Streaming Into 2022: Key Battle Lines
The COVID-19 pandemic has helped the streaming media rise to a new level. But, statistics show a plateauing feature in subscriber numbers in mature markets like the U.S. as the streaming wars enter a phase with more gritty warfare.
John Peters, head of Accenture’s media and entertainment practice said, “This year, large global streaming players will look at stealing share and developing new sources of revenue”. He also added that there will be segmentation in the industry, such as those who pay rent and those who charge rent.
Video streamers like Netflix, Disney, and WarnerMedia coupled with Discovery will act as the entrance to the bundle of content. On the other hand, streaming platform providers such as Google, Amazon, Roku, and Apple will attain traction.
Illegal movie streaming service Popcorn Time shuts down
The famous app for making pirating movies, Popcorn Time, has shut down. Developers abandoned the project on the initial day of its post-launch in 2014. But other developers picked up, killed, and revived the project since it was open-sourced. The app was subjected to law enforcement but reported not a factor of terminating their services. Popcorn Time declared they are not accountable for piracy since the service does not host content. Rather, they depended on a peer-to-peer sharing system that fed a path for users to access content hosted on other people’s computers.
US tech body CTA predicts 15% growth in audio streaming
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA), USA’s tech body, is an annual CES show conducted in Las Vegas. It is also a platform where tech companies display their latest products and services. Moreover, the show produces a report annually consisting of annual predictions for the technology industry. The CTA has forecasted that Americans will expend $12.9bn on audio streaming services in 2022, up 15% year-on-year. That encompasses music streaming, but also audiobooks and podcasts.
