A new report from international content consultancy 3Vision suggests it’s “inevitable” that 2019 will see some SVoD and direct-to-consumer casualties.
In its TV Industry Trends – 2019 Survey, 3Vision surveyed senior media executives for their views on the media landscape in 2019.
Some 86 per cent of respondents said they believe pay-TV operators should be focused on integrating with SVoD players, up 15 per cent compared to 2017, followed by TV everywhere (78 per cent). Just 8 per cent of the survey’s respondents rated the importance of 4K, with voice control and virtual reality at 5 per cent and 2 per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, 57 per cent said they expect growth in the virtual pay-TV market in 2019. 3Vision predicts that 2019 may see growth of standalone full virtual pay-TV, such as NOW TV, in global markets.
Over two-thirds of respondents (68 per cent) said they expect the majority of large content owners will launch D2C services in 2019, with 70 per cent stating they think more content owners will launch D2C services via Amazon Channels.
“With so many different levers to individual businesses the capacity for innovation and change is huge. SVoD is no longer marginal to anything or anyone, and increased competition (whether it be for subscribers, viewers or content) will continue to influence decisions by stakeholders along the value chain,” said the report.
“Although many of these areas do not directly compete (and there doesn’t need to be losers) it is inevitable that 2019 will see casualties – failing SVoD and D2C services are probable, and some high value productions will fail and scare off some new players. However respondents have been broadly positive about 2019, with no predictions of doom, and there are plenty of upcoming service launches, innovations and new programming to keep us busy.”
