Recent entertainment headlines have highlighted, just how bad things are for traditional and cable TV. First Warner Bros. Discovery realized they were in shits creek with no paddle, when the NBA awarded a TV package to prime video over them. Then WBD and Paramount released figures and shared they were $9 billion and $11 billion respectively, in writes off due to their portfolios of cable networks no longer cutting it.
On the surface it may seem like streaming is leaving cable in the dust. While they maybe true...not so fast. The streaming wars that kicked off in the mid 2010's are losing steam, due to overstaturation and price increases with the content not meeting the price. Disney recently announced price hikes for Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. Pissed maybe an understatement for most people when they heard the news.
While they keep raising prices. Companies have started to reevaluate can their individual platforms survive on their own or do they need to partner up? Many of these same companies are losing sleep over declining cable revenue which was their bread and butter at one time.
Both streaming and cables decline point to a lack of innovation in the media conglomerate world, namely a lack of rethinking cable television. Now cable TV and streaming operate in two ecosystems, streaming is mostly subscriber and ad based. Cable networks rely on ads and "subscriber fees" they charge cable carriers to broadcast their network.
When Netflix took off and people were cutting the cord in droves. Cable networks and cable companies most owned by conglomerates were too slow and neglectful to adapt. They operated and continue to operate in this more is better mantra that was the ideals of the 90s and 2000s eras of excess.
500 plus channels of mainly niche programming, when people only watch 10 if that and don't have time for much else. Cable networks also got lazy and started rotating "marathons" of the same show. USA network and MTV are notorious for that. Instead of streamlining networks, they kept the status quo while still charging insane monthly premiums. They also pushed a lot of content to streaming, even hard to find content.
Besides today's viewership mostly on the web. People just do not want to switch between 40 channels, and not being able to find one thing that interests them. It's annoying enough on streaming apps.
In order for cable to truly survive, they not only need to reinvent cable. They need to minimize the saturation of cable channels and improve the cable experience and price for consumers. Cable TV is now in survival mode and if they want to keep eating, they have to get their ass up and go to work.
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