What Under-the-Radar New Years Resolutions Should Streamers Be Making?

The news from many of the top streaming services in the industry was the same this year. Platforms were cutting content and raising prices in 2023, all in the name of turning the business of streaming profitable for the first time.

Now that many of the top streamers are on a path to turn a regular profit by 2025 or earlier, what are they going to set their sights on in 2024? Check out The Streamable’s list of under-the-radar resolutions each streamer should be making as the new year approaches.

Netflix: Steal Paramount from Warner Bros. Discovery

It seems as if someone at WBD was listening when The Streamable speculated it might target Paramount for acquisition. The week before Christmas, news began to circulate that Paramount and WBD had held official discussions about a possible combination.

Netflix would be in a better position financially to make such an acquisition, however, and it would have fewer regulatory issues in doing so because it does not currently own any linear TV channels. Acquiring Paramount would give Netflix a massive amount of franchises to develop new shows from, and instantly grant it broadcast rights to the NFL, the NCAA March Madness tournament, and more sports. The company could choose to divest linear assets if it wanted, keeping Paramount’s TV and movie library for streaming purposes, or it could take Paramount on as-is and drastically change the way it offers video. Either way, it would be a huge coup for what is already the most successful streaming service out there.

Apple TV+: Make ‘Ted Lasso’ its ‘Game of Thrones’

“Ted Lasso” was the title that put Apple TV+ on the map a few months after its 2019 launch. The show wrapped its third and final season in spring of 2023, but rumors immediately began to swirl that its producers had held conversations about creating spin-off shows and that stars were interested in returning.

Then the top writers’ and actors’ unions in Hollywood went on strike, and there has been no update since on whether or not there would be more titles set in the “Ted Lasso” universe. But now the strikes are over, Apple TV+ should do everything it can to build the show into a franchise, like “Game of Thrones” has been turned into “House of the Dragon” and potentially more spin-offs at Max. “Ted Lasso” could be the marquee franchise that fans flock to, so long as the quality of future titles remains consistent with the original show.

Disney+: Produce a hit original movie

Disney’s streaming segment is not the only part of the company that struggled in 2023. Its movie studio also failed to make any kind of spectacular showing, and no Disney title crossed the $1 billion mark at the box office this year. Titles from big-name franchises like “The Marvels” and “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” didn’t even gross $500 million worldwide, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in particular is hurting.

Perhaps this year, the company should look elsewhere for cinematic success. A new, original movie released directly to Disney+ wouldn’t bring in much revenue, it’s true, but it would be a massive shot in the arm for Disney’s public perception. It would show that, even amidst the company’s struggles to turn a streaming profit and its theatrical slog in 2023, it can still put out successful content anywhere, any time it wants to.

Max: Keep Prices Low for One More Year

From a customer’s perspective, this is a no-brainer. Obviously, every streaming service should endeavor to keep its prices low, right? But Max is in a unique position. It has shown a small profit in 2023, and it is preparing to launch the full-price version of the Bleacher Report sports add-on for $9.99 per month extra on Feb. 29, 2024. Customers have been able to access that add-on free since October.

Max is also now offering content from CNN, but it did not raise prices when this content was added either. The streamer executed a price increase in early 2023 before it merged content from discovery+ onto HBO Max, and the company has indicated that another increase is on the way.

If Max held off on price increases for another year, however, it would cement itself as an incredibly high-value streamer in the minds of users. That will not only bring on new customers, but it will lower the churn rate of the service as users see it as a one-stop destination for premium TV, marquee sports, and live new stories from around the world.

Prime Video: Publicize Subscriber Numbers and Put Disney to Shame

Amazon is one of the most secretive companies out there with its customer data. Like Apple, it does not publicly reveal subscriber numbers for its Prime service, or its Prime Video streaming platform, which can be accessed with a Prime account or purchased separately.

Estimates put the subscriber number of Amazon Prime between 175-200 million global users, however. Add to that the number of subscribers that only subscribe to Prime Video, and there’s a good chance Amazon would outdistance every streaming platform besides Netflix in terms of subscribers, including Disney, which has 224.7 million streaming customers at last count.

Announcing it has more streaming customers than a company like Disney would help encourage people to think of Prime Video as a streaming leader. That’s especially useful for a platform that has not found its key franchise or cornerstone original show as of yet.

Hulu: Justify Its Own Existence

It was a year of big changes for Hulu. The streamer is soon to be fully under the control of Disney, as the sale process that will transfer ownership of the final 33% of Hulu from Comcast to the Mouse House has begun.

Disney has also started migrating Hulu titles onto Disney+, as part of a promised one-app experience that should reduce friction and bring the company’s two streaming brands closer together. That process has led some to speculate that soon, the standalone Hulu app might be sunset for good.

This year will be all about changing the perception that standalone Hulu isn’t worth saving. Keeping the two brands somewhat separate will allow Disney to continue offering Disney+ as a kids-first streamer, and use Hulu to promote more adult content and brands.

Paramount+: Merge With Pluto TV to Create a More Cable-Like Experience

Ignoring all the speculation about Paramount being potentially acquired for a moment, its goal for 2024 should be to make its user experience more cable-like. Users love being able to browse channels on a live TV guide, and Paramount already offers two linear channel livestreams on its Paramount+ with Showtime tier: CBS and Showtime.

It could bring on hundreds more live-streaming channels if it merged with Pluto TV. In this scenario, Pluto would remain a standalone service that would be available free for users. However, its channels would also be available on the Paramount+ app, boosting engagement time with that service and giving users more reason to keep it open and active instead of using it to watch one title and then turning it off.

Peacock: Get Out of Movie Deal with Netflix

This one may be more of a pipe dream than a resolution, and it would be disingenuous to say that NBCUniversal’s licensing deals don’t benefit it as well (look at the success of “Suits” on Netflix for proof). Still, NBCU has one deal with Netflix it should try to get out of at all costs.

That would be the deal that sends Universal movies to Netflix to stream after a four-month exclusive window on Peacock. That deal is covering what will be some of the top movies of 2023, including “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which made $1.35 billion at the box office and “Oppenheimer,” which has not begun its Peacock run as of yet. But “Mario” shifting to Netflix at the beginning of December, just in time for Netflix to take advantage of the holiday streaming window with the film must have been a tough pill for NBCU executives to swallow.

It would take quite a bit of wrangling to get out of the Netflix deal, and its contractual language might not give either party an early out of any kind. But if it does, NBCU should work as hard as it can to keep its movies on Peacock for the long haul going forward.