Let's just say profitability may currently be an
obstacle for premium streamers. More than a few analysts have said just one premium streamer is in
positive territory: Netflix.
Careful reading here shows I'm not an absolutist. This
comes from honest analysis by business analysts observing the growing business -- as well as business journalists.
NBC would like us to focus on the positive -- which is, of course,
media sellers' big emphasis.
Krishan Bhatia, president and chief business officer of
NBCUniversal, would like us to talk about the new and exciting streaming world, where around 50% of video consumption comes from streaming -- growing to 70% in 5 years.
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The positives for
the business -- compared to linear TV -- include better transparency and measurement, lower commercial glut, improved audience targeting, and of course, a better consumer
experience.
Bhatia finds that the WSJ story is “implying [emphasis added] that all of ad-supported streaming “remains rife with challenges" -- and would rather
that the story not "paint all streamers with a broad brush.”
A rapidly growing business almost always makes missteps. And while good positive moves might be apparent to many, weaker
business trends may not.
Let's go to the positive: Bhatia says where linear TV can deliver a bad experience pummeling viewers with 17 minutes per hour of ad, or non-content time, modern
streaming is much better. It can be as low as four to five minutes per hour.
He's right. But streaming options aren't all equal. The likes of Paramount+ -- for certain options -- have
streaming viewers seeing 13 to 14 minutes of non-content, ad-time per hour. That's not good. I would call that a challenge.
Many streamers are spending multi-billions of dollars on content to
ramp up the business -- which can be another "challenge" issue for many.
NBC says to focus on the positive.
Sure -- but let's be cautious about blindly racing away too fast -- and
worse, possibly repeating some media history we would rather not remember.