Collaboration — a game changer in the streaming market?

Earlier this month, I wrote about a trend I see shaping 2024 for streamers — bundling. I still stand by that, but now I feel there’s an ever bigger idea set to shape the approach to survival — collaboration.

First, let’s talk about licensing…

Disney & Netflix sign a content sharing agreement

Streamers may be in competition, but it’s a shared market and a small piece is better than no piece, particularly if it means a rival gets a subscription instead of you. That is the logic behind bundling. There are also other options, exemplified by a Netflix / Disney deal reported by Variety.

ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, whose back catalog has long been a Netflix staple will come to Hulu in March 2024, just as Disney officially launches its new “one-app experience” rolling Hulu content into the flagship Disney+ app.

As part of this deal, Disney will reportedly license 14 series to Netflix on a nonexclusive basis, ranging from popular shows of yesteryear (Lost, How I Met Your Mother, Home Improvement) to recently concluded hits (This Is Us, Fox’s The Resident).

My belief is a large chunk of the audience comes for the marque titles, but stays for the rich back catalogue. That’s very much my experience with Disney (mostly the Hulu content), and an area where Netflix has far less heritage. I always thought acquisition might feature at some point, but licence trades look like a far less committal short / medium term option.

Back to collaboration

There’s too many content in too many places, and while collaboration won’t give a simple way to get every marque title cheaply, it looks set to give more subscribers more content they might want at a price point they can bear. Rivals have to collaboration in a shared market with finite customer budget (and time) and it’s far less dramatic than going broke or being bought. It also lets holders of huge portfolios generate money in the short term, helping rebalance the books, no doubt a main reason why Disney is doing this kind of deal.

I look forward to more deals like this in 2024 (and beyond!)