Michael Luisi Analyzes How Streaming Impacts Media Consumers

The television landscape has made radical changes over the past ten years. Ten years ago, streaming services like Netflix were in their infancy, with a low rate of adoption among the general public. As the services gained market share and the “cord cutter” concept spread, traditional cable and broadcast providers began to panic. How could they compete with the ability to stream thousands of television shows and movies at the click of a button? Michael Luisi, an entertainment executive, describes the rise of streaming video and its impact on Long Beach media consumers and providers alike.

Cord Cutting Statistics

Cord cutters, or those consumers who drop their pay-TV packages in favor of streaming options, are on the rise in the United States. Cord cutters most often cite the high price of pay-TV compared to the cost of internet service plus streaming services. While pay-TV options have not dramatically increased, cable bills have risen by 5.5 percent per year since 2017. Traditional pay-TV providers in the United States saw a 3.7% drop in 2017, an all-time record.

70 percent of pay-TV customers believe they are overcharged for the quality of the entertainment they receive, according to a 2018 study by Deloitte. Many customers hang onto their pay-TV subscriptions because they are tied to their Internet service, but these customer numbers are beginning to erode as time goes by.

The Effect of Streaming TV

Cable companies are making more of an effort to entice viewers who would rather be streaming. With their cable on-demand services, they are able to offer the same quality programming at whatever time the customer wants to watch it. The quality and variety of on-demand services vary between cable companies, with Comcast providing a more comprehensive service than DirectTV and Charter. Since Comcast purchased NBC, it has a special relationship with NBC-owned stations, giving it an advantage over cable companies that are not associated with a network.

Segmentation of the Market

As new streaming services continue to be added to the market, cable TV revenues will dip even further. Disney+ is poised to make an outsized impact on the pay-TV and streaming landscape in Long Beach. Experts predict that these services will go into a bidding war for customers, with lower-priced offerings such as Disney+ taking the competition directly to Netflix.

Competition for Studios and Shows

While Netflix has traditionally included programming of all types on their service, Disney+ will focus on programs from its vast library of shows and movies. When Disney+ premieres, Disney programs will be taken off Netflix. A similar change is poised to happen sometime during the next year when the as-yet-unnamed Warner Brothers streaming service is introduced. Many consumers will want to take part in all of these offerings, but the cost will continue to grow.

Streaming Exclusives

Each streaming service has become a television and movie studio in its own right, producing such exclusives as Netflix’s Stranger Things and Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Amazon Prime has also gotten into the market with such shows as Jack Ryan and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. These exclusive programs with high production values and high budgets keep consumers coming back to renew their streaming subscriptions.

How Media Consumers are Affected

Overall, the segmentation in the pay-TV and streaming markets has been overwhelmingly positive from the consumer’s point of view. Consumers have more quality options than ever before, especially when they have both pay-TV and streaming services available. While broadcast network television has been on the decline for the past decade, streaming services are going strong. Michael Luisi encourages streaming consumers in Long Beach and media executives to keep a close eye on industry trends.