Streaming has had a rough 2022. First, Netflix had two very bad quarters. Then multiple streamers lost subscribers in Q2. Then a recession (or better phrased, “recession worries”) started impacting advertising revenues. Now everyone is questioning whether or not streaming is even a good business to be in. (See Richard’s article from yesterday for some more doom and gloom.)
And you know what? I think things could get even worse for streamers.
Why?
Because I bought a new smart TV, the kind of television that now makes up 57 percent of all TVs in America. And this seems like a new threat to the streaming services. Check out this series of stories with a common theme that I’ve been collecting for the last few months:
A survey where customers say they want all their shows in one place
An article in Protocol about Plex, a service trying to bundle streamers
A story about OneFlix, that’s trying to do the same thing
A story about Vizio consolidating streaming subscriptions
Two stories about Paramount+ joining Walmart+ and Roku Channels
Apparently everyone wants to bundle all the streamers into one experience right now (I didn’t even put in stories about Google, Apple, Roku and Amazon, who are all attempting something similar). And while setting up my new smart TV — in other words, a TV that comes pre-loaded with streamers like Netflix and free streamers like Tubi and an integrated streaming experience — I experienced firsthand how Samsung is doing the same thing.
But that’s the last thing the streamers themselves want! Or should want!
That battle/trade-off/debate is what I’m going to discuss today. Specifically, the battle between device makers, who want to bundle all streamers into one experience, and the streamers, who want to control their own fates. While I think these bundlers will eventually win this fight with the streamers, my experience with a smart TV says the consumer electronics companies have major hurdles to still overcome.
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