Scott Roxborough reports in The Hollywood Reporter on Netflix’s international competition.
He says:
“Since Netflix took its streaming video service truly global in 2016, the company has pretty much had the market to itself. But things are about to get very crowded, very fast. While Disney and Apple roll out their own services — with WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal hot on their heels — scores of local players, in Spain and Singapore, Britain and Berlin, are pushing into the SVOD market, looking to occupy at least a portion of Netflix-controlled territory.”
Here’s a list of some of the countries and the contenders:
- Britain: BritBox
- France: Canal+Series
- France: Salto
- Germany: TV Now
- Germany: ProSiebenSat.1
- Spain: Rakuten TV
- Spain: Moviestar
- Scandinavia: Viaplay
- India: Hotstar
- Malaysia: iFlix
- Indonesia: Hooq
- China: iQiyi
- China: Tencent
- China: Youku
My take: Everyone has woken up and realized there’s a battle for the eyeballs to be won — or lost. As TV continues to decline and mobile continues to rise, old media needs to reinvent itself to take on Netflix, which is itself in its second incarnation. The two advantages they have are their localness and their non-Americanism. However, I think there are big improvements waiting to be made in how viewers discover content. Two ideas: the SJ (Streaming Jockey) who is the next version of the VJ (who was the next version of the DJ) and Viewing Clubs that allow you to band to together with like-minded folks to share recommendations and even comment on things you’re all watching at the same time (I think there’s something like this in Asia already.) This would be one strategy for all the smaller platforms to band together and collectively build their audiences.