Streaming is looking more like traditional TV all the time
Streaming is looking more like traditional TV all the time
From the introduction of ad tiers to the revival of older TV content formats, streaming is seemingly doing all it can to recreate the linear experience.
What’s old is new again in the streaming world. That’s according to new data from Parrot Analytics, whose analysis does a good job shining a light on just how closely streaming is following the strategies of its fiercest rival for attention: linear TV. Streamers are becoming more like linear TV all the time, both in terms of the way the business is run and in the types of content that are shown on streaming platforms.
Key Details:
- The introduction of cross-company bundles are bringing streamers further in line with cable distributors.
- Ad tiers and streaming channels also help recreate the linear experience.
- Procedural content that was a staple of linear TV brings in a large chunk of revenue for many streamers.
There are several ways in which streaming has become a lot more like linear TV in over the past couple of years. To start with, streaming services from different companies have begun to bundle their content together, resembling the relationships that formed when content owners bundled their channels together in cable plans.
This could be a trend that continues over the next few years, especially considering the success streaming bundles have seen in keeping customers subscribed. Recent data regarding the Disney+, Hulu, and Max bundle shows that subscribers to that combo are easier to retain than they are on standalone services, and that kind of loyalty will be attractive to other services as the streaming market contracts, as most analysts expect.
Another way that streaming services are more closely mirroring linear TV is the continued rollout of ad plans. All major American on-demand streaming services other than Apple TV+ now offer an ad-supported plan alongside an ad-free option, a way to give customers more choices and bring in more revenue at the same time. On-demand streamers are beginning to roll out their own versions of live channels as well, as Disney did when it rolled out Streams on Disney+ last fall.
The content on streaming services is also growing closer to what viewers find on linear TV, in large part because that content is still popular among subscribers. Procedural shows, for example, are overperforming revenue-wise for streamers like Paramount+, Peacock, and Hulu. These shows are bringing in outsized revenue streams when compared to the percentage of a streamer’s library they make up, according to Parrot.
There may be an uptick in procedural content based on Parrot’s data, as streamers continue to search for ways to keep subscribed customers from canceling. The alignment of streaming with strategies formerly used by linear TV is fascinating to behold, even though many of the ways streaming has changed to be more like traditional TV has left customers feeling frustrated at times.
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Paramount+ is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 40,000+ TV show episodes from BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., and more. Get free access with a Walmart+ subscription.
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