Entertainment Bosses May Even Surprise Themselves

Content Inside #870 – New Bundle

By Andy Marken – andy@markencom.com

“We never should’ve started this! I think we’re getting in too deep!” – Leo Bloom, “The Producers,” Universal Pictures, 2005

2023 was a rough year for the entertainment industry; and frankly, 2024 doesn’t seem to be a helluva lot better.

Well, CEO pay improved, but jeez.

With a few notable exceptions – Godzilla x Kong, Furiosa, Bad Boys, Despicable Me, Beetlejuice, The Joker, Venom and some others – expensive, “sure-fire” films haven’t racked up decent numbers at the box office.

But not to worry, movie theater analysts (and reporters) have developed a lot of theories and reasons for the lull.

Folks are taking a break and they’ll be back in the seats when there is a consistent flow of outstanding projects … next year.

They certainly don’t blame the theater abandonment on corded pay TV anymore.

The networks took very few chances on new shows but did greenlight a few shows for another season – The Chi, The Bear, The Neighborhood, NCIS, FBI triad, SWAT, Elsbeth, Equalizer, Tracker and a few others.

Don’t get us wrong, they’re good shows that have loyal followings. Actually, a number of them were scheduled for the dust bin until they were saved after producers/actors took to social media to talk their fans.

Then, the shows got a lifeline for at least one more season.

The rest of the time, slots were filled in with “inexpensive projects” – games, reality, unscripted stuff.

You know, projects that seemingly appeal to the shrinking audience.

It Still Counts – Pay TV may be down when it comes to subscribers in the US, but it’s still strong around the globe.  More important is the real value of the audience to marketers.  Or … follow the money.

But after the really good content has been slotted, the studios that own big chunks of the networks look for other places to get more eyeballs. 

You know, the new splintered cable TV where cord-cutters and cord-never folks have turned to for their home entertainment … their streaming service.

Real Value – Quality video content takes a lot of work, talent, experience and money.  Raw quantity … not so much.  

Now is the time for major, bold moves that will make studios stand apart from (and above) the techie streamers who may have gotten there first and with really great/bold content. But studios have something those guys – Netflix, Amazon, Apple – can’t offer … quantity.

It’s true, quantity doesn’t sound like a real reason for consumers to subscribe and pay a higher price, so they need something sexy, irresistible.

You know, give them what they want. Of course! A bundle.

Three Points – Sports entertainment is like all other content.  People like their version – basketball, baseball, golf, tennis, you name it.  And they may limit themselves to specific teams but we tend to treat them all the same.  

Hey, a sports bundle is a slam dunk, and it just so happens that the biggest names in the game have each other on speed dial (OK, we don’t know for certain but …).

Rather than having you hunt all over the spectrum and sign up with a different streaming service every season when your favorite sport/team is playing, let’s put together an irresistible solution … Disney/Fox/WBD sports.

Yes, it did hurt the pay-tv bundlers, but it’s just business.

Besides, the newly proposed bundlers get to keep more of the subscribers fees this way rather than split the money with the cable bundlers.

And they’ll save the sports fanatic money because subscribers can cut their $100+ cable bundle and for $40-$50 have just about everything they want.

In addition, as Fox’s Lachlan Murdoch pointed out, it’s a lot cheaper than paying YouTube TV $73/mo. for their growing sports option.

Right from the get-go, sports bundlers could probably count on tens of millions of subscribers.

Granted, it won’t be all the sports because here in the US, NBC and CBS both broadcast a lot of sports, including the NFL (National Football League).

Just to spread the love around, they also offer their stuff on Peacock and Paramount + as well.

Amazon got into the game with Thursday night football, Friday night baseball, premier and Newcastle United and other sports. 

Netflix stepped into the ring with wrestling, tennis, golf, racing and stuff they have determined – through a lot of data analysis – appeals to their crowd.

It’s interesting, even before the Disney/Fox/WBD sports bundle got a name or a price, the US Department of Justice and EU Commissioner of Trade said they would have to take a long/hard look at whether the joint venture might not be in the best interests of consumers, other media companies and sports leagues.  

Still, for the right price, the sports leagues can go elsewhere; so what’s the harm?

After all, ESPN is still moving ahead with the idea of giving Disney + subscribers the ability to watch their sports without paying for another streaming service.

Strange Bedfellows – Disney’s Bob Iger (l) and WBD’s David Zaslav don’t often agree on much except when it comes to common enemies that are competing for “their” viewers.  Sometimes joining forces makes sense.  

