Taika Waititi to Direct Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)

[Disney Irish]

There really isn't a way to prevent it. You can't restrict people from reactivating or they'll just walk and you get no money. You only have 2 options. Offer significant discounts on a full year, get that cash up front. Or don't push people to the point of wanting to do that. Churn is a major part of the steaming business. Just ask HBO when game of thrones was at it's peak. Every person I know who watched the show, only subscribed for the season then cancelled until the next season.

There are ways to prevent it, just like they are starting to crack down on account sharing. Its just are streamers willing to pull that trigger, longer term I bet they will.

Couple easy ways to prevent it:

1. Lock in account for a certain amount of time at sign up, ie 12 months, or incur a cancellation fee.
2. Lock in account to specific email addresses, reactivation using same email will start monthly payments, ie locking back in for period of time. Most aren't willing to go through the trouble of having to signup for multiple email accounts just to churn.

and much more.

 

[doctornick]

Just a guess, but I suspect eventually most streamers will come up with a plan to prevent the activation/cancel/activation/cancel type churn.

Yeah, in addition to higher monthly costs, I'm expecting streamers to start requiring minimal subscription lengths (6 months or 1 year) to prevent so much churn. I think you'll also end up seeing more consolidation of streamers so the ones that are left will have more content and be able to charge more due to less competition/options.

 

[Disney Irish]

Yeah, in addition to higher monthly costs, I'm expecting streamers to start requiring minimal subscription lengths (6 months or 1 year) to prevent so much churn. I think you'll also end up seeing more consolidation of streamers so the ones that are left will have more content and be able to charge more due to less competition/options.

The only problem with the consolidation talk is that the FTC isn't going to allow too much more consolidation in the US. You've already been seeing push back in recent mergers, so I don't expect much more consolidation. What I expect to happen is that those studios that have a service that fails will end up just licensing their content to another streamer, ie the old Netflix model.

 

[erasure fan1]

There are ways to prevent it, just like they are starting to crack down on account sharing. Its just are streamers willing to pull that trigger, longer term I bet they will.

Couple easy ways to prevent it:

1. Lock in account for a certain amount of time at sign up, ie 12 months, or incur a cancellation fee.
2. Lock in account to specific email addresses, reactivation using same email will start monthly payments, ie locking back in for period of time. Most aren't willing to go through the trouble of having to signup for multiple email accounts just to churn.

and much more.

I agree with number one because that's what I also said. As for the 2nd, no chance. If the only way to reactivate is to sign up for multiple months, I think people will just be done. All the streaming services have talked big with cracking down on account sharing. But none have had the stones to do it. Why? Because they would most likely lose millions and millions of subscribers. Just like churn. If you crack down by penalizing the consumer, people will walk. Unless your service is so good they just can't. But Disney+ is far from that point at the moment.

 

[Disney Irish]

I agree with number one because that's what I also said. As for the 2nd, no chance. If the only way to reactivate is to sign up for multiple months, I think people will just be done. All the streaming services have talked big with cracking down on account sharing. But none have had the stones to do it. Why? Because they would most likely lose millions and millions of subscribers. Just like churn. If you crack down by penalizing the consumer, people will walk. Unless your service is so good they just can't. But Disney+ is far from that point at the moment.

Again Netflix already is in a trail run of locking down password sharing by charging for using an account in more than one location, so yeah its happening. I also suspect this is also a way to try and prevent VPN usage in order to keep content from crossing borders, but that is just my guess.

Streamers are already seeing subs top out especially here in the US, so they will start doing things that will lock them into the account longer and prevent churn in order to keep those subs. Will that cause some to walk away, sure. But the large majority of consumers that use streaming will end up just accepting it, even if they grumble about it.

 

[doctornick]

The only problem with the consolidation talk is that the FTC isn't going to allow too much more consolidation in the US. You've already been seeing push back in recent mergers, so I don't expect much more consolidation. What I expect to happen is that those studios that have a service that fails will end up just licensing their content to another streamer, ie the old Netflix model.

Well or the Hulu model of a bunch of content holders working together to pool their resources. I know that will be ironic given the progression of Hulu, but it's not inconceivable for a combined product from (say) Paramount, Peacock and WB/Discovery which would surely have leverage given the volume and diversity of content.

 

[doctornick]

I agree with number one because that's what I also said. As for the 2nd, no chance. If the only way to reactivate is to sign up for multiple months, I think people will just be done. All the streaming services have talked big with cracking down on account sharing. But none have had the stones to do it. Why? Because they would most likely lose millions and millions of subscribers. Just like churn. If you crack down by penalizing the consumer, people will walk. Unless your service is so good they just can't. But Disney+ is far from that point at the moment.

If every streamer has similar setup - and I would expect most to follow trends and operate in similar ways like how pretty much all services are rolling out a lower priced ad tier - then consumers will simply have to choose the lesser evil.

Another option I could see but I'm not sure if it would work is a geolocked sub for a set price (so you could only watch in your own home) versus a much higher priced plan that you could stream anywhere. That would be an effort to prevent account sharing or, if people wanted to do that, charge essentially assuming multiple households would be using it.

 

[Disney Irish]

Well or the Hulu model of a bunch of content holders working together to pool their resources. I know that will be ironic given the progression of Hulu, but it's not inconceivable for a combined product from (say) Paramount, Peacock and WB/Discovery which would surely have leverage given the volume and diversity of content.

Sure I could see that happening again.

 

[Disney Irish]

Another option I could see but I'm not sure if it would work is a geolocked sub for a set price (so you could only watch in your own home) versus a much higher priced plan that you could stream anywhere. That would be an effort to prevent account sharing or, if people wanted to do that, charge essentially assuming multiple households would be using it.

This is essentially what Netflix is in trial of right now. It'll geolock you based on your IP (ISP), and if you connect to your account via another IP you'll be charged an additional fee for using a "shared" account.

 

[Disney Irish]

Always we should probably take the rest of this streaming talk to the main D+ streaming threat.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Yeah, in addition to higher monthly costs, I'm expecting streamers to start requiring minimal subscription lengths (6 months or 1 year) to prevent so much churn. I think you'll also end up seeing more consolidation of streamers so the ones that are left will have more content and be able to charge more due to less competition/options.

Or use the discount model VPNs and other web based services have, monthly is $24.99 a month, 6 month contract is $19.99 a month, year long contract is $13.99 a month.

Gives people the option to only do a month but they pay a premium for the flexibility.

The consolidation is great as long as it stays voluntary, I’m afraid it’ll become like cable where they keep adding more content I don’t want but to get what I do want I need the bundle that costs a $100 a month.

 

[MisterPenguin]

‘Thor: Love And Thunder’, Despite Not Swinging As Big A Hammer As ‘Ragnarok’, Still Profits As No. 9 In Deadline’s 2022 Most Valuable Blockbuster Tournament

Thor: Love and Thunder still profited after all ancillaries with $103 million, despite not being a franchise favorite among fans or critics.

deadline.com