Has the streaming content bubble burst?
The major streamers continue to use the old mantra “content is king”, but a new report suggests the economic climate for 2023 will see original content drop this year for the first time since the streaming wars began.
According to Dare to Stream, by international entertainment industry publication Variety, the big players have been looking for new ways to boost revenue streams.
The report states the “gloomy economic climate” was “ushering in a new cost-consciousness and [was] beginning to deflate the peak TV content bubble”.
“The volume of original content released by the top SVOD [subscription video on demand] services is set to drop this year for the first time since the streaming wars began in earnest.”
However, global subscriber totals continued to grow each quarter last year, according to the report, as US-based services expanded across the world.
“Disney+ rolled out in more than 40 countries and several other streamers moved into new countries and regions while increasing their investments in localised original content, all to help draw in new customers.
“The rate of growth has slowed however, with subscriber additions in the first half of 2022 down 45 per cent year over year.
“It remains to be seen if this is a mere blip, but it seems the streaming market is entering a new period of reduced growth.
“While Netflix still leads the pack in overall subscribers, 2022 will be remembered as the year its dominance finally ended.
“Many services are expected to add more net subscriptions this year, and Disney now boasts more global subscribers than Netflix across its three SVOD services (Disney+ Hulu and ESPN+),” the report concluded.
But there’s no need to panic.
Variety says the “content flood” won’t slow to a trickle as the crowded field of streamers seek to deliver “a vast number of new and returning titles on streaming, even if that number is less vast than in years prior”.
Read the entire sixth edition of the report here.
And, they’ve already compiled a go-to list.
Here’s what we can look forward to.
Netflix
On January 5, Netflix gave its 223 million estimated subscribers a sneak peek at what’s new and returning on the platform throughout the year.
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, The Witcher, Heartstopper, The Crown (sixth and final season starring Elizabeth Debicki), Chris Hemsworth in Extraction 2 and Luther: The Fallen Sun are confirmed starts this year.
There’s also a Game of Thrones sci-fi spin-off The Three-Body Problem, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
In 2022, Stranger Things (S4) and Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story were its two most notable originals.
According to Variety‘s report, it has been a “transformative year for Netflix”.
“For years, the untouchable, high-flying king of the streaming sector, Netflix of late found itself on the ropes, learning what all traditional Hollywood studios had already learned: You can’t stay on top forever.
“It’s finally embraced cracking down on password sharing, running ads, curtailing the growth of its content spending, and begins to downsize.
“Its historic loss and stock correction in April was a wake-up call for the entire media industry, and that perpetual growth was not sustainable for streaming platforms.”
Disney+
The media giant is planning to launch many shows and movies including TV series Ironheart, Secret Invasion (Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury), Echo, Agatha: House of Harkness, Spider-Man: Freshman Year, Marvel Zombies and a planned Daredevil reboot.
On the Star Wars side of things, the list of upcoming releases includes Lando, The Acolyte, as well as spin-offs from The Mandalorian titled Ahsoka and The Rangers of the New Republic.
There’s the new series based on the action adventure movie National Treasure, Only Murders in the Building S3 and a most anticipated feature film Peter Pan & Wendy.
Other upcoming titles include American Born Chinese, Iwaju and Prom Pact.
There are some Australian titles that have begun filming and will likely roll out in 2023 including Last Days of the Space Age and The Artful Dodger, according to finder.com.au.
Paramount+
Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone success has become Paramount+’s “signature franchise”, and has 1883: The Bass Reeves Story up this year.
There’s also the expansion of the John Wick franchise to TV (minus Keanu Reeves) with a three-part special event The Continental, and a fictionalised version of SNL‘s Pete Davison’s life called Bupkis.
Apple TV+
Based on David Grann’s best-selling book, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is set in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, a string of brutal crimes that came to be known as the Reign of Terror.
Prime Video
Gen V is a spin-off series of Amazon’s superhero hit The Boys.
Variety said the main series racked up more than 6.7 billion minutes of viewing time in the US alone during the rollout of the third season.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is back for a fifth season.
Binge/Foxtel
Based on a video game, The Last of Us is about Joel and Ellie, a pair connected through the harshness of the world they live in, who are forced to endure brutal circumstances and ruthless killers on a trek across post-pandemic America.
Succession S4, Barry S4 and Tiny Beautiful Things are also series to look forward to, as well as Ted Lasso S3 and The White Lotus S3.
Stan
Miracle Workers: End Times follows a wasteland warrior (Daniel Radcliffe) and ruthless warlord as they face the most dystopian nightmare of all: Settling down in the suburbs.
The official synopsis reads: “Together they navigate the existential horrors of married life and small-town living, all under the dubious guidance of a wealthy junk trader (Steve Buscemi).”
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