How Smaller Competitors Might Survive the Streaming Wars
While streaming is currently booming, smaller competitors may be at a disadvantage. Large players like Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) have increased engagement faster than the rest of the industry. Meanwhile, smaller media companies may start finding more value in licensing their content to bigger competitors like Netflix instead of trying to offer it directly to consumers.
But there may be a middle ground for some. Not-quite-direct offerings could be vital to mitigating the expenses of going straight to the audience while keeping the opportunity to offer a service directly down the road if it looks appealing.
AMC Networks (NASDAQ: AMCX) took another step toward such a service with the launch of AMC+ and WE tv+. AMC+ expands on its previous streaming service, AMC Premiere, which offered ad-free episodes of AMC's series. The catch is, that service was only available to AMC's cable network subscribers. But AMC is offering AMC+ and WE tv+ to non-subscribers through Comcast's (NASDAQ: CMCSA) Xfinity Flex platform, which is available for Comcast's broadband-only subscribers.
Source Fool.com
