Wrestling should have been one of the first streaming success stories. In 2018, World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. announced. that they had signed up to 2.1 million subscribers for their WWE Network, making it one of the largest unnamed online video services such as Netflix.
Now, just two years later, the WWE is offering its own service (in the US at least) and selling his rights to Peacock.
It is a shame to see this as a failure by the WWE. The membership base was put on a platform, and the company could not find a strategy to return to growth.
But this is best seen as the logical evolution of the streaming market in two main ways: the inevitable consolidation of streaming into cable-like packages, and the growing role of sports in the those sacrifices.
Gerry Smith has a good piece on the first subject: what happened to him niche streaming services. The WWE had already signed up with the majority of diehard fans, and it was becoming increasingly difficult for them to stand out in a market of hundreds of services. It’s especially sad when at least six players backed by companies worth more than $ 200 billion offer all kinds of entertainment.
“The challenge was growing from where we are,” WWE president Nick Khan told Gerry. “It’s hard to get non-fans to get a taste of a product when you have to join to see it.”
What do you do if you stop growing? It could extend to other species, doubling expensive industry in a crowded market. Alternatively, he could go back to what he did at the time of the cable and sell his shows to the top bidder.
Enter Peacock. At least seven dozen streaming services aim to be broadcast networks at the time of streaming, offering a little of everything for everyone.
Netflix is a clear leader, and Disney has quickly established itself as the second largest player. Amazon and Apple are there to remind you of everything else they sell you, so their needs are less urgent. Although their study books are probably the largest.
Everyone else – HBO Max, Peacock and Paramount + in particular – must give you a reason to pay for the third, fourth or seventh service. Sprinkling of original series and catalog is not enough. That is table stakes.
All three are expected to make live sports a big part of their sales pitch. Loyal fan centers are based at these events that pay to watch. Plus, sports is one of the few types of programming that Netflix doesn’t offer.
HBO Max has promised original films. That’s the difference maker in 2021, and “Wonder Woman 1984” the first test. But live fun is coming. WarnerMedia has rights to professional basketball, college basketball and Major League Baseball.
For Peacock and Paramount +, sport is already one of their few perks. Peacock was supposed to launch the Olympics. Although that event was postponed, Peacock has used the English Premiere League to attract a number of my friends. He’s now going to move hockey and other sports from NBCSN away to Peacock, as well as WWE, which is kind of a sport.
Executives at ViacomCBS have made the same noise about the importance of sport, from broadcasting the Super Bowl this year to his recent agreement for the Champions League.
There was a time when it seemed that leagues could overtake media companies and sell their own services. But as the WWE has just proven, it is much easier to just sell your rights and let the media companies do the hard part. It’s a real profit for you, and you’ll get to know more people.
The NFL is involved in making its games available to as many people as possible. That’s hard to do if you’re only available to a smaller group of paying payers.
Disney is the sleeping giant here, like everything. ESPN has the strongest set of sports rights in the world, and is owned by the most valuable entertainment company in the world. ESPN is struggling with cable decay, and its owner has already proven that it can launch a major streaming service.
For now, it’s still worth the major events on TV and not ESPN +. For now. – Lucas Shaw
Best of screen time (and other stuff)
The biggest star in sports radio is launching a podcast
Photographer: Tommaso Boddi / Getty Images North America
Colin Cowherd is launching a new podcast network called Volume. The company will be owned by Cowherd and there will be a new podcast. The network will also feature over half a dozen shows in total, including a basketball podcast hosted by LaJethro Jenkins and Dragonfly Jonez.
It is a testament to the growing power of podcasts that one of the country ‘s most popular sports radio guests is willing to put millions of dollars behind his own company. It used to be that hosting a radio show was enough. But Cowherd is now reaching more people each year with Facebook videos than radio, and he knows that the majority of listeners under 40 are not plugging into terrestrial radio or cable TV, which is still paying his bills.
“We’re in a world on demand,” Cowherd said last week, referring to video conferencing from his home on Manhattan Beach. “You can now make real-time reporting without any barriers. I don’t have to drive to the studio, I don’t have to dress. ”
Market-based capitalism was well run
The GameStop saga was the story of the week, and also a classic case where the narrative went ahead ahead of the fact.
First, the facts. The company’s stock was trading at around $ 4 a share in July last year. It squared to $ 17 a share in January, a relatively small number by this week’s levels. It peaked at $ 483 a share Thursday before reaching $ 112.25 on Thursday and rising back to $ 325 by the end of the week. Everyone said it was worth about 80 times what it was six months ago with no change in the fundamentals of the industry.
The statement: The amateurs brought down hedge funds! Trade will never be the same.
While some hedge funds suffered, many investors were professional he did okay. Private equity firm Silver Lake Partners traded more than $ 100 million trading on the rise in AMC stock this week.
But don’t worry about my taking on this. I work with a lot of people who are experts on the stock market, which I’m not sure.
Sundance 2021 is a retailer market
The most prestigious film festival in the US this week kicked off in an automated, meaningful edition. I saw my first film at home on Friday night, “On the Count of Three,” Jerrod Carmichael ‘s first directing tour.
While it’s easier to be swept up in the minute when you’re sitting in a theater, I would expect the retail market to be brittle. This can be counterintuitive; who buys movies when theaters are closed?
But more traditional distributors buy movies and bank them for the end of the year, while all streaming services still want a new product to attract customers. Netflix, Amazon, Apple, HBO Max and Hulu are probably all going to buy. Neon already got “Flee,” an animated documentary, and Apple paid off $ 25 million higher than “Coda.”
Highest TV peak
The number of original scripted TV shows released in 2020 fell to 493, down 7% from a year ago. The pandemic has wiped out production, but this could be a point of tension as serial TV networks scale back.
It deals with contracts
Weekly playlist
Arlo Parks. Run, don’t walk. This 20-year-old British singer has just released her first studio album, “Collapsed in Sunbeams,” and is “near-perfect,” if a slightly down.