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Originally Posted by OLD BOY
Back to your first paragraph, and more on topic, I think the jury is out on whether streaming services will be more expensive than existing broadcast services. I envisage that there will be for many more decades to come a BBC/ITV/Channel 4/Channel 5 presence, but access will be via their individual i-players or combined streaming site. The BBC will continue to provide a 'free' service as long as the licence fee survives, and the other channels are likely to provide a choice between a free uninterruptable advertisement ridden offer, or an advert free subscriber based service. Many viewers (myself included) will not watch any platform that forces you to watch commercials and so a subscriber option would be necessary if profits are to be maximised and the whole venture does not go under.
What the other streaming service companies will do is a matter for conjecture. As you know, Netflix have pledged never to have commercials on their site (although you don't believe them) and Amazon don't feature commercials either. Even Now TV doesn't have adverts on their streaming services (except of course on the smaller live TV part of their offering).
The price of Netflix is increasing for new subscribers, but where these price increases will end is anyone's guess. While there is healthy competition between the various providers, maybe the prices will remain fairly reasonable.
Although people like me will probably go for as many of these streaming services as is sensible, those of more modest means might well pimp around a bit, sticking with one service for a while and then changing for another service, benefitting by access to maximum content across a multitude of platforms at minimum cost.
You mention Sky, but you know, there's not an awful lot on their channels (apart from the premium sport and films channels) that is worth watching anymore. This week, Sky 1, for example, is showing the following programmes that I would watch:
Chris Ryan's Strike Back (already seen it)
Pride and Glory (film)
Stan Lee's Lucky Man
And that's it! Pretty bad for a pay TV channel, don't you think?
For me, streaming services are always going to provide better quality choices from a much wider list of programmes than pay TV (excluding premium channels) currently provides.
You certainly have a point about the fact that you currently need different boxes for different services, which is why I keep saying that our new Tivo boxes need to address this problem. Virgin need to embrace all these various streaming services on their box to set them apart from the rest. People would be quick to realise the convenience this gives them.
Currently, I access my streaming services from Tivo, my smart Sony TV and my Roku streaming stick. I am extremely pleased with the variety of quality programmes that I can now access by that means, plus the recordings I take from broadcast channels.
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Apologies for deleting the politics, because as you say, it is off topic, and I am taking up enough space.
You may think the jury is out on the cost of streaming services, but as it stands in the States (based on your link), it is very expensive just to get anywhere near the content we get from Sky etc from just a few of the most popular streaming services at this precise moment.
People may well pick and choose from the various streaming services, but if I was in charge of a streaming company, I would want a very constant stream of income coming into my business. How could any company survive if it's sole income comes when the people who like their streaming offering only intermittently pay £8.99 a month? It simply can not happen. If we follow your logic, then the vast majority of people will have to take the ad free option. This will have to happen in your idea of the future, because the companies will need that ad revenue to give them their guaranteed monthly income. The streaming company will then have to decide how much more money they get through advertising, compared to the £120 (12 x £10 a month) they will get from a paying punter like yourself. I imagine there will be a massive gap between the money the free service gets compared to what you pay, and that gap will be lost revenue - pure and simple, they are not a charity after all. That lost revenue will have to come from somewhere. If they don't allow advertising, it will only come from increased subscription.
Lets say your idea works though, don't forget the more the services vie for peoples money, the more exclusives they have to produce. That will raise costs more and more. That will then more ads for the free service to cover the costs, and a same amount will have to be added for subscriptions. It will be easier for each streaming service to get £10 a month from 5 companies paying £2 each per ad, than it will be to get an extra £10 a month from you. I may be missing something completely obvious from these scenarios (and I welcome your thoughts negating mine) but I don't see how it won't end up with one of these scenarios. Either way, subscriptions will very be expensive without ad's.
I am not sure how you don't get ad's on Now TV - you are lucky if you don't. A quick FFW through the latest catch up episodes of Elementary, 100 Code, Madam Sectretary, The Knick and the last episode of Blue Bloods all had ads at the start and around the 30 min mark. A league of their own only had ads at the start. (Elemantary, A league of their own, 100 code, Blue Bloods and Madam Secretary are all on the featured page of Sky Catch up). As I have stated before Amazon have ad's on their website and, like Sky, are obviously heavily subsiding their streaming services. Most likely so they can get a loyal customer base before unleashing plenty of ads on the services, but I know (and am happy for) you to disagree with my thoughts on this.
You also mention about streaming services offering more variety than pay TV providers. As I have asked before, what would Netflix do if they lost all their back catalogue because all the other content owners wanted exclusive rights to their content (including their films)?
I am happy to have streaming services in the world, and you will never get them all on one box, regardless of what you think VM should do. Thankfully, I can still afford Netflix and it still provides great value, and could afford Amazon it I wanted. I just don't think they will kill off liner TV.