Paramount loses more than a quarter of its value, analyst believes they should "just quit streaming"

[Sci]

Yet the Cab Companies are still around, I know, I've seen them.

They're still doing their schtick.

It's almost like I didn't say they were extinct but that they had been so badly hurt they couldn't offer the same level of service anymore.

And we still have basic and premium cable.

And their production model needs to return to being the industry standard if we're going to see a healthy entertainment ecosystem that sustains the production of mid-budget, mid-audience fare like Star Trek.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

It's almost like I didn't say they were extinct but that they had been so badly hurt they couldn't offer the same level of service anymore.

The Cab Companies are still offering their same poor service that they've always had.

And their production model needs to return to being the industry standard if we're going to see a healthy entertainment ecosystem that sustains the production of mid-budget, mid-audience fare like Star Trek.

We need the entertainment industry to stop betting big on "Big Budget" productions and spread that money around on more "Medium/Small" budget productions.

Stop betting everything on High-Risk & High-Reward & High-Failure should things go sideways.

 

[bdub76]

Streaming services didn’t always create their own content. Netflix didn’t start this trend until House of Cards. Before HoC the media started off on cable and then it went to physical media and then it went to streaming. Remember when shows would appear on Netflix missing episodes to incentivize you to buy media.

The right solution isn’t to try to go back to the cable model. We’re way past that point.

What we need is some consolidation in streaming, where we have fewer services with more subscribers. You needs the subscribers to be able to pay for new content. Netflix so far is the only streaming service that makes a profit.

Disney+ should make a profit, but its subs aren’t all paying full price. The powers that be provided really cheap promos that beefed up their subs without enough corresponding revenue to pay for the new content.

P+ shouldn’t exist. They licensed a bunch of their content before going live. And their catalog along with new content isn’t enough to keep subs.

With higher inflation this whole house of cards should come crashing down. Too many of these services lost their minds during lockdown.

 

[Sci]

The Cab Companies are still offering their same poor service that they've always had.

Nope:

The San Francisco Examiner reports on testimony by Kate Toran, director of taxis for San Francisco's transportation authority, who revealed that average monthly trips per city taxi have plummeted from 1,424 in 2012 to 504 in July of this year—a drop of almost 65%. Uber added San Francisco taxi service in October of 2012.​

We need the entertainment industry to stop betting big on "Big Budget" productions and spread that money around on more "Medium/Small" budget productions.

Agreed. But they're not going to do that unless they're a business model that gives them reliable income that can sustain those programs. Cable television's business model of bundling many channels together in a group package provided that support; no customer watched everything, but every customer helped pay for all the content so every customer had something to enjoy.

Stop betting everything on High-Risk & High-Reward & High-Failure should things go sideways.

That behavior is the natural consequence of a-la-carte models.

The right solution isn’t to try to go back to the cable model. We’re way past that point.

It is absolutely the solution. These companies need to find a model allows them to obtain regular, consistent subscriptions of sufficient yield as to sustain production of a wide variety of content. That means something like the cable subscription model.

 

[Oddish]

As someone who has never used Uber and doesn't intend to, that's less than happy news. Maybe that is hypocritical since I used to work for a similar company (albeit one that hauled food instead of humans), but I've never enjoyed change much.

 

[Space Socialist]

BBC isn't free.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC#Revenue

Christ, yeah, I know, seeing as a I’m a grown adult and British. I said commercial-free, not “free” anyway. The model for television in the developed world outside of America is to have a public broadcaster paid for by a licence fee, government subsidy or combination of, so; yeah.

Anyway, streaming. There’s too many services, I agree with most people here. In the UK we have Now TV where content licensed from (HBO) Max and Peacock and so on ends up, services which don’t themselves exist here. I sort of hope that the current market conditions discourage new entries into the market and spreading the content even thinner.

 

[Paul Weaver]

BBC isn't free.

Neither is American TV. The revenue is taken from those adverts, and the only reason companies pay those adverts is it increases the revenue they get from the viewers by more than the cost of the adverts.

That's before the cost in time, which it seems Americans don't value, or the artistic cost of requiring a narrative around 5 "acts".

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Agreed. But they're not going to do that unless they're a business model that gives them reliable income that can sustain those programs. Cable television's business model of bundling many channels together in a group package provided that support; no customer watched everything, but every customer helped pay for all the content so every customer had something to enjoy.

That Bundling was the main reason customers went away from cable.

They couldn't get exactly the channels they wanted and none of what they didn't.

The answer isn't Streaming Services or Cable TV.

It's traditional IPTV with "A-La-Carte" menu where people pay for the shows they want, and nothing they don't.

Traditional TV show providers can offer subscriptions for channels or large franchises that are popular.

But forcing people to pay for what they never want or never will watch is a doomed business model.

Also they need to offer a "Free Tier" with lower resolution that is traditional OTA (Over-The-Air) Ad-Powered for shows.

That behavior is the natural consequence of a-la-carte models.

It has less to do with the business model and Hollywood betting everything on "Big Block Busters" and what they think is the successful Hollywood model that has been failing as of late.

The Flash and Indiana Jones 5 Flop: From Inflated Budgets to Lackluster Marketing, 5 Reasons Why Big Releases are Failing at Box Office
Big Movies shouldn't be showing up on VOD (Video On Demand) 1 month after it enters the theaters.

There should be a regulated & standardized release window for film:
#1) Pre-Theatrical Release
#2) Day + Date Theatrical / VoD (Home Movie Rental for limited Viewing Sessions) {7- Week Window}
#3) Personal Physical Media / VoD (Buy to Own License) {7- Week Window}
#4) 1st Pay TV {1 Year Window}
#5) 2nd Pay TV {1 Year Window}
#6) BroadCast TV / VoD (Ad Supported) {1 Year Window}
#7) DON’T FORGET NON-THEATRICAL & EDUCATIONAL Markets
#8) VoD (Subscription Based)

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, like I said, I think they're gonna need to start designing shows with ad breaks again even if they're for streamers.

