Online Movie Streaming-Netflix
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Introduction
Online movie streaming and technological innovations are eradicating the use of DVDs and Blu-rays, movie watching is no longer confined to the living room, as new technological devices do not have the capabilities to view DVDs or Blu-rays. Online movie streaming is a way of watching movies online through movie streaming companies that has emerged with a wide array of Hollywood and alternative movies. Hollywood movies are one of the viable, sustainable entertainment proposition even in today's digital age. They get very large fiscal earnings from global dispensations, with a wide array of commercial entertainment movie streaming on diverse online platforms through streaming companies. Some of these movie streaming companies are very successful while others are not quite as successful.
The major subscription based movie streaming companies as of second quarter 2014 are Netflix, Amazon and Hulu arranged in chronological order. However the position of Amazon and Hulu are interchangeable in most cases, but Netflix undoubtedly is recognised as the leader in online movie streaming. My focus is on Netflix since they are the market leader in online Hollywood movie streaming with over fifty million subscribers and over hundreds and thousands of movies in their repository as of second quarter of 2014.[1]
This topic is relevant to my digital culture and communication program because it reflects on how digitalization, technological innovation and changing spaces or context affects user interaction with content. The moment the movie is moved from the physical space into the virtual space it brings up new cultural practices and challenges.
These challenges though constitutes a practical dilemma to those who deal with the older media, they are still a herculean problem, because a transition from a DVD kiosk into a virtual streaming company is not a very viable business, as resources and materials required are mostly beyond the reach of the ordinary DVD kiosk and also the quantity and quality of movies it can engage with in its repository in order to fulfill customer requirements are very high. There are also much tougher legalities associated with having movies in the virtual space than in the physical space. For instance movies online has protections that the streaming company offers, the consumer watches the movie online and does not own a copy personally so any defect that allows for a consumer to own a copy of the movie is considered illegal and the streaming company is held responsible for it. Whiles in the DVD kiosk such burdens does not exist, the consumer buys and owns the movies relieving the DVD kiosk of any illegal action that might arise from the consumer.
Considering a company like Netflix, they have DVD rentals online alongside the streaming services, so for such companies transition from older media into the newer media form will be quite smooth because they are already working within the virtual space so there might not even be any losses in that regard. There are greater chances that monetization from the DVD will easily be transferred to the online streaming services.[2] However some are left with no choice but to change their entire business due to the fact that the shift in media is rendering the older media to be unattractive and difficult to negotiate business wise.
Background History of Movie Streaming (Literature Overview)
The first online VoD platform was Ifilm and was launched in 1997. Online distribution pioneers like Ifilm, Atom films, Entertainers disappeared as the market was not ready for their innovation at the time. Then came the second wave comprising of major Hollywood companies like Movielink (originally branded MovieFly), a joint-venture between Sony, Paramount, Universal and Moviebeam (Disney) joining in on the movie streaming services, but they also failed.
These earlier distribution channels didn't make it on the markets because the market was not quite ready for it due to high bandwidth usage which makes it not so affordable and also the newness of the technology and service is something consumers were not acquainted with. The masses were not ready for that transition. However they brought about popularity in the movie streaming services, which in a way helped the third wave to be successful. Online streaming is back in service with varying high demand on the movie market. Online streaming gives the affordance for movies to be sold directly to individual consumers, it’s ubiquitous connectivity is undermining the traditional distribution companies and has completely revolutionized the DVD and Blu-ray markets as they are on the downward trend and struggling to keep their heads above water. Sales of DVD and Blu-ray is expected to dwindle further down by 38% within the next four years.
The change in movie watching medium is quite evolutionary to the movie industry in general. Not only are streaming movies online affordable, the level of comfort it gives the consumer is quite phenomenal. The third wave of online players set in, that is Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and Itunes.1 They are the market players today with Netflix being the market leader followed by Amazon and Hulu, in that order.[3] There are other numerous ones that have crawled in afterwards like Viaplay among others.
Distributions
Consumer freedom is key to emerging dynamics of online distribution in the digital arena, no wonder other distribution channels are slowly dying off. Proximity is closely linked to consumer freedom being when, where, quality, quantity and affordability conglomerates. These are the five factors that are behind Netflix great success in dominating the market. Unlike their competitors such as Amazon and Hulu who have fail to have all these five factors in its entirety. Hulu for example does not have an extensive movie library as compared to Netflix however the quality of content is as good as Netflix. Hulu also does not allow account sharing up to five person like Netflix does. Amazon on the other hand has tons of titles that are included in a search though they are not for free which frustrates consumers.
Trans device streaming are making online movie watching even more simplistic and handy for both consumers and streaming companies as well. As mentioned by Stuart Cunningham & Jon Silver- Palgrave(2013) in their Screen Distribution and the New King Kong of the Online World, “The proposition that we are in the middle of a rapid process of change which is seeing established or “old” media being challenged for primacy in audiences’ and users’ attention by new modes and types of production, dissemination and display.” Hence the change is so rapid as companies are charged to alter their structures rapidly in order to go with the flow of current market trends.
