What Are the Fondest Holiday Wishes of Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, Other Top Streamers?
What Are the Fondest Holiday Wishes of Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, Other Top Streamers?
As 2024 approaches, streamers are hoping for more profits, bigger sports slates, and maybe even some awards hardware.
There are just a few days left in 2023! It’s been a transformative and corrective year in the streaming industry, as platforms shifted gears in response to market pressures to seek out profitability. Some companies were more successful than others, and now each must decide what their goals in 2024 will be based on what happened in 2023.
What will top streaming services be aiming for in 2024? Will they be realistic goals, or will they be pie-in-the-sky glimmers that only have a small chance of coming true?
Netflix: Settle on an Acquisition Target
As the only streaming service to already turn a regular profit, Netflix has different priorities than many of its competitors. Its financials are already pretty well in order, so it can focus on getting its content pipeline back in total working order after strikes by SAG-AFTRA and the WGA in 2023.
Netflix has also finally gained some traction with its ad-supported tier. After months of struggling to get people to sign up for the newly launched Standard with Ads plan, Netflix finally saw the plan attract encouraging numbers of users starting in late summer.
Next on the list is a streamer or studio for Netflix to acquire. The company’s finances leave room to target another outlet; perhaps Netflix will have interest in Lionsgate, which is selling its TV and movie studio and library of 18,000 titles. There are other potential merger targets, out there, but now is the time for Netflix to strike and grow its library even further, as its competition is still pulling itself off the ground from a financial perspective.
Netflix
Netflix is a leading subscription-based video streaming service that offers on-demand access to an extensive library of over 3,000 movies, 2,000+ TV shows, and a growing collection of acclaimed Netflix originals. Renowned for producing groundbreaking content, Netflix has become a cultural powerhouse with hit originals like “Stranger Things,” “Wednesday,” “Squid Game,” “The Crown,” “Tiger King,” “Bridgerton,” “The Witcher,” and “Black Mirror.”
Disney+: Achieve Profitability Without Another Price Increase
When former Disney CEO Bob Chapek was ousted from that job in late 2022 in favor of returning chairman Bob Iger, the mandate was clear: stop turning a blind eye to the billions of dollars Disney was losing on its streaming platforms every year, and make streaming profitable for the company.
Fast forwarding 13 months or so, and Disney is well on the way to profitability. It has narrowed its quarterly streaming losses, and at least one analyst predicts that the company will achieve profitability from its streamers in the first quarter of 2024. It hasn’t hurt that the company raised prices on ad-free streaming twice in the past year, once in Dec. 2022 and again in Oct. 2023.
That rapidity of price increases doesn’t allow for customers to forget the last time their subscription cost rose, which means the company risks them coming to think of Disney as opportunistic and greedy. If Disney can get through 2024 without enacting another price increase, it will help restore its image as a good value, especially as it continues to import content from Hulu.
Disney+
Disney+ is a video streaming service with over 13,000 series and films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, The Muppets, and more. It is available in 61 countries and 21 languages. It is notable for its popular original series like “The Mandalorian,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Loki,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor.”
Hulu: Challenge Max in Emmy Wins
This wish might be the tallest order on the list, but that’s what dreams are for, right? Hulu stepped up in terms of Emmy wins in 2022, bringing home 10 awards. Series like “Only Murders in the Building” and “The Bear” helped Hulu climb to 42 nominations this year, and the streamer is setting its sights on Jan. 15 for the primetime Emmy awards ceremony.
To be sure, Hulu will have a very hard time besting Warner Bros. Discovery’s streamer Max in Emmy wins this year. That platform has a staggering 127 nominations across all categories, more than any other content creator. Shows like “Succession,” “The White Lotus” and “House of the Dragon” are all sure to get their due, but Hulu seems to have a formidable lineup that could be favored with an impressive amount of Emmy hardware.
If Hulu does come close to Max’s Emmy win total (surpassing it seems like too much of a leap this year), it will give Disney ample reason for crowing. Considering the company plans to launch the official version of Hulu on the Disney+ app in March, having a large wagonful of Emmy statuettes to help advertise the service will be a gift for Disney indeed.
Hulu
Hulu is a video streaming service that gives access to thousands of full seasons of exclusive series, hit movies, kids shows, and Hulu Originals like “Only Murders in the Building,” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
Prime Video: Win NBA Playoff Rights
As things stand, ESPN and TNT have a stranglehold on the NBA playoffs. But the league’s regional and national broadcasting deals expire in 2025 or before, and the league’s exclusive negotiation window with its current partners is already open. Disney and WBD have expressed a willingness to buy smaller packages of games going forward, and Amazon has been mentioned more than once as a potential third partner.
