Cord cutters rejoice: More first-run streaming coming to your living room
It really is time to buy yourself the biggest, baddest TV from your favorite retailer. Get used to home viewing because, pandemic or no pandemic, there's going to be more to watch than ever.
On Christmas Day, Pixar is premiering its latest animated film, "Soul," on the Disney+ service, followed in 2021 with new live-action versions of "Pinocchio" (with Tom Hanks) and "Peter Pan" (with Jude Law) skipping theaters. There's also 10 new Star Wars TV series. Disney this week announced 100 new projects and said 80 of them would appear on streaming first.
On Dec. 25, AT&T's Warner Media is bringing the "Wonder Woman 1984" sequel to its fledgling HBO Max service, which will be home to 17 first-run films from WB in 2021, including new versions of "Dune" and "Godzilla" and a "Matrix" sequel.
You'll need one of these: Consumer guide: Streaming video players 2020
Update: Disney+: How streaming service will load up on new Marvel, 'Star Wars' and Pixar series
Many filmmakers don't like it. Theater owners are even more upset. But Peter Csathy, the author of Viral Media: Entertainment in the Age of the Great Pandemic and chairman of the CREATV consultancy, says the pandemic just sped up what the studios always wanted: going direct to the consumer and eliminating the middle man.
"The studios have been looking for ways to release their films this way, and they finally found it with the pandemic," he says. Warner says this is a short, one-time fix due to the pandemic, but Csathy doesn't see things changing in 2022. "The reality is, the genie is out of the bottle and it’s not going back."
TV consumers initially cut the cord to save money by ditching the hundreds of channels they didn't want, and only focus on an Internet connection and one or two streaming services, usually Netflix and/or Amazon Prime.
Now, there are so many services pitching for our pocketbooks, from the big players to new entries like Discovery+, which launched this month, to a rebranded CBS All Access next year, which will be called Paramount Plus in 2021.
People have been going to watch movies in theaters since the days of Chaplin and Keaton. So why do media companies want them moving to streaming?
The recurring revenue that comes from monthly subscriptions really adds up, says Csathy, since most people who sign up never get around to canceling.
A film like the original 2017 "Wonder Woman" grossed $821 million at the box office, and, once you subtract production and marketing costs and the split with the theaters, the studio was left with $250 million in profits, according to Deadline.
The new HBO Max, which debuted in May at $14.95 monthly, currently has just over 12 million subscribers. What would happen if HBO were able to bring in, say, 10 million new subscribers to see "Wonder Woman 1984" and most of them stuck around?
That would work out to $150 million, which is a lot less than the theatrical box office profits. Except that we're looking at just one month. In two months, the studio could see $300 million. And on and on it goes.
But perhaps 10 million extra subscribers is way too generous. The reality is, it will be way less, and the studio won't come close to making in streaming what it would have in a huge theatrical release.
“They’re going to make less money for the greater good of building HBO Max,” Rich Greenfield, an analyst at LightShed Partners told Variety. “This is putting the long-term future of the company ahead of profits.”
Then there's Disney, which has taken a massive hit from closed theme parks due to the pandemic. Streaming is another story. Many analysts expected Disney to attract from 20 million to 40 million subscribers the first year. Instead, the company says it now has 86 million subscribers and projects that it will have between 230 million to 260 million subscribers by 2024, way more than initially expected.
Disney also announced a price hike on Disney+, effective in March, to $7.99 monthly from $6.99. And consumers, you know you'll be seeing more price hikes in the future. Netflix recently raised rates as well.
Netflix currently has just over 200 million subscribers, followed by 100 million for Amazon Prime (which also includes folks who signed up for expedited shipping) then Disney.
By repositioning itself as a "streaming first" company that puts so many of the studio productions on TV first, can Disney become bigger than Netflix?
It has the "potential" to get there, says Csathy, while Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter says it's doubtful.
"What Disney is doing is putting a bunch of TV movies on the streaming channel," he says. "Netflix has way more content and a head start."
So take that as a no.
Meanwhile, folks looking to watch "Wonder Woman 1984" on HBO Max will find themselves frustrated on Christmas if they happen to own a Roku streaming player. Roku has yet to offer HBO Max on its platform. (No such issues with Amazon, Google and Apple.)
So what to do? There are several workarounds offered on online forums, but all are way too complicated to list here.
I have a few other way easier ideas. Remember, that if you were to find a theater playing "Wonder Woman 1984" and a family of four attended, you're probably looking at spending at least $40 to $50 just to get in.
Other options:
AirPlay. If you have one of the newer TVs with Apple AirPlay built in, from Samsung, LG or Sony, you could download the HBO Max smartphone app, access "Wonder Woman," and beam it to the TV via AirPlay. (The two Apple TV streaming players are very pricey, at $149 and $179, and I've got cheaper workarounds below.)
Amazon Fire TV Stick. You don't have to ditch Roku. But if you've got it plugged into your HDMI port on the back of the TV, remove it for the night and replace it with a Fire TV Stick. You can pick up cheap ones for $17.99 and $29.99, but they won't stream in 4K. For that, you'll need the $39.99 4K version.
Google Chromecast. The new version is $49.99 and comes with a remote control. The earlier edition sells for $29.99 and plugs into the HDMI, like the Fire TV Stick. But to watch, you need to get the HBO Max app on your phone or tablet, and "cast" it to the TV.
Happy streaming!
In other tech news this week
Facebook. The Federal Trade Commission and more than 40 states sued the social network to break up the company. The goal is to split Instagram and WhatsApp from Facebook. The legal challenges allege Facebook illegally used its dominance and deep coffers to take out rivals, creating a social media monopoly that ultimately harmed consumers, who have had fewer choices and privacy protections.
Wondering which streaming stick, laptop or Samsung Galaxy phone to buy? We covered all of them this week in USA TODAY with consumer shopping guides.
Google announced its top searches of the year, highlighted by....what else, the election?
ICYMI: Your friendly newsletter author and Talking Tech host announced that after multiple decades at USA TODAY, he'll be stepping down at the end of the year to focus on photography and video. Look for my final column in this space on Jan. 2.
This week's Talking Tech podcasts
My personal announcement – stepping down from USA TODAY in January.
Consumer guide: Buying a laptop
Thanks for reading, and please reach out on Twitter, where I'm @jeffersongraham
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 100 new Disney projects, 17 WB films for HBO Max; busy streaming 2021