A sweet entertainment bundle of a wider range of content genre seems like a good way to attract subscribers who are used to getting their content from the streaming old timers – Netflix, Prime.

Tech Profits – The early folks in the streaming content arena – Netflix, Prime – have been successful in not only attracting more subscribers but also in doing it profitably.  These are key issues that are still a work in progress for studio streamers.  

Netflix and Prime have been increasingly profitable for a long time so it called for a bold, decisive move.

Tech Competitors – Studios and networks know good content when they produce it, but the technically based streaming services focus on capturing and using viewer data to assist them in creating content people really want to see.  

Yep, it was time to do something new, bold, decisive and introduce a new chapter to an old idea.

Combined, the sports/entertainment bundle could offer more good/great content than the two streaming subscription leaders. 

When you get the two services in a single, convenient bundle (no one is talking about cost yet), then they jump back into the top three streaming choices. 

The bundle just has to be competitively priced, especially if Disney includes series like their Star Wars and House of the Dragon.

Don’t worry, WBD can add Naked and Afraid, Stormchasers, Fixer Upper and other great content like Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

Created for Today – Sometimes being the new kid on the block lets you have a fresh perspective and the ability to work with the latest tools/technologies which have allowed Netflix, Prime and Apple to develop content with the highest quality possible from the outset.  

Winning subscribers from the old guard of streaming (Netflix and Prime) won’t be easy because they know a lot more about their viewers, thanks to all of their data.

But combined, the new Disney-WBD bundle will be able to offer more than enough 4K content to folks who appreciate quantity and quality.  

Of course, if you’re really picky about the quality of your content, you have to take a hard look at having Apple TV+ in your self-made bundle. According to an independent analysis by Self (https://tinyurl.com/37rxcxhk),

It has a 7.18 average IMDb score for its 4K movies and series.

Disney brought Hulu under their umbrella while WBD rebranded their HBO Max and added Discovery+.

The new Disney-WBD bundle will include ABC, CNN, DC, Discovery, Disney, Food Network, FX, HBO, HGTV, Hulu, Marvel, Pixar, Searchlight and Warner Bros.

No, it doesn’t include ESPN+ which will stay as part of the Disney+ and upcoming DFW (Disney, Fox, Warner) sports bundles. And there’s still no guarantee that WBD will be able to hang onto the NBA, which means their contribution to the package will be a bunch of NHL and college games.  

According to company executives, the new bundle, billed as a partnership, will offer subscribers even more choices and value from the best brands and entertainment in the streaming arena to date.  

However, at this point, the big unknowns are:

1. The cost
2. How much subscriber duplication there is with the two services

Give a Little – Consumers have quickly found that ad-supported streaming isn’t like yesteryear’s TV that was crammed with ads.  In addition, the ads are being carefully added so as not to totally disrupt the shows.  That’s why ad services are gaining popularity.  

Yeah, there a lot of things we don’t know yet about the new killer “extraordinary value” bundle like will it include both SVOD and AVOD versions and what will be included/excluded in each version.

In addition, are you going to be able to sign up for the new bundle through third-party services like Roku or Amazon?

Until the dust settles, we’ll stick with our four AVOD and two FAST services that have more good shows/movies than we can watch in a lifetime.

And, if we’ve just gotta watch a new/recently released movie and can’t wait for it to be available on one of our services, we’ll pay an extra four bucks to enjoy it.

It’s still a helluva lot cheaper – and more convenient – than driving to the movie theater and paying the $$$ for their greasy, salty popcorn. Because ultimately, the best content and the best price wins … for the consumer.

It will really be ironic if Iger and Zaslav end up agreeing with Max Bialy who rhetorically said, “We got the wrong play, the wrong director, the wrong cast. Where did we go right?”

Who knows, maybe it’s quality over quantity which attracts consumers which attracts advertisers which improves profits and earnings.

It’s a lot better solution than doing the stuff you did before – cutting jobs, cancelling projects and hiking streaming prices … honest!

Andy Marken – andy@markencom.com – is an author of more than 800 articles on management, marketing, communications, industry trends in media & entertainment, consumer electronics, software and applications. An internationally recognized marketing/communications consultant with a broad range of technical and industry expertise especially in storage, storage management and film/video production fields; he has an extended range of relationships with business, industry trade press, online media and industry analysts/consultants.