Streaming Video Absorbs Everything In Its Path

Michael Hedges February 8, 2021 Follow on Twitter

Film and television awards have long-standing strength. The industries, their luminaries and reporters who cover same love them. Winners, losers and, of course, upsets all make great copy. Fans like these televised awards, now virtual, for the same reasons. But there’s one more; awards focus attention. And these days attention is hard to channel.

The Golden Globe Awards will take place in a few weeks (February 28). Nominees have been selected and winners soon awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). Being rather US-centric the Golden Globes focus on actors. The Cannes Film Festival, by contrast, gives special attention to directors. It will be held in May. The annual Academy Awards (Oscars) will be awarded in April.

The HFPA announced nominations for the 2020 Golden Globes this past week (February 3). The dominating headline from that announcement was “Streaming Services Dominate” (Variety). More bluntly, said Vanity Fare (February 3), “The Year Streaming TV Ate The Movies,” noting the “ongoing absorption of television and movies into the giant blob known as streaming.”

The Golden Globes honor both film and television available during the past year. Categorized are comedies, drama and documentaries. With those are the actors and writers. Nominees include both the well-known and lessor.

Raising the eyebrows of all were the “staggering” 42 nominations related to film and TV offerings from Netflix, 22 separate productions, six going to The Crown. Amazon Studios and Disney Plus each received ten nominations. Apple TV got four. In deference to the whole list, a lot of great stuff is getting attention.

Netflix is - at least for the moment - the de facto streaming video (SVoD) brand. There are similarities with the Apple iPhone and, decades ago, the Model T Ford. For many consumers inclined to pay for a streaming video subscription the Netflix brand comes to mind first. Of course, there are others. But most consumers have limited interest in multi-brand products. A Ford automobile buyer was always a Ford buyer. Competition changed that.

And, alas, Netflix has robust - and well-financed - competition. From Disney and Amazon Prime to Hulu, Apple, HBO and others, lots of companies feel drawn to the streaming video business. Like the smartphone business, streaming video is global. Attracting and keeping the consumers’ attention plays no small part.

In mid-January Netflix executives released Q4 subscriber totals and other numbers in the quarterly earnings call. Global paid subscriptions rose to 203.67 million, up 8.51 million in the quarter against analyst expectations of 6.03 million, noted Bloomberg (January 19). Q4 year on year revenues were also up, slightly, to US$6.64 billion, ahead of analysts. They, of course, can be excused due to rapt attention paid to GameStop.

Those new Netflix subscribers were almost entirely outside the US and Canada, some 7.7 million. More than half (52%) came from the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, 4.46 million. Stagnant US and Canadian growth, less than a million, is likely due to Disney Plus popping to 86.8 million subscribers, adding 50 million in five months.

International content is behind a large part of the Netflix subscriber growth. While EMEA subscriber growth is seriously rising, Asia Pacific is a target. The company adapted and released for the South Korean market the popular Spanish series Money Heist. And, too, there is mobile-only service in India, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand. Still, though, no China. Disney Plus is off in another direction in India, offering cricket through local platform Hotstar.

“We have to constantly keep improving," said Netflix chief operating officer Greg Peters to CNN Business (February 4)"We're connected with a lot of people around the world. But it's not everybody, right? So we have more work to do."

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