What Make Netflix the Market Giant
Netflix is said to offer an “à la carte” service to its customers as in comparison to its competitors. Netflix is the winning company in on demand online streaming as of today, they deliver niche content to multiple audiences through multiple screens. A users account can be used on television, computer, and even on mobile devices. By not restricting consumer mobility, location or devices, Netflix business model keeps the consumers interest very high. “The power and profitability in screen industries have always resided in distribution”- Jonathan Knee (2011). The success of Netflix resides in its distributions trans devices which is linked closely to the flexibility offered to consumers, and makes the various levels of distribution key to consumer satisfaction. Netflix content also keeps the consumers eyeball on them because it has a fairly well balanced content, with a huge repository ranging from new releases to old time classics. Netflix strategically offers even more consumer satisfaction by introducing the creation of a profile. The profile page allows up to five members of a household to have their own personalized Netflix experiences within a single Netflix account. Each profile allows for its own: Personalized movie and TV show suggestions, recently watched list, ratings and reviews, taste preferences, my list” It is a more holistic approach, it explicitly allows for more flexibility and reduces the chances of illegal streaming within Netflix platform. Inasmuch as the content plays a major role, the distribution and its innovativeness goes hand in hand with it. In order for Netflix to stand out from the crowd, the quality of content and number of titles on its shelves played a major role. Lately there are trends of interest in alternative movies like the Bollywood movies[4] and even Swedish movies, for example "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" The demand for such movies are also growing quite tremendously.[5] It is no news that Hollywood movies are the kings when it comes to movies and the making and breaking of a streaming company is largely based on Hollywood movies globally. Though there are limited number of scholarly studies of Hollywood digital distribution because most tend to emphasise predominantly on production rather than distributions-Parren and Petruka (2012). Deciphering which services is the best among the major movie streaming companies is no task at all, it is quite clear Netflix have it all right, right timing, right content and right channels. Though affordability is becoming problematic due to a $1 increase in subscription fees during the course of this research.[6] However its quite natural to experience such downturn at the time of the increment more so, the amount involved is not substantial. Subscriptions are expected to bounce back to normal in due course. “Reference to industry history indicates that, like all large-scale corporations, they are likely to use market power to seek to limit competition and corral users inside walled gardens.”- Stuart Cunningham & Jon Silver- Palgrave(2013). Being the market leader in movie streaming they are already aware of how consumers will react, but it is a tactic on their part because they know the commotion will cool off in due cause. The increment also was very minimal it is a strategy to keep the consumers very close even if they are not happy with the increment they will still stay and not leave because of such insignificant amount thereby keeping the consumers in a walled garden.
Conclusion
As the world progresses steadily in the digital age, even reluctant digital immigrants (Persons born or brought up before the wide spread of digital technologies) are slowly but steadily joining in on the digital arena. Thus in the nearer future, DVDs will completely be in the past even in places where digital divide (being the gap between those with internet access and those without) is a formidable problem because more and more third world countries are putting in extreme measures to minimize or obliterate the digital divide in its entirety.[7] Not only the developing countries but also developed countries like the USA still have issues of digital divide though in that context it is mostly linked to the reluctance of the digital immigrant to join in on the digital arena (Technophobia) and sometimes also linked to issue of poverty.[8] Just like the video cassette vanished from the system so will the Blu-rays and DVDs because movie watching in today's terms is not an activity confined to a living room, most of our electronic devices like the Smartphones, Tablets and even the Laptops do not have DVD players. Online movie streaming is the future, its going to be bigger and better because it addresses almost all the needs of the consumer. It is flexible, it is cost effective and also have a wide array of movies to choose from, all at the comfort of one's own location of choice. There is also a greater desire for movies by consumers today as they get to stream countless amount of movies on trans devices regardless of location or time. This is paving way for consumers to develop taste for other movies other than the Hollywood productions. The trend is opening up greater opportunities in the movie industry that will help smaller and unpopular movie industries to also get a share of the fame of the movie industry. For Hollywood being the King in the movie industry, is going to be for quite a while but they would have to let go of a much larger portion of the market share than they have now, for the emerging taste of the new digital consumer. As recognised by Stuart Cunningham & Jon Silver- Palgrave(2013)“When it comes to the sale or rental of film and television programming to online audiences, Hollywood content, as the saying famously goes, has been king. There was, until recently, little evidence of a critical mass of online viewers willing to pay for alternative fare” this shows a showing a trend in emerging taste of online viewer, and will opened up opportunities for alternative movies in a broader spectrum.
ReferencesScreen Distribution and the New King Kong of the Online World:(2013) Stuart Cunningham & Jon Silver- Palgrave Macmillan
Remaking the Movies:(2008) Digital Content and the Evolution of the Film and Video Industries-OECD
Netflix global streaming domination
Swedish Institute-Swedish film in summary- Retrieved 2012-10-23
Netflix dominate rivals
Growing demand for Bollywood movies
Demand for Swedish films
Netflix subscription price increase
7.http://www.un.org/press/en/2013/gaef3374.doc.htm
Digital Divide in the US
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