I hope you get the drift!
Also, I would be in attending a national consultation on Leveraging Digital Technologies for Street Vendors- Challenges and Opportunities on 19th May 2022 at New Delhi. More details in the OTM section at the end.
It would be great to catch up if you are around.
DTW
During the Week, the New York Times reported that Netflix may start with advertising in quarter 4. And the internet exploded with memes and angry retorts by Netflix and other OTT subscribers because if Netflix starts advertising then others are not far behind.
This also says a lot about the ‘principles‘ in businesses and platform businesses specifically - There are no principles! We would go wherever profitability and growth would take us. I mean , Netflix made huge claims about never having to see an ad on their platforms and look where they are heading now!
During the pandemic, we moved to a no-crowd IPL matches, Music Concerts on Instagram and of course movies being released directly on streaming services. There were infinitely more in-home entertainment options and while even in pre-COVID-19 days, the cinema world had already started adapting to Netflix-and-chilling consumers, there is now a renewed urgency in traditional media business. Post covid has been a revelation for the non-conglomerates OTTs like Netflix who saw a steady erosion in their customer numbers leading to revenue loss and then a major shakedown in the stock market.
In fact , world’s most popular streaming service reported a loss of 2 lakh customers when it was expecting 25 lakhs additional customers in Jan-Mar 2022 quarter. It is expected to loose 20 lakhs more customers in the next quarter thus creating a sense of doom across multiple OTTs. To cover up or rather spin the news around falling revenue, Netflix has alleged that almost 40% (100 out of 222 millions)of its household users share their passwords with friends and family.
Life has come full circle for Netflix which seemed to have encouraged password sharing to drive customer growth hoping that once the viewers get hooked to content then they would convert to paying subscribers. Alas, it has not happened and now Netflix is betting that at least it can pivot to an ad-revenue model by leveraging the overall Netflix viewers (paying and non-paying).
So, is there money in content? Or is it silly to expect consumers to pay for content when plenty of average or sometimes above average content is available on Youtube, Instagram and not to forget TikTok (when would they unleash it in India again)! Of course, you could keep throwing money and obscene amount of money on getting great content like Netflix has done of almost a decade but this kind of debt-fuelled spending could land you in trouble.
Other OTTs like Apple and Amazon can continue to outspend everybody and keep attracting top talent from Hollywood and our own Bollywood. In fact, after the success of CODA at Oscars this year, Apple is the current daring of Hollywood biggies!
Netflix and other paid content subscription services have been major disruptors and have had a dream run over last decade. This strategy seems to have worked when Netflix and the idea of streaming itself were novel, but post pandemic, it is proving to be far less successful in a world where other companies like Warner Bros and Disney have launched their own streaming offerings with even better content. Disney seems to have leveraged its IP in content and block busters and also denied it other OTTs. Whereas many others like Amazon, Apple etc are in the market with well-stocked content and even deeper pockets.
I have written about Interplay of Content and Commerce on platforms in an earlier newsletter where we discussed Amazon’s acquisition of MGM and how other legacy players are going to react.
The MGM library is coveted—with over 4,000 film titles including James Bond franchise. Of course, at 8.45 Billion Dollars this would be loose change for the 2 trillion dollar market cap Amazon but it sends a strong signal about the importance of content for e-commerce platform like Amazon. Jeff Bezos was famously quoted earlier explaining Amazon’s interest in content through Amazon Prime.
"We get to monetize [our subscription video] in a very unusual way," Bezos explained. "When we win a Golden Globe, it helps us sell more shoes.
Jeff Bezos, Vox's Code Conference, 2016
Of course, traditional media giants are not going to get run over by streaming platforms without giving a good fight. AT&T spun off Warner Media and then a merger with Discovery was announced at 43 Billion Dollars thus creating a media competitor at scale and depth. But this has again led them to reimagine the role of paid content strategy. Even one of my favourite content creator and thought leader NYU Professor Scot Galloway had to suffer the dishonourable exit from subscription TV when CNN+ was pulled off thereby ending his No Mercy No Malice TV show. It seems that the investors are sending a message to the subscription business leaders to pull up their socks and start offering better ROI on their content investments.
OTW
Over the Weekend, it seems that the Bollywood’s fascination with OTTs would continue for some time or at least with big star banners or other star kids launch pad! So, after launching the multiple sensations from YouTube and other live-comedy stars, it is time for Netflix to become another launch pad of star kids from Bollywood.
I am talking about cast announcement of “The Archies” by Zoya Akhtar and her longtime collaborator Reema Kagti under their production house Tiger Baby with Suhana Khan, Khushi Kapoor, Agastya Nanda, Mihir Ahuja, Dot, Yuvraj Menda, and Vedang Raina playing the lead roles.
Now, The Archies is more of 70s and 80s phenomena , how would the current viewers relate to the actors playing the roles?Also, as it is scheduled for a 2023 when Netflix may actually have an ad business in India as well, major brands might want to use this platform to connect with their audience. Do share your thoughts.
I Love You
Shailendra
OTM
Opportunities through MountainSpeak are available through the Digital Street Project.
Our first event is on Leveraging Digital Technologies for Street Vendors- Challenges and Opportunities on 19th May 2022 at New Delhi. Do let me know if you would like to contribute to the discussion or share this with somebody who could help us in framing better questions. It would be great to catch up in New Delhi.
The Centre of Excellence for Digital Transformation (CEDT) at IFHE, Hyderabad is proposing to work on a project titled “Digital Street” in collaboration with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES). This action research project focusing on digital transformation of street vendors in the tourism industry is proposed to be conducted between May 1, 2022, and November 30,2022. Please let us know if you would like to contribute to the project.
The likely participants may have experience in digital transformation, informal sector, travel technologies, Tourism, street vendor issues amongst others. They may come from government, academics, consulting, corporate, policy making, start ups, non-profit and advocacy groups. I would also request you to also recommend experts and stakeholders for the project.
Please reply to this email with a copy to your recommended guests OR alternatively, fill in the Google Form to help us to contact them directly.