Netflix competitors who seek to survive in the Australian market should avoid following in the footsteps of the U.S. streaming firm, according to Seth Shapiro, who is an interactive media governor for the Emmy Awards and an adviser to entertainment giants including Disney, Comcast and Universal. Shapiro is expected to advise country’s television executives and producers about creating content and programming strategies relating to subscription video on demand (SVOD), later this month, says a report from SMH.com.
More Netflix like business may not succeed
Shapiro argued that the Australian market would find it hard to support all the streaming service providers, and claimed that four such services in the United States “have been unsustainable.” The adviser further stated that online-streaming companies in Australia, similar to U.S. firms, offer two kinds of services – one that deals with providing a broad collection of non-current programming, while the other is associated with offering broadcasts of the latest shows. In this regard, Shapiro claimed that Stan, which is jointly owned by Nine Entertainment Co., very closely resembles Netflix service that caters to the older programming.
Moreover, Presto, a Foxtel-Seven West Media enterprise, seemed to have allied with the ‘non-exclusive’ policy of the network studios, who have been hesitant in signing global rights agreements with Netflix. Nevertheless, Netflix presently remains the most successful streaming service in Australia with a market cap of $US 33.7 billion.
What strategy to follow?
None of the streaming companies in Australia have adopted the business model possessed by Hulu, which focuses on the broadcast of the latest episodes of a given TV show. Although all of the free-to-air companies provide streaming of shows after the initial broadcast, they are only available for a limited time, according to the report.
Shapiro also commented that even though the SVOD market is already jammed with different companies, there is still an opportunity for businesses that could deliver services to satisfy specific interests, for instance a cheaper SVOD service that would provide broadcast of sports, or arts, etc. Such services are already popping up in the United States, Shapiro claimed, adding that there will soon be a new generation that will be ready to pay few dollars for given content.
