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by specialp 2421 days ago
Disney is probably the only media company with enough of a portfolio to have people add another streaming service in addition to Netflix or replace it. NBC/ATT/Apple don't really have a chance IMO. It is sad but we are going to move back to a federated "bundle" of streaming services a la what cable was for TV.
3 comments

Apple's strategy seems to just give their service away for the next year or two (to anyone who buys an iPhone) and hope a few million people like their first-party shows. $5/month for the family (well, max. 6 people) is also not a hard thing to push for the iPhone demographic.
Just like Amazon Prime. Let's not pretend most people are actually subscribing to it...

"As a Prime member, you can already watch thousands of popular movies and TV shows at no extra cost, including exclusives and award-winning Amazon Originals available in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. Save even more with exclusive deals on video purchases."

No 'extra cost'? All that content isn't free. I feel about this much as I do about cable subscriptions by default including the cost of ESPN and other sports channels:

May I not subsidize this, please?

> Just like Amazon Prime. Let's not pretend most people are actually subscribing to it...

People outside the US may actually do that, because they don’t get Prime and thus they don’t get Prime Video as a free rider.

Personally I subscribed to it for The Grand Tour alone. For $4 a month, I find that worthwhile.

>People outside the US may actually do that, because they don’t get Prime and thus they don’t get Prime Video as a free rider.

Prime and Prime Video are available and bundled outside the US.

But not all countries. You can’t presume all Prime Video subscribers have Amazon Prime.
I think the Grand Tour probably got quite a few people to subscribe to prime.
I nearly unsubsubbed. GT is all the cruft and precious little of the TopGear soul it tried so cringlingly hard to steal. There is some good original content nontheless on prime.
Ironic, here I am thinking that GT is TopGear with the boring stuffy old parts removed. No, I don't care about Star in a Reasonably priced car or the Cool Wall.

I do care about the new car reviews, The News, 'what would happen if we made a car...out of spaghetti noodles', on-location shoots etc. GT has its own take on each of those.

> There is some good original content nontheless on prime.

To my amazement I found a surprisingly big catalog of RiffTrax and MST3K there. Definitely an unexpected bonus.

> Disney is probably the only media company with enough of a portfolio to have people add another streaming service in addition to Netflix or replace it.

HBO seems to be doing fine, with plenty people getting HBO Go to watch their shows.

NBC's rumored plan to build Hulu Attempt 2 with Peacock and focus on it being ad-supported and free by default might have a chance.