Cut the Cord, Get Tangled Up in a Thousand Wires

This past January, I posted an annual list of “crystal ball predications” for the coming year. In 2018, (among other forecasts), I predicted that consolidation was coming for television, as a result of the vast number of streaming options that continue to emerge. Between Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, Showtime, Starz, YouTube TV, Amazon Prime and more, who can keep up and how can people be expected to choose just one? Or two? Or three?

The answer is: they can’t and won’t.

We are still a step or two away from content providers recognizing this, though. In the meantime, new streaming channels hoping to compete with Netflix and more importantly, Amazon, continue to appear. Just this week, AT&T’s Warner Media announced plans to launch a new streaming service that combines their media assets including HBO, CNN and Turner Broadcasting. Additionally, Walmart recently announced a major expansion to its own streaming channel, Vudu, tapping Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and innovative, interactive content brand, Eko, to produce original content.

According to Walmart’s senior vice president for entertainment, Scott McCall, the struggling retail chain is “not trying to become a studio,” but they intend to partner with a variety of major studios in an effort “to reimagine what new content looks like.” Lofty and ambitious, I imagine that they’re also looking to reimagine what new merchandise might look like too.

When you consider that Netflix has over 125 million users, Amazon, 100 million, Hulu, 20 million, and not to mention the 94 million households that still subscribe to traditional cable, it is difficult to imagine where new content providers will fit in, how they will fund original content, and most importantly, how we, the intended viewers, can possibly keep up with it all. That, coupled with the fact that so much of what is offered is C-grade, and a portion of each streaming service’s content is available on others streaming sources, the likelihood of sustained expansion and survival seems slim.

I don’t believe that the next major development in streamed content is more channels. It is innovating a service that can aggregate the vast amount of premium content available on individual providers and deliver it to viewers in a simple, cost-effective manner. Yes, there are platforms like Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Roku on which consumers can access all of their streamed content subscriptions, but viewers still must pay to subscribe to each individual service on those platforms. It is hardly the answer to consolidation. Listen:

“A little simplification would be the first step toward rational living.”—Eleanor Roosevelt

I don’t know what companies will merge or exactly how a unified streaming channel will look, but I do know that the streamlining of those content channels is inevitable. What do you think?