Imagine a homely environment where you can watch your favorite show at your own pace. You bring your munchies and you are feeling extremely excited. Would you like it? Well for many people it would be yes because it provides comfort and convenience.
As technology gets more and more evolved that boosted the internet availability, various streaming and OTT platforms start getting immense recognition. But the question is whether these streaming platforms have boosted the film industry or disrupted the same by attracting people to watch their favorite shows or movies in their homes.
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What are streaming services?
Two decades back, DVDs and video stores were the only deal-breakers for broadcast TV. However, in recent years, streaming services have overtaken the old ways of watching TV programs. A streaming service is an online source that provides you with entertainment through the internet. Sitting at your home you can enjoy any genre movie, series, documentary, and anime that you love in a cost-effective way..
When Streaming services become popular?
Remember the time when you waited for your favorite show on cable TV or you waited for that delightful song every time radio plays? People born in that era must know the excitement of that waiting.
But now the situation is somewhat different. Instead of waiting for your favorite show or song, you get it on demand. This has happened due to the launch of streaming services which has eased the process of entertainment.
Whilst streaming services have been available since 2005, beginning with the founding of YouTube, their popularity has increased more steeply in the past few years. Netflix which is one of the biggest streaming services platforms has started its business by renting DVDs of popular shows to people when internet connectivity was not that strong. But in the late 2000s streaming services rose as Netflix started streaming content online.
In the following years, other companies, such as Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Disney+, entered the market, and the number of streaming services continued to grow. In 2018, 28% of people strongly preferred to watch a movie for the first time in movie theaters, with only 15% preferring to stream it.
However, by June 2020, as the pandemic took over the whole world, the percentage of adults strongly preferring to go to the theater plummeted to 14%, with 36% preferring to stream movies.
Reasons responsible for growth
There are an infinite number of reasons for the popularity of streaming services. But let us focus on the top 3 significant reasons for their growth. These are as follows-
CONVENIENCE– Instead of getting tied up to a tight TV schedule to watch your show, you can watch it anytime you wish or when you are free. The plus point is whether you are traveling, sitting at the bus stop, or want to get entertained with a specific show instantly you can do it. Adding to it, with streaming services comes device compatibility. Just a smartphone with a subscription to a streaming platform is enough for you to enjoy the movie.
PERSONALIZED– Suppose you have watched your favorite movie but after that, you don’t know what to watch. There are movies you know but nothing that suits your interest or genre. Streaming services have solved this problem. Video streaming apps provide personalized recommendations based on customer’s profiles. This creates a customized buffet of recommended content that is targeted toward the consumer’s interests.
COST EFFECTIVE– Streaming services would only cost you around $7 to $17 a month for each platform you choose. If you can’t pay or don’t want the streaming platform anymore, then you can simply stop your subscription or stop renewing your subscription for the next month. You would not get bonded to any one or two-year contract.
Film industry and streaming services
Streaming services have a huge impact on the TV and film industry. Streaming services have disrupted the traditional distribution model, bypassing movie theaters and releasing content directly to its subscribers. It has changed how movies are produced, distributed, and financed.
It all started with Streaming platforms asking giant production houses to sell their broadcasting rights so that they could stream films on their platform and add the same to their content library. But after a few years, these platforms started releasing their original series. Making original shows proved to be advantageous to them. More than half of the content on Netflix is now original and quite profitable too.
During the pandemic when everyone was there in the house a huge decline in the cinema industry could be seen. But at the same an extreme surge in streaming services was visible.
In the year 2019, the number of single-screen cinemas across India dwindled from about 10,000 to less than 7,000. The sharpest decline was in theatrical revenue which dropped from $42.3 billion in 2019 to $12 billion in 2020 this is the lowest figure since 2016 globally.
On the other hand, OTT market revenue in 2020 is approximately 19 billion rupees. In 2020 240billion hours were spent on video streaming apps. The highest growth of the digital market in India can be observed in the year 2019-2020 with a hike of 49 percent during this time.
Due to people not going to cinemas and preferring to enjoy streaming services., the revenue of the film industry dwindled. It is because streaming platforms pay less per view than a traditional theatrical release or DVD sale. This can make it difficult for independent filmmakers to recoup their production costs.
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Do movie theatres have a secure future?
Although a large of convenience is provided by OTT platforms we cannot ignore the pleasant experience that cinemas offer. The big screens, like-minded people and immersive sound creates an atmosphere that can’t be found at home.
Still, we find going to the cinema as a measure to spend quality time with our family and loved ones. You can also listen to different opinions about the movie through the cinema.
But as the new generation comes up, their preferences are changing. Therefore, cinemas have to renew themselves with revolutionized technologies to prevent themselves from being obsolete. Although dynamic changes are introduced like 3D and 4X technology, virtual reality, etc. It has to continuously update itself.
The survival of cinemas depends upon their ability to revolutionize and how quickly it does the revolutionization,
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