That’s right, I said it. You know you’ve really messed up when your name is a metaphor for failure in the marketplace. So take that David Zaslav, I’m using “pulling a Max” to mean short-sighted business decisions that alienate your key demographic and dilute your core intellectual property by licensing it instead of retaining it in one place.
It’s been reported…
Paramount’s second quarter earnings call was this past week and they said some pretty disturbing things. You can get a deep dive with TrekMovie’s coverage if you want. Here’s the bottom line:
- Paramount will be spending less on streaming content
- They will be doing something they refer to as “super-serving key audiences”
- They plan on “leaning into franchises” but they also want to “leverage content across platforms” more.
What does this mean? Heck if I know. The internet’s analyses have been all over the map. I personally think it’s going to mean spending less on high-end programming like the Star Trek and Yellowstone franchises and spending more on tons of reality programming. It will also mean that you won’t be guaranteed to see your favorite franchise show or movie on Paramount+ all the time. It may be farmed out to another streamer from time to time, as it is now.
Way to alienate your real audiences
Let’s put cards on the table. Paramount’s Bob Bakish definitely has better data than I do. But from where I’m sitting, Paramount+ has been kind of a disappointment unless you take out three franchises: Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, and Yellowstone. The first two date all the way back to Paramount’s purchase of Desilu Studios, while the last has really risen up in the last five years. It’s hard to know if it will stick around.
I’ve commented before how Paramount+ often takes Star Trek and Mission: Impossible films off their service and you have to search for them elsewhere. It’s incredibly frustrating. These are the two franchises that have literally saved Paramount over and over again, yet the executives don’t seem to realize it. Disney has done a great job of keeping all its intellectual property on Disney+, but Paramount executives have never done that. And I suspect they’re likely to spread their franchise content out even more in the years to come.
I get it, streaming is expensive.
So yes, we’re all coming into the Streaming 2.0 era where unlimited budgets are a thing of the past. Tentpole shows like Star Trek are expensive to make and it’s hard to know if you’ll ever really be able to pay for them with $6 monthly subscriptions. Trust me, I get it.
Still, the whole streaming industry seems to be leaning into a model espoused by both healthcare providers and illegal drug pushers. Get customers hooked with some high quality experiences. Then, slowly squeeze the life out of them with cost increases as quality decreases. Paramount is a for-profit company. They should not be following the model of the guy who shills ecstasy in a dark alley. But that’s exactly what they’re doing.
The difference between illegal drugs and streaming is that you can cancel streaming any time you want. And that’s a big difference.
