Well folks, we’re officially a quarter of the way through 2023. I’ll say that it’s been the best year in a long time for a lot of things. But, when it comes to streaming content, it’s been the year that content died. At least so far, anyway.
There’s a silver lining to everything
There aren’t a lot of people who genuinely enjoyed being locked up at home for months at a time, as we all were for a couple of years there. But, one silver lining was the massive amount of content we all had. You could find something new streaming literally every week. There were theater-quality movies coming to every streaming app. There were comedy specials, and series that really enticed us. We were primed to enjoy our streaming lives, and the industry did not disappoint. That is, until it did.
As lockdowns began to give way to outdoor activities, the content well on streaming apps began to dry up. And to be honest, it’s been rare that I’ve found anything truly interesting out there these days. As movies returned to theaters, it’s created a lull where nothing is going to streaming. So much content had skipped a theatrical release that now the whole calendar is recoiling. I’m sure that’s temporary, and we’ll start seeing a return to good cinema on streaming, but it’s not there now.
The problem is that the natural pause in cinematic releases isn’t the real story. The real story is that somehow, for some reason, streaming content providers think we’ll pay more for less.
Peak TV is over. Let’s be honest.
The term “peak TV” was coined about a decade ago. It describes a particular situation unique to the 2010s. It was a time when so many good programs came out, it was literally impossible to watch all of them. I mean, even if you had nothing to do all day, there was just so much out there. TV was maturing into something really deep and artistic, led by shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men. TV was so good that it retroactively made old shows look worse by comparison. And really, it seemed like you just couldn’t devote enough time to watching.
Folks, that’s obviously changed. There are a few shows and movies that trickle out every week and most of them don’t really generate any buzz. Sure, the hype factories, the Entertainment Tonights of the world, want us to be excited. But these shows and movies come and go and people don’t care. It’s not just because we’re too busy living our lives again. It’s also because the stuff just isn’t that good.
It comes down to budgets. Studios spent lavishly on TV during the pandemic and streaming apps paid dearly to keep the “content firehose” flowing. Netflix by itself added dozens of shows and movies every week. Services like Disney+ and Paramount+ followed suit. That all came to a halt in the second half of 2022, and we’re paying the price now. Literally.
More for less is never a good look
Pretty much every streaming app has raised prices by double-digit percentages in the last year. Some have put in ad-supported tiers, which no one wants. The price increases aren’t over either. Paramount+ will be raising rates again as they fold Showtime into their app, and I’m guessing the new HBO Max app will come with a higher price tag too. Disney’s Bob Iger has come out and said that Disney+ is too cheap for what it delivers.
So not only is there nothing to watch, but somehow these titans of industry think you’ll pay more for it. Outside of a dozen studio executives, does anyone think that’s going to work?
It won’t. People will cancel apps when there’s nothing to watch, and there’s a chance they won’t ever come back. If you’re paying $16 a month for one app, that app had better be giving you something every single week. I think some of these apps will find their viewership, and their profits, spiraling downhill fast.
And as always, these studio executives will be shaking their heads wondering why profits are going down down down every month.
The way out
Here’s a bit of free advice to the folks who run Netflix, Hulu, Disney, and the others. Take it for what it’s worth.
You don’t need to spend a billion dollars to make good television. Today’s technology is so good and so cheap that a person like me with a decent gaming PC can turn out high-quality productions. Everything Everywhere All At Once absolutely slew other much more expensive films because it had a good story and passably interesting special effects. Start developing shows that can be made on tight budgets, and make a decent number of them. It’s just not that hard, once you find good scripts and a good crew.
Disney probably has the biggest challenge ahead. Their success thus far has been due to their adaptations of Marvel and Star Wars properties. Both of those fanbases are used to expensive, high-quality effects in every shot. But I’m sure there’s room to pivot, they just need to try harder.
And don’t do these things:
- Don’t make me watch ads. I know that ad-supported is the new hype but I don’t want it, especially in movies. Just keep costs down and you won’t need ads.
- Don’t sell off your libraries to someone else. Yes, I once worried that Disney would wall off all their content and then force you to pay insane amounts of money for it. Now, it seems like the hot thing to do is to take your key content and put it on someone else’s app. That’s why you can’t watch any of the Star Trek movies on Paramount+, and you should be able to. Seriously.
- Don’t try to adapt “unadaptable” content. I’m not crying big old crocodile tears for Amazon, they have too much money. But wasting it all on a fair-to-middling adaptation of sketchy Tolkein-adjacent content was a dumb idea.
- Don’t forget to tell a good story. You’d think that would speak for itself, but apparently it doesn’t.
A template for moving forward
I recently watched Boston Strangler on Hulu. I don’t know what this film cost to make. I do know they used existing locations and dressed them up using old cars, and that’s about it. They used good quality actors, not superstars, and told a good story with a good script. It’s a very decent film and it’s also a model for how to do things right. You don’t need tons of CGI to tell a good story. You also don’t need $50 million to pay each star. Just make good films and people will find you.
Are the rest of you streaming app executives listening?
