pulling under watched content, or writing off completed projects. There is no content security, yet streamers are chasing audiences week to week to make sure we don't unsubscribe. Viewers, however, have gotten wise, tuning in for free trials or bundle sales to watch what we want before ditching a platform as needed. In today's post pandemic world, it's unrealistic to expedite content as if households can have every streaming service all at once. With such a topsy turvy supply and demand, the industry simply cannot sustain so many streaming services. It's not as dire as the Big Three networks in the pre-digital decades of old, but many streaming services won't survive in the current a la cart but may as well be cable model.

This lack of longevity is also not a recent problem. For all the millions invested in chasing content, no streamer has found the perfect interface style, structure, or support. How many apps have you ditched because the outdated navigation sucked and it repeatedly crashed? Technological troubleshooting makes viewers leave just as fast as the omnipresent price hikes whether we desire the latest hot content or not. Combining or die streamers repeatedly shuffle free tiers, ad tiers, and premiums in increasingly frustrating packages with unjustifiable fees compared to all the confusion. Besides, what are no ad viewers really paying for when every provider shows their own commercials before a movie and automated over the end credits anyway? Hundreds of free ad supported livestream channels have blank logo countdowns and two minute animations because they have allotted advertising space that no one has filled. When there aren't even enough commercials to keep up with our streaming demands, it really shows how out of control our 24/7 content has become.

Unfortunately, it is the niche markets that suffer most – buried in merged catalogs or disappeared altogether. Not because there wasn't an audience for it, but because the cost, technology, and limited timing leaves audiences jumping through hoops to find it. Around 10 streaming platforms is really all viewers can sustain. Even long steady platforms like Hulu or prestige networks like HBO are in jeopardy thanks to corporate wheeling and dealing that is what's business best for Disney or Warners not for what their customers want. It would be foolish for any new streamer with no name recognition or larger backing to enter the arena in 2023. Platforms thinking their original content makes them stand apart or conglomerates that pull their legacy IPs from other services for their own exclusivity are in for a consolidating collapse.

No one wants to be an add on to someone else's storefront, but can any one platform stand alone?

Amazon? Interface and originals are all over the place.

Netflix? For the price their originals are ridiculous.

Who only has ESPN+ because it's included with Disney?

Roku has original shows and Apple TV has their own hardware, but for all the Walking Dead hype, the AMC package has less than 1 million subscribers!

Who can afford the cable-like bill for all of these? You?

Who has the time to watch it all? Not I.

The dust needs to settle on who combines, falls, or survives, but right now the air is thick.