In this FandomWire Video Essay, we explore who will win the streaming wars.
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The Streaming Wars
Streaming is the future… or at least that’s what we were told. Yet, it’s becoming clear that streaming may actually be in our past.
Streaming services reached the height of their popularity in the cable-cutting movement when people were ending their cable subscriptions in favor of cheaper, more convenient streaming services that allowed them to watch ad-free on their own schedule.
However, streaming services are now on their way out. Studies show that subscribers are beginning to cancel their subscriptions at rates more significant than we have ever seen. Streaming services are on red alert, trying to find ways to boost their subscriber count — and, in turn, revenue — to stay alive.
The main reason why the public is turning away from streamers is because they are starting to lose their initial value. Now, people are paying just as much to subscribe to a handful of streaming services as they did a cable package. And while one of the big perks of streaming used to be that it was ad-free, many streaming services now force subscribers to watch ads on top of paying a monthly fee.
This has led to what many have not-so-endearingly called the “streaming wars.” There was an initial boom in businesses trying to get into the streaming space, but now that the market is oversaturated, we’re seeing a battle for dominance between those that are already established and others that are new to the game.
For the longest time, Netflix was on top of the streaming world. It pioneered the streaming category and has the most subscribers of any service by a long shot. However, subscribers are beginning to grow frustrated with the lack of offerings offered by the old guard in streaming.
One of the biggest culprits in Netflix’s downward spiral is its tendency to overspend. Netflix used to attract creators to work with it by giving them a blank check to make whatever project they wanted. To no one’s surprise, this isn’t a particularly sound business model. Netflix announced that they would stop making as many costly auteur-driven projects — like Martin Scorsese’s $200 million The Irishman or Noah Baumbach’s $140 million White Noise — to focus on other strategies.
However, perhaps the most controversial move Netflix has made in its attempt to bolster its subscriber base is cracking down on password sharing. Although Netflix’s terms of service always prohibited people outside of the same household from sharing accounts, they only recently began to enforce this rule. This led to criticism from many, who complained that Netflix was no longer worth the value.
While the initiative did result in an immediate bump in subscribers — as people were forced to sign up for their own accounts to continue using the service — Netflix suffered a pretty substantial reputational hit. Combined with the fact that the streamer continues to increase the price of their services without the improvement in quality that would be necessary to justify this price hike, subscribers are starting to grow disillusioned with Netflix.
Disney+ seemed like it could be on its way up to Netflix level, but recent months have seen the House of Mouse lose confidence in its streaming offerings. At first, Disney+ was virtually unrivaled in the popularity of its content. The Star Wars show The Mandalorian was a huge viral sensation, as were early MCU shows like WandaVision and season 1 of Loki. However, it was recently announced that Mando and Grogu would get a theatrical film, and the release of Marvel shows on the streaming service would be slowed. People just aren’t tuning in like they used to.
Another sign of Disney’s lack of faith in the streaming service is that their “adult-focused” Hulu will soon merge into Disney+. This shouldn’t be surprising, considering that the previous division between Disney+ and Hulu was exclusive to the United States. However, this makes it clear that Disney doesn’t see the sustainability of supporting two separate services.
For a minute, it also looked like Warner Bros.’s streaming service Max — formerly known as HBO Max — would become a legitimate competitor in the streaming wars. When it was first launched, the service was praised for its wide variety of library content. However, the service’s business model has recently earned some unwanted negative attention.
One of the biggest culprits in the public’s disillusionment with Max is its parent company and its CEO, David Zazlav. At this point, Zazlav has become notorious in Hollywood for canceling nearly or even entirely complete projects. The situations with Batgirl, Scoob! Holiday Haunt, and Coyote vs. Acme have left people incredibly angry at the company.
And even those shows that do get released tend to be cut after just one or two seasons. Max subscribers can have difficulty getting invested in a show, as they never know whether or not they’ll get to watch another season. Even popular fan-favorite shows like Our Flag Means Death did not escape the wrath of Zazlav. So why should people continue to subscribe to Max if they don’t get to see more of their favorite shows?