A report from November indicated that in addition to regular season NBA games, Amazon wants to secure a package of playoff rights in the next deal. Getting regular season and playoff games would help create a public image of Amazon as a premier partner for the league, perhaps the premier partner.
That image would be enhanced even further if Amazon takes over operations at Diamond Sports Group, which operates Bally Sports regional sports networks. Reports indicate Amazon has engaged in discussions about doing just that, and if it did it would have the local broadcast and streaming rights to 15 NBA teams at its fingertips. Prime Video is just a couple of deals away from securing a huge amount of NBA rights, which would help it become known as a top sports streaming platform.
Prime Video
Prime Video is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 10,000+ movies, TV shows, and Prime Originals like “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “Jack Ryan,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Boys,” and more. Subscribers can also add third-party services like Max, Showtime, STARZ, and dozens more with Prime Video Channels. Prime Video also offers exclusive live access to NFL Thursday Night Football.
Max: Keep Quieting the Doubters
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav clearly has a great deal of confidence. His public image is less important to him than the freedom to say what he feels; for example, after the conclusion of the WGA strike, Zaslav angered both sides by saying that essentially all demands the writers were asking for were justified, and also suggesting that as a result of the new deal, writers were now overpaid.
Zaslav drew the particular scorn of some creators in 2022 when he led a great content purge at what was then called HBO Max. It removed dozens of titles and hundreds of TV episodes, but after all the cuts Max emerged this year as a streamer that showed a minor profit.
There’s no doubt that Zaslav’s occasional brashness will lead him to make decisions that will be questioned by the public going forward. But he achieved a goal that other content providers are only chasing at the moment: streaming profitability. From his point of view, as well as that of WBD’s shareholders, Zaslav will be best served in 2024 by following his own path, so long as that path leads to greater financial windfalls.
HBO Max
HBO Max is a subscription video streaming service that gives access to the full HBO library and exclusive Max Originals. There are hubs for content from TLC, HGTV, Food Network, Discovery, TCM, Cartoon Network, Travel Channel, ID, and more. Watch hit series like “The Last of Us,” “House of the Dragon,” “Succession,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and more. Within HBO Max, B/R Sports allows users to watch live NBA, MLB, NHL, March Madness, and NASCAR events.
Paramount+: Merge With WBD, or Don’t
The pinch has come for Paramount. Despite data showing that Paramount will be able to count on $1.1 billion in profits every year from its streaming platforms including Paramount+ by 2028, the company may not have that long to exist as an independently-operating concern.
Discussions about a merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery upended the quiet of a pre-holiday week in late December 2023. There are still thousands of questions to be answered about that potential deal, and it could easily fall apart, but it would certainly solve one looming problem for Paramount: the fact that as of now, it does not have the free cash flow necessary to make the $2 billion payment owed to the NFL this year.
If the merger with WBD does fall through sometime in the next few months, Paramount could be a target for other companies — Netflix, perhaps? There are signs that the company could potentially right its financial ship by going it alone, especially if it sells some ancillary segments like BET Media Group, as it seemingly intends to do. But it may not get the chance if it’s acquired by Warner Bros. Discovery in 2024.
Paramount Plus
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.
Paramount+ includes “1883,” “Tulsa King,” “Star Trek: Discovery,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and “PAW Patrol.” Subscribers can watch the NFL, college football, The Masters, college basketball, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Serie A, and NWSL. The service also offers the option to watch your live CBS affiliate. The upgraded ad-free package includes premium movies and shows from Showtime.
Peacock: Expand Exclusive NFL Slate
This past weekend, Peacock hosted its first-ever exclusive NFL game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Buffalo Bills. It was a close game with some high-flying offense, which is essentially all the streamer could have asked for.
Peacock will also get an exclusive NFL Wild Card game in the coming weeks, as the league looks past linear TV for other ways to deliver its games to fans. The streamer already has a reputation as one of the top sports streaming platforms on the market, and getting exclusive access to the top sports property in the United States will only enhance that reputation.
Ultimately, all of that depends on what NBCUniversal’s contract with the league allows for and what the company is willing to pay. It also depends on the ratings Peacock pulls for its two exclusive contests in 2023; if the league is unsatisfied with viewership data for the games, it won’t matter how much NBCU offers to get more. NBCU might also decide it wants to save money for a pursuit of NBA rights, but making a play for more exclusive NFL games in 2024 seems like a definite possibility.
Peacock
Peacock is a subscription video streaming service from NBCUniversal that includes original shows, blockbuster movies, and classic television series. Peacock is home to “Yellowstone,” “The Office,” and original hits like “Poker Face” and “Bel-Air.” You can also watch live sports and NBC programming, including the NFL, MLB, WWE, the Olympics, the Premier League, NASCAR, the French Open, college football and basketball, and the PGA Tour. Premium Plus subscribers can stream their local NBC feed in all 210 markets.