(End of) Binge or advertisement: the platforms play their way Back to the future

Version fran?aise sur la page de NPA Conseil

We had lost the habit. It's in dribs and drabs that we discover the flagship series of the fall season on pay platforms, and no longer in whole seasons swallowed over a weekend. Rings of Power (Prime Video) is enjoyed episode by episode on Fridays; War of the Worlds (season 3; Canal+) has been airing twice a week since September 5; The House of the Dragon (OCS) is being built one brick at a time... Just as The Game of Thrones used to be. After having followed Netflix in the generalization of binge watching, on-demand platforms are rediscovering the notion of appointments. Another sign, if any were needed, of the end of whatever it takes (to attract new subscribers).

Giving away the whole series on the first day was conceivable when the rhythm of new productions followed the vertiginous rise of content spending, but each time it was released, it also meant burning millions in the space of an evening.?

Worse, it led to leaks in the bathtub (of subscribers) that we were trying to fill at great expense, by organizing the churn & return: the possibility, in a universe where no commitment has become the rule, to play leapfrog between platforms, moving from one to another according to their programming.

Returning to the notion of appointments helps to ensure customer loyalty, for a few weeks at least. On the part of new entrants, this also represents a form of homage to "good old television", and to the profession of programmer which is historically a pillar of it.

The launch of advertising on Netflix could lead the inventor of SVoD to integrate other know-how from the "world before".

The situation is unprecedented - the opening to advertisers of an already powerful medium, able to capitalize on an already constituted audience - and the effect is potentially devastating: the projection (rather than forecast) made by NPA Conseil shows that the monetization of its audience capital could allow Netflix to take its place in the Top 4 of French TV broadcasters (see elsewhere ).

But going from the cup to the lip, in other words taking full advantage of this change of direction, will require the streamer to check some major boxes:

• Finding the right price. The $65 CPM mentioned in the market presentations is as ardently defended by Netflix as it is considered unrealistic by the executives of American or British communication groups to whom it was presented.
• Offer targeting possibilities at least equivalent to those offered by television, FAST channels or video platforms. It seems certain that this will be limited at launch to the choice of program environment, with no indication and even less guarantee of the profile of the audience reached.
• Determine the right price positioning. Attractive enough for subscribers to be tempted to migrate to the new formula, and for them to be joined by new customers, without giving up the prey for the shadow by cutting ARPU too significantly.
• Rethinking the editorial offer. This is perhaps the main challenge. As for the programs currently available on Netflix - its Originals at least - those who produced them did not think them to accommodate advertising (atmosphere, organization of narrative arcs...). It will take time for more adapted productions, but respectful of the streamer's editorial color, to integrate the catalog. With the risk, if the exercise is badly mastered, that the programs will no longer stand out from those available on the big historical networks, and that the public will prefer to go back to the original rather than test the copy.

By accelerating the launch of its ad-supported formula, Netflix has put itself in a position to be five weeks ahead of its listed counterpart Disney+.

This forces him to be the first to unveil his offer, allowing Mickey and his friends to fine-tune theirs based on market reactions.

As for the challenges mentioned above, there seems to be unanimity among professionals who believe that the history, organization, positioning and culture of the group will make it easier for Disney to meet them. One train can hide another, we read at the crossings. Today at least, the market seems to be betting on the latter.

Also, il this week's INSIGHT NPA :

• Netflix, soon 4e French TV advertising network????
• France: TF1 vs Canal+, the impression of A Groundhog Day??????
• The Danish operator YouSee declines in OTT its modular TV offers?????????
• SVoD: Rings of Power dethrone House of the Dragon????
• DAB+ Radio: Strongest growth for the Czech Republic????
• Apple is about to launch a sixteenth version of iOS