Thoughts on the state of media moving to streaming platforms

[TheGmodNugget]

Personally, I feel this is a very close cousin to the issue of  games being on streaming services or being dependent on servers. Plus this push by companies, such as Ted Turner media/Warner Bros (who all bought by AT&T just recently), Disney, Netflix, Etc. will really hurt and possibly kill movie theaters. Nearly every metropolitan, town, or small rural city has at least one theater. If you're lucky, you have nearly 20 or more in one city. If every latest movie gets switched to being released early on a streaming service and not released in theaters, two or three things will happen. 1: Theaters will die out leaving a lot of people out of a job and another place where people could have a good time and hang out would be gone. 2: These are server based services meaning, just like video games, it takes one soda, one electrical surge, or some sort of natural disaster to take out a service that is mostly based in California, currently on fire... 3: The ability for digital media being pirated will skyrocket. I don't know if companies know this but there are things called capture cards, or screen recording software like Bandicam, OBS, etc. Not only will the services lose income from subscriptions but the studios will likely go bankrupt cause they have no budget anymore. So here's an open topic for everyone, what do you think about this and how do you feel about it.  

[kerdios]

I believe It's a none issue, ppl will always prefer to watch action movies, even if not big blockbusters, on a cinema screen rather than at home on their (usually) crummy tv. Dramas and comedies might drop a little in production for cinemas, but I don't remember the last time a drama was as big as "Gone with the Wind" (my granny really loved that movie) and had people flocking to the cinemas for.

[TheGmodNugget]

4 minutes ago, kerdios said:

I believe It's a none issue, ppl will always prefer to watch action movies, even if not big blockbusters, on a cinema screen rather than at home on their (usually) crummy tv. Dramas and comedies might drop a little in production for cinemas, but I don't remember the last time a drama was as big as "Gone with the Wind" (my granny really loved that movie) and had people flocking to the cinemas for.

I have the idea that people would revert to the "McDonalds" mindset. Would you rather go to Texas Roadhouse or Applebee's (Theater) or would you prefer to go to McDonalds (TV streaming) type thing. both offer food, but what outweighs in convenience or general quality/potentially healthier alternatives.

[kerdios]

40 minutes ago, TheGmodNugget said:

I have the idea that people would revert to the "McDonalds" mindset. Would you rather go to Texas Roadhouse or Applebee's (Theater) or would you prefer to go to McDonalds (TV streaming) type thing. both offer food, but what outweighs in convenience or general quality/potentially healthier alternatives.

Another thing is that with streaming services you don't have a selection, if disney just released its new kids film and netflix doesn't immediately broadcasts it, is it more likely ppl cough up another 10-50$ for the one time use of the service (which might get their kids hooked and cost a lot more in the future) or go to the cinema for 3-12$ and get a chance to nap in the dark? Same thing with star wars or avatar or avengers or any of the other big franchises.

 

Another other thing is that outside of the US , unbounded piracy has been the norm for quite a long time, and ppl still prefer to go to the cinemas for the experience when they have the time and resources.

Edited December 17, 2020 by kerdios (see edit history)

[TheGmodNugget]

True on the lack of selection. But with how companies have been progressing, they've started to push more and more content to their platforms. Warner has moved everything to HBO max before theaters.

 

[ekket]

On 12/17/2020 at 2:01 PM, TheGmodNugget said:

3: The ability for digital media being pirated will skyrocket. I don't know if companies know this but there are things called capture cards, or screen recording software like Bandicam, OBS, etc. Not only will the services lose income from subscriptions but the studios will likely go bankrupt cause they have no budget anymore.

Gabe Newell famously said piracy is a service problem, and I think that applies to traditional media all the same. If the product is only available physically and has aggressive copy-protection, it's no wonder that piracy is the preferred option for many. Those kinds of restrictions only serve to restrict the potential audience. The only solution, then, is to provide a more valuable service, as Steam has been doing very successfully.

[BTGBullseye]

Well, with the U.S. Senate passing the "stimulus" bill, media is likely to just move right back to the exact same as it was before the internet, just on the internet, and you'll have to pay more to multiple different platforms to get the same content.

[TheGmodNugget]

On 12/24/2020 at 12:49 AM, BTGBullseye said:

Well, with the U.S. Senate passing the "stimulus" bill, media is likely to just move right back to the exact same as it was before the internet, just on the internet, and you'll have to pay more to multiple different platforms to get the same content.

Exactly why I feel this is also another horrible idea to do. The moment you start making content stick to one service and create a situation where if you want Disney and Nickelodeon, You have to get HBOMax and Disney+. I don't think companies know this but we all don't live in *insert rich area of preferred state here* so you're bottlenecking a good percentage of people once you jack the prices up. To be honest if this brought back a resurgence in Public Broadcasting, then I'd be fine. just have to get more channels than 27 and make potentially better stuff. MST3K started off as Local Access. That show was great until it became syndicated and corporate issues started to pile up from Comedy Central.