There are a ton of streaming platforms out there. What do most people look at when deciding which to subscribe to?
Netflix vs Disney+ vs HBO Max vs Paramount+ vs Amazon Prime Video vs Apple TV+ vs…you get the idea. With so many options, the streaming wars are more fierce than ever. What side are we customers to choose?
Well, Fandom — a company you may know best as the proprietors of hundreds of thousands of wikis dedicated to every show, movie, book and game that you can think of — is here to help. According to Deadline, the company gets over 300 million unique users per month, which gives it access to a lot of data. Fandom surveyed 5,500 Fandom users about what they want out of a streaming service, resulting in a pretty interesting report.
What were the results? Well, to start, price is obviously a concern. At $8.00 per month, Disney+ is on the lower end of the spectrum, which gives it a few points right out the gate.
But apparently, to use Deadline’s language, “Genre is the main differentiating trait for 62% of respondents making choices of what to sign up for, with Disney+ leading the pack in terms of delivering genre content. In large part because of those genre offerings, Disney+ was estimated to have a 30% higher value than an average video streaming service.”
The top franchises and brands in terms of how they cater to fans beyond screen content are, in order, Star Wars, Disney, Harry Potter and Marvel. Such is their allegiance to those major brands that 73% of fans say their spending would be worth it for any service offering exclusive access to behind-the-scenes content or merchandise and collectibles.
It’s a little unclear what exactly “genre” means.* They way they talk about it, it seems to tie in with branding? Cause if what a streaming service needs to succeed is recognizable brands, Disney certainly has that; of the four big brands mentioned above, it controls three. Combined with the price, I’m not surprised that the report concluded that Disney+ was so valuable.
Of course, it’s all relative. I have a bunch of streaming services, including Disney+, but I think it’s the one I use the least. Then again, I don’t both cancelling it because the price point is so low. Well played, Disney.
In any case, the report settles on three “rules” for studios and streaming providers: they must “lean into genre strengths”; “rethink the in-theater experience to differentiate from growing at-home viewing trends”; and “super-serve consumers beyond the screen.” Did you get all that?
Frankly, much of the report includes this sort of jargon. Take this statement from Fandom CEO Perkins Miller:
A crowded and competitive market has driven the major streaming platforms to shift their focus from acquisition to retention.
Acquisition and retention…like, aren’t those things always the focus of every streaming service? Who had to “shift” to that?
Ah well, as long as streaming wars continue to produce good stuff for us to watch, battle on.
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