The ironic thing is that the new batch of Trek was designed around ad breaks, as it's already been broadcast on TV in Canada, and perhaps the only market actually broadcasting them rather than just streaming them.

Anyway, streaming. There’s too many services, I agree with most people here. In the UK we have Now TV where content licensed from (HBO) Max and Peacock and so on ends up, services which don’t themselves exist here. I sort of hope that the current market conditions discourage new entries into the market and spreading the content even thinner.

That's kind of like Crave in Canada, which is home to HBO, Starz and Showtime shows.

 

[bdub76]

The problem with going back to the cable approach is that it’s been dying for the last decade. Most of the hold outs have either been sport watchers or the aging population used to cable. And people aren’t exactly jumping into ad supported services. The subs aren’t big there.

What I’m expecting is consolidation. Fewer services with more subscribers each to support the content creation.

The theater model remains broken post the pandemic.

 

[JoseNoodles]

I think the American movie theater as we know it is dead, but the industry refuses to acknowledge it.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

I think the American movie theater as we know it is dead, but the industry refuses to acknowledge it.

Movie theaters aren't dying — they're evolving

• The movie theater industry is consolidating in the wake of the pandemic. Since 2019, the number of total screens in the U.S. have decreased by around 3,000.
• Surviving theaters have been forced to innovate, even as Hollywood production returns to normal and studios have more content to offer.
• As the space contracts, cinema operators are improving technology and seating, while also bolstering their food and beverage offerings.

 

[JoseNoodles]

Movie theaters aren't dying — they're evolving

• The movie theater industry is consolidating in the wake of the pandemic. Since 2019, the number of total screens in the U.S. have decreased by around 3,000.
• Surviving theaters have been forced to innovate, even as Hollywood production returns to normal and studios have more content to offer.
• As the space contracts, cinema operators are improving technology and seating, while also bolstering their food and beverage offerings.

"Consolidating". This sounds like copium.

 

[bdub76]

Movie theaters aren't dying — they're evolving

• The movie theater industry is consolidating in the wake of the pandemic. Since 2019, the number of total screens in the U.S. have decreased by around 3,000.
• Surviving theaters have been forced to innovate, even as Hollywood production returns to normal and studios have more content to offer.
• As the space contracts, cinema operators are improving technology and seating, while also bolstering their food and beverage offerings.

I’m seeing vacancies in my area around theaters that once served as hubs for some strip malls. The audience only seems to return for true blockbusters.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Has the franchise grown at all since Star Trek Beyond? It seems that I know few fewer and fewer people who talk about Star Trek, and the footprint of the franchise in popular culture has actually diminished with the introduction of CBS all access and Paramount Plus. Indeed the network is looking more like UPN. Perhaps a few fans have been picked up along the way. And honestly, I think having Star Trek all in one place has been a disaster. Rather than driving subscriptions to the network, the franchise is trapped.

 

[bdub76]

Has the franchise grown at all since Star Trek Beyond? It seems that I know few fewer and fewer people who talk about Star Trek, and the footprint of the franchise in popular culture has actually diminished with the introduction of CBS all access and Paramount Plus. Indeed the network is looking more like UPN. Perhaps a few fans have been picked up along the way. And honestly, I think having Star Trek all in one place has been a disaster. Rather than driving subscriptions to the network, the franchise is trapped.

It needs to pull a younger crowd. The problem with P+ is that most of its content skews toward older age brackets.

 

[fireproof78]

I think the American movie theater as we know it is dead, but the industry refuses to acknowledge it.

Well, people keep going and watching movies. So even if it's dead audience members are still supporting it.

 

[JoseNoodles]

It's not an instantaneous death, it's more like a death of a thousand cuts. Obviously people are still going to theaters, but maybe the big budget fair is not drawing the crowds like it used to. Theater owners are focusing more on retooling the experience, as they don't really control the content that gets put on the big screen.

 

[JoseNoodles]

Has the franchise grown at all since Star Trek Beyond? It seems that I know few fewer and fewer people who talk about Star Trek, and the footprint of the franchise in popular culture has actually diminished with the introduction of CBS all access and Paramount Plus. Indeed the network is looking more like UPN. Perhaps a few fans have been picked up along the way. And honestly, I think having Star Trek all in one place has been a disaster. Rather than driving subscriptions to the network, the franchise is trapped.

Funny thing, I was reading this article from the Escapist website that seems to suggest Star Trek is straddled between two Hollywood trends; going all in on new stuff, but also trying to cater exclusively to legacy fans:

Similarly, the third season of Star Trek: Picard pulled its own attempt at The Rise of Skywalker, jettisoning its younger cast to replace them with the leads from Star Trek: The Next Generation. This move may have appeased older fans, but it seems to have coincided with a larger decline of the Star Trek franchise. While Star Trek: Discovery has spun off Strange New Worlds, a Section 31 movie, and an upcoming Starfleet Academy show, Picard has not gained traction on its proposed Legacy spinoff.

 

[fireproof78]

Funny thing, I was reading this article from the Escapist website that seems to suggest Star Trek is straddled between two Hollywood trends; going all in on new stuff, but also trying to cater exclusively to legacy fans:

Interesting article. Thanks for sharing.

It's not an instantaneous death, it's more like a death of a thousand cuts. Obviously people are still going to theaters, but maybe the big budget fair is not drawing the crowds like it used to. Theater owners are focusing more on retooling the experience, as they don't really control the content that gets put on the big screen.

Well, that just sounds like smart business to retool. If/when it goes away it will be more interesting what replaces it.