Ah, so much to see and so little time — a take on the journey of streaming and what lies ahead.
Prologue
I still have a very vivid recollection of an evening while we were out shopping for Diwali (the festival of lights), we were in the clothes showroom picking out new attire for the family when the whole store just froze or rather was buzzing with activity as it was a few minutes ago, the reason ? A Tamil weekly show where they play all new songs along with the video (Oliyum Oliyum/Chitrahaar/Chitralahari). I remember people gathering in front of the TV at the same time every day for a famous soap even in the 2000s. As you might have already guessed from the title I am here to talk about Streaming and how much it has disrupted and changed our TV watching habits. For good or bad doesn’t really matter as the flexibility, ease and content is here to stay.
Topic Introduction
Did you know streaming started as early as 1881, Théâtrophone was one of the first streaming services where people could sign up for listening to the opera music live via telephones. Yes, that’s how far back streaming has been happening and looks like Clement Ader had done the market analysis and product market fit that early for many more streaming services that will closely follow.
Here you can see how the streaming landscape has evolved and how the various options out there have also evolved.
The conceptual framework
Just look at the landscape above, you can see that the streaming services and providers have grown exponentially over the last two decades and I think this has been a combination of many things:
The evolution of smart devices:
When was the last time you walked outside and saw someone who does not have a phone within reachable distance? Survey says that on an average every person has at least 4 devices at home that they use regularly. This means that they probably want to stream it on multiple devices depending on their convenience. This has led to 2 things — subscription models within the streaming services based on # of devices, quality of video etc. but it also leads to content consumption whenever and wherever and has fed into the sense of independence to choose the content, the location, the device etc to keep yourself entertained.
The evolution of better and affordable internet connection:
A few years ago, whenever someone travelled back home, including myself, I had this DeFacto line in my automatic email replies “Internet connection might be sporadic, expect delays in email responses”, that is no longer the case, in fact talking to a few of my family and friends they have a better and more affordable internet connection that I do here (home is India if you were wondering :)). I have seen this consistently in all the homes, malls and many other public places I have visited, they either have an excellent Wi-Fi connection or have the best phone plan with blazingly fast 4G. This I think has also added on to the streaming revolution to catch on as I am sure this is not the case just in India, but the internet story has become better in majority of the countries.
The last decade has seen the dawn of both 3G and 4G networks. 3G networks introduced a new age of calling, texting, and internet connectivity for mobile devices. 4G offered 10x faster speed than 3G networks, increasing download speeds from 1.5 Mbit/s to 15 Mbit/s. That means, this reduced the download time for an 800MB movie from 5 hours to 43 seconds. This enhancement meant that you did not need wired connection to your desktops anymore and you can start streaming and enjoying high quality content on the go.
The evolution and flexibility of OTT:
Never have I ever imagined living through a global pandemic and I am sure this is true for you too. The pandemic has changed the way we look at life as a whole and the entertainment sector is no exception. A few of the trends that have emerged are watch parties, online fitness classes, online classes and of course entertainment followed in the same footsteps. Movies of big stars and big banners were released via Netflix and Amazon Prime for the first time ever and we were able to watch movies in the comfort of our homes and in the schedule that suited us and our families. Do you see yourselves giving up that comfort? I for one, with a toddler do not want to forgo that luxury and I think it’s safe to say many more are that way too. Btw — OTT stands for Over-the-Top, which means you can stream the content over the internet at the time and place of your convenience :)
Nuclear families have a lot more time at hand and do not know how to use it:
Back home in India my parents, me and my dad’s parents all lived together. Yes, you read that right, we were a family of three generations under the same roof and yes there were war zones at times, but I’d like to think there was better than bad here (this is a topic for another day :)). With this not being the case anymore there is so much time at home when you do not have so many people at home. You see, everyone has a device, and everyone has their own to lead which leads to more content consumption. This stands true for all sorts of content consumption from Tik Tok, Instagram and the likes to Netflix, Amazon Prime etc.
Other ways to grow the business
Choose which ones go to streaming vs theatres:
This according to me is such an awesome feature to have. I have heard from multiple people how difficult it is for someone to procure theatres, especially during the weekends where there is another big budget, big hero movie releasing. This feature would be such a breath of fresh air and such an amazing avenue for low budget movies to be streamed directly through streaming services and gain the much-needed viewership.
Bundling is going to be key:
Stick with me here but think about an e2e experience for someone who would like to watch a movie in the theatres.
Scenario #1 Think about being able to book the tickets, the seats, the ride pick up, the food you want to eat from the restaurant you like, being able to maybe shop online during the intermission and have the shopped goods delivered to your doorstep.
Scenario #2 Think about being able to do all this but from your home. Maybe add on food delivery, stereo system rental, home theatre goods rental etc.
In either of these cases I am envisioning an e2e experience for the user where they pick the location and the surrounding experiences all at the cost of one subscription and that is where I think bundling is the way to go into the future.
The nexus beyond
I did allude to what I think the current streaming market is capable of with an e2e solution etc. but think about all the other industries that could or are already using the services in some form or factor i.e., be it live streaming from influencers or professionally produced content. Retail, micro-influencers, education, community building, etc. are just a few of the sectors that are using streaming in some form or fashion but with the growing internet speeds and the ever-evolving HW sector this trend is here to stay and grow.
