Netflix is winning in the battle for online streaming supremacy

Cal Jeffrey

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In context: As cord cutting becomes the norm, more and more companies are trying to provide streaming content. Unfortunately this is creating a situation where the consumer is becoming burdened with multiple subscriptions. As costs for curation and creation continue to rise, so do the rates, and viewers are starting to abandon services that don't meet the mark.

Juniper Research group has found that Netflix is continuing to grow its subscriber base while competing services Amazon Prime and HBO Now are beginning to flounder. According to its report, "Digital TV — 3 Key Consumer Insights," adoption rates for Netflix in the US and UK are growing at 6.3 and 7.7 percent respectively.

Contrarily, Amazon Prime and HBO Now abandonment rates have exceeded adoption resulting in 2.9-percent negative growth for Amazon and a whopping -19.2 percent for HBO.

According to a separate report by Juniper, the negative growths may be linked to the number of subscriptions available to consumers. Its study found that consumers are becoming burdened with multiple SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand) subscriptions.

The survey notes that respondents in the US and China average 3 SVOD services each, while UK subscribers use slightly less at 2.5 subscriptions. Cord-cutters are viewing multiple SVOD, but as rates increase, users are looking to trim the fat.

“The use of multiple subscriptions suggests that no one provider offers enough to currently satisfy consumers,” said Lauren Foye, author of the study. “Juniper finds a growing danger in users reducing, or switching SVOD subscriptions, as monthly fees inevitably rise as a result of ever-increasing content spend; Netflix alone is set to spend $13 billion this year.”

Curation of content is of critical importance to SVOD services. Without more effort to increase entertaining content, abandonment will continue to surge. Juniper hints that one solution would be for OTTs (over-the-top content providers) to partner with traditional platforms to broaden exposure and create a “slick and refined user experience.”

The study also pinpointed the importance of broadcast television, especially regarding televised sports. About 40 percent of UK respondents said that they stream live games. However, 96 percent of those that stream sports online also watch broadcast sporting events. The US and China numbers were similar.

Juniper concludes that broadcasters must aim to provide a “best-in-class” experience to satisfy the dual-natured sports viewers and outpace OTT providers. Likewise, it would help struggling OTTs like Amazon Prime and HBO to expand services to include sports coverage.

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Having cut the cord because of ever rising costs and, to quote some lyrics from Pink Floyd's Nobody Home "13 channels of sh!t on the TV to choose from" (only in these times it is more like 500-channels of :poop: to choose from), this comes as no surprise to me. I stopped paying $85/mo for reasons other than paying $85/mo elsewhere. The industry seems to have viewed cord-cutting as a fad that everyone was jumping onto because it was popular, when the reality here on Planet Earth is people like me were cord-cutting to cut costs.

Maybe, just maybe the industry will figure it out and come up with a streaming model that is significantly more reasonable.
 
I have decided to take the approach of just one subscription at a time. You can only watch so much TV! and with streaming I feel like I run out of TV to watch quicker because of the tendency to binge watch my favourite shows.

Plus it seems each streaming service has something different to offer. netflix has some great original content. Amazon - Comes with amazon prime right? The new Disney Stream for the kids (and big kids).

I feel rotating these subscriptions every few months is probably the most cost effective way forward...
 
Multiple subscriptions is a hassle. Even with something like a Roku or other smart TV device, it's still annoying to switch interfaces and never be certain what you're getting.

I use a combination of Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. I pay for the first, my wife gets the second free, and I get the third one free due to Prime membership. I've previously subscribed to Spotify, HBO Go/Now, and several other places. It just doesn't make sense.

HBO doesn't have enough content. The few things it has live can be found other ways (they just dropped boxing --- the only reason I was still watching HBO).

Hulu is probably the worst subscription model out there. Constant ads, on top of the monthly fee, little original content compared to Netflix, and almost no movie selection. Hulu is often the only choice for network TV but it's a pretty bad service all things considered.
 
My friends and I share accounts to split the costs. I have Netflix, someone else has Prime Video and another has Hulu Premium and VRV. We all know each other's logins lol.
 
Netflix and MotoGP. I cut the cord to get away from TV, not only are the shows terrible, but you pay for roughly 1hr of advertising per 3 hrs of TV. The lower cost was just an added benefit.
 
HBO Now is not for me anymore, had to pay a VPN to have access and GOT is not coming for another whole year, got cancelled months ago in my house, I guess for unified content we would have to donate to torrent sites of BitTorrent clients...
 
Multiple subscriptions is a hassle. Even with something like a Roku or other smart TV device, it's still annoying to switch interfaces and never be certain what you're getting.

I use a combination of Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. I pay for the first, my wife gets the second free, and I get the third one free due to Prime membership. I've previously subscribed to Spotify, HBO Go/Now, and several other places. It just doesn't make sense.

HBO doesn't have enough content. The few things it has live can be found other ways (they just dropped boxing --- the only reason I was still watching HBO).

Hulu is probably the worst subscription model out there. Constant ads, on top of the monthly fee, little original content compared to Netflix, and almost no movie selection. Hulu is often the only choice for network TV but it's a pretty bad service all things considered.
There are DVR solutions for OTA TV. Apparently, TIVO has an OTA DVR that you buy outright and includes a free subscription to guide data. (Incidentally, since the digital transition in the US, stations have the ability to broadcast guide data along with their signal.) However, Hulu is sometimes a good backup if something goes wrong.
 
There are DVR solutions for OTA TV. Apparently, TIVO has an OTA DVR that you buy outright and includes a free subscription to guide data. (Incidentally, since the digital transition in the US, stations have the ability to broadcast guide data along with their signal.) However, Hulu is sometimes a good backup if something goes wrong.

OTA offer just about everything someone could want with live sports and TV. The upgrade to digital is a huge plus (I live in a region that can't get cable -- and most people don't get satellite). The digital transformation allows local channels to show 2-4 channels depending on how much they want to compress the channels.

I think a lot more people, especially in cities with great OTA options, should go that route. Get OTA and use subscription services to supplement what they can't get.
 
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