There are many companies who are all vying for streaming supremacy. For many years, Netflix was pretty much the only game in town. Then along came Hulu and Amazon. They did not provide a serious amount of competition to Netflix. However, the next 12 months will see many large companies with vast resources get involved in the streaming wars. Apple TV Plus is already up and running. Disney Plus will start very soon. ESPN Plus has already been around for a long time and is doing quite well. Next year will see the debut of Peacock and HBO Max. Which is these streaming services will come out on top? Only time will tell.
Netflix has roughly 160,000 subscribers. To say they have a huge head start on the competition would be a huge understatement. However, that lead could shrink if Netflix keeps their prices high and the quality of their original offerings slips. The company pours billions of dollars into making their original programs every year. That is something that Disney is also going to do. Disney has enough money to actually spend more than Netflix if they want. For example, the new Disney Plus series “The Mandalorian” has a budget that is one of the biggest in TV history. This is one of the reasons it has generated so much buzz.
There are already stories about the streaming providers paying large sums of cash to lock up the rights to some of the most popular shows ever. For example, HBO Max parent company AT&T has paid $500 million for the exclusive streaming rights to all 23 seasons of the animated series “South Park.” That might seem like an insane amount of money. However, streaming companies are willing to pay big bucks for shows that have very large fan bases and many episodes. Netflix has already locked up the rights to “Seinfeld.”
There are also a number of lesser known streaming services that are flying under the radar. For example, DC Universe is owned by Warner Bros. and features live action and animated shows that center around characters in DC Comics. There is also CBS All Access. This platform is the home of the latest “Star Trek” series. There is also a spin-off of “The Good Wife” that has become a big hit on that platform. There are some experts who feel that pricing will be a huge factor in the streaming war.
