Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime: This is how the streaming scene could continue after the Corona boom

At the world’s largest television fair “MIP TV” in Cannes, the hunger for attractive films and series is huge. “The streaming services are forced to identify and buy new content, trends and ideas as quickly as possible in order to survive in the face of tough competition,” explains “MIP TV” boss Lucy Smith in an interview with the German Press Agency (dpa). . Because only if the offer remains attractive will Netflix and its competitors retain their paying customers. It is a big challenge to keep the subscribers and to further increase the growth rates. “But they seem to be approaching a limit,” Smith said.

The Corona lockdown year 2020 brought record-breaking numbers. According to Netflix, it was able to gain 37 million new subscribers, and according to its balance sheet, the newcomer Disney+ reached 100 million new customers within just 16 months. But that seems to be the peak of the streaming boom.

The current NPAW Video Streaming Industry Report, for example, shows that the video-on-demand consumption of the streaming providers surveyed fell by an average of nine percent in 2021 compared to the previous year. The consulting firm Deloitte published its forecast for 2022 in December: More than 150 million people worldwide will cancel their paid subscription – with a global churn rate of 30 percent.

The reasons: More and more providers are entering the market and trying to steal the audience from each other. And even with the mass of consumers, the high investments in the expensive productions still don’t pay off. Netflix, for example, will soon release its most expensive film to date: The contract killer story “The Gray Man” with Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans cost 200 million dollars. It is foreseeable that with such fierce cut-throat competition, providers will be left behind. Especially since the immense output of high-quality productions raises a question: Who has the time to watch all this anyway?

“How much investment can the streamers cope with to finance the expensive productions?” Nico Hofmann commented on the situation. From the point of view of the Ufa boss (“Our mothers, our fathers”), it also depends on where the money comes from: “At Amazon, the sources are different than at Netflix or Disney +.”

The question arises not only in his considerations: How much talent is still available on the market to continue to realize the content? In any case, Hofmann, who produces for all streaming services, will visit Cannes to launch even more programs that he would like to market successfully on the world market.

The “MIP TV” in southern France, which starts on Monday, shows what will soon be flickering across the screens in millions of living rooms. After a two-year Corona break, over 5,000 managers from broadcasters, production companies, program distributors, Internet platforms and media groups from all over the world are expected on the Côte d’Azur.

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CANNES (dpa-AFX)

Image sources: Netflix, pixinoo / Shutterstock.com