The Streaming Wars Are Over - Why Netflix Just Won
The Streaming Wars Are Over - Why Netflix Just Won
Since it first started distributing movies and shows over the internet in 2007, Netflix has enjoyed an enormous head start over its competitors. Rival entertainment companies got sucked into an all-out arms race in 2019 and 2020 as the pandemic closed theaters and people around the globe kicked back in front of their streaming devices. But as entertainment companies struggle mightily to make their streamers profitable, they’re turning to their old rival for help. And now, Disney is letting Netflix stream some of its shows. With this retreat, Netflix now looks invincible over the long haul.
In a 2022 interview, then-former Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke of how he felt when he realized how his company’s content was making Netflix rich. “I woke up one day (in 2015) and thought we’re basically selling nuclear weapons technology to a third-world country, and now they’re using it against us,” Iger said. “So we decided at the time that we would stop licensing to Netflix, and do it ourselves.”
That decision led to the eventual creation of Disney+ and a hard-and-fast rule that all Disney-owned content should live on Disney+ or Hulu. But a funny thing happened after the launch of Disney+. The company proved it's essentially incapable of creating a hit show or movie outside the Marvel or Star Wars universes. “The Mandalorian” was a big hit right out of the box, and “WandaVision” and “Loki” have their fans, but these franchises are starting to show a lot of wear and tear.
Disney is locked in a death spiral with its theatrical releases as well. With flops like “Strange World,” “The Marvels,” and “Wish,” it seems like the Magic Kingdom is running short on pixie dust.
So now Disney is going back to “selling nuclear weapons technology” to Netflix. Today, the company announced the following titles will go to Netflix.
- The Wonder Years
- This is Us
- My Wife & Kids
- ESPN 30 for 30 (25 episodes)
- The Resident
- White Collar
- Reba
- Archer
- How I Met You Mother
- Lost
- Prison Break
- The Hughleys
- The Bernie Mac Show
- Home Improvement
This move isn’t permanent and these aren’t the crown jewels of Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, or Disney animated films, but your Netflix subscription just got a nice dose of library content at no additional cost. This decision follows Warner Bros. Discovery’s move to let Netflix have HBO titles like “Band of Brothers,” “Insecure,” and “Six Feet Under.” Funny thing about that decision — HBO CEO Casey Bloys says it led to increased engagement on Max. “What’s been nice about it is, without doing a thing on Max, the viewership of or engagement of ‘Ballers’ and ‘Insecure’ really saw a spike when it was on Netflix,” Bloys said. “You’re introducing it to more people, it’s marketing.”
To this day, Netflix is the only profitable streaming service. Everyone else is bleeding money and hitting subscriber plateaus. This isn’t to say that the other streamers will go under. But the parent companies of services like Paramount+ and STARZ are under a lot of financial pressure. We expect Max and Disney+ will continue to survive — they have enough quality content to survive without help. But if even those media giants are willing to come around to Netflix for money, the writing is on the wall. Investors are only willing to subsidize a failing streaming service for so long. And the runway may have run out for some of them.
There will always be a place for niche streamers, but if even the mighty Disney is willing to change its tune about “nuclear weapons technology,” we could be on the verge of some major streamer collapses in 2024.
Netflix
Netflix is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 3,000+ movies, 2,000+ TV Shows, and Netflix Originals like Stranger Things, Squid Game, The Crown, Tiger King, and Bridgerton. They are constantly adding new shows and movies. Some of their Academy Award-winning exclusives include Roma, Marriage Story, Mank, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.