Now, we get to the non-factors in the streaming space. Paramount+ simply doesn’t have the level of content it takes to become a major force in the streaming wars. The flagship series of Paramount+ is Halo, which has received a reception from fans that is mixed at best but mostly polarizing. The Star Trek series on Paramount+ are liked well enough, but many of them are ending. Where does that leave the streaming service?
In an attempt to expand its library of content, Paramount+ merged with Showtime, the other Viacom-CBS streaming service. This added a few popular shows to the fray — most notably the young adult thriller Yellowjackets—but Paramount+ still lacks compelling content.
NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock deals with a similar issue in that its most popular content by far is not an original series but The Office. The biggest sell of Peacock as a streaming service is that it is the exclusive streaming home for fans of the early 2000s sitcom to rewatch their favorite episodes. Very few original shows on the service have struck a chord with audiences — although the success of Seth Macfarlane’s Ted prequel show reveals that they have the potential to be part of the conversation if only they invest in the quality of their content.
One of the weakest contenders in the streaming wars is also the one that should be the most dominant, and that is Prime Video. Amazon’s streaming service should be incredibly popular, considering that the streaming service isn’t the main value proposition for the subscription. Many people subscribe to Amazon Prime for free two-day shipping from the company’s e-commerce division, and they get the streaming service automatically.
Prime Video also has plenty of excellent content that is loved by fans. The dark superhero satire The Boys is very mainstream and well-liked. The new adult animated series Hazbin Hotel has taken the world by storm. Yet for all these successes, some of Prime Video’s biggest swings are their costliest misfires. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power was meant to be the service’s answer to the popularity of shows like Game of Thrones but debuted on the service to very little fanfare.
Prime Video also came under fire for adding ads to its basic service, forcing existing subscribers to pay an upgrade fee to stream without ads. Although the service wasn’t the first to do it—Hulu always had ads, and Max, Netflix, and Disney+ had already begun to offer ad-supported tiers—many Prime subscribers felt bamboozled. They were asked to pay more for a benefit they had already enjoyed.
Of course, there are also lots of smaller streaming services that cater to more niche audiences. For example, there’s Shudder for horror fans, Crunchyroll for anime fans, Criterion Channel for those who enjoy watching international and arthouse cinema, Hi-Yah! that caters to a martial arts-loving audience, and more. However, these are unlikely to move the needle much in the streaming wars, as they don’t appeal beyond their specific target audience.
So that begs the question: who will win the streaming wars? One streaming service stands out above the others in several ways: Apple TV+.
The main reason Apple TV+ has become so popular is its massive library of content, which Apple invests an incredible amount of money into supporting. Plenty of shows from the service have broken into the mainstream, like Ted Lasso, The Morning Show, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and Severance. As with every streaming service, Apple TV+ has its fair share of duds, but its content tends to have consistent quality and reception among subscribers and critics.
Unlike many other streaming services, Apple has also shown a willingness to diversify its revenue streams. Netflix has notoriously refused to give its films a proper theatrical run, with its closest attempt being a one-week theatrical release of Glass Onion in 2022. On the other hand, Apple TV+ has partnered with legacy studios to release some of its costlier projects, like Killers of the Flower Moon, Napoleon, and Argylle. Although none of these films were smash hits at the box office, their grosses helped subsidize the investment.
The other factor that has made Apple TV+ successful is its effective model for hooking customers using free subscriptions. Anyone who purchases a new Apple device — such as an iPhone, Macbook, or Apple TV streaming box — gets an offer for an extended free trial of the streaming service. Although other services, like Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu, partner with phone carriers to offer complimentary subscriptions, these are free in perpetuity. Apple TV+ trials are only a few months, which is plenty long enough to convince users to pay for a subscription.
So, what do the other streaming services have to learn from Apple TV+? The service stands out in two big areas: quality and value. The streaming business is all about stopping people from canceling their subscriptions, and to do that, you have to give them a reason to pay another month’s fee. Unless services like Netflix, Peacock, Disney+, and Paramount+ can achieve that goal, they may lose the streaming war.
What do you think? Is Apple TV+ the best streaming service? Or is there another streaming service you think will win the streaming wars? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to like and subscribe. As always, thanks for watching! Until next time!
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