Streaming Bubble Expanding: Netflix ; NBC ; Viacom

So, what now?

Today, Netflix has announced an increase in their subscription pricing increases that will take into effect both in the United States and various Latin American countries. Netflix Canada (which just dropped Bob’s Burgers) appears to be staying still for now. In the meantime, increases will range from $1 to $2 more a month depending on which level of Netflix package you have with the cheapest option being the basic plan at $9 to the 4K plan hitting you at $16. This is being done to help curb debt all the while increase spending on content.

As this is happening, the ad-supported streaming sharks supported by NBC and Viacom are beginning to swirl. NBCUniversal has announced plans for an ad-supported streaming service coming in 2020 while Viacom is eye-balling acquisitions in the form of Tubi TV and Pluto TV so as to get a jump start on a subset of an industry that might be growing in the face of the services that you need to pay for. Sony Crackle, which just had a website face lift to kick off the New Year, has also been looking for investment opportunities as well.

Our Take

With all of the end-of-year silliness surrounding carriage deals for TV providers happening as of late, one could see the increased value of the ad-supported streaming services provided that they can actually support their channels with original content. We’ve seen huge companies in the past year like Vice, Verizon, and others miserably fail at trying to get some of the market share, so it’s clearly not all about money in this battle…you need solid content and producers that love solid content. Case in point, Netflix’s BoJack Horseman just won a Critic’s Choice Award.