Streaming news for 2021 could basically be its own version of “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” Platform subscriptions boomed while everyone found themselves stuck in their homes thanks to the pandemic. Some studios made decisions that could change the industry forever, while others kept their focus on churning out content as fast as they could. Here’s the breakdown of the best, the brightest, and the most questionable moments of the year.
The date is December 2020 (bear with us, this is relevant), subscribers are stagnant, and the pandemic rages on. In an unprecedented move, Warner Media announces that it’ll be releasing its entire 2021 film slate on HBO Max. Seems like a smart move from the consumer perspective (something Warner would lean on, as things devolved), but here’s the twist: The studio didn’t really tell anyone about the plan. Instead, they went with the willy nilly approach and simply let their partners find out via the public announcement. The move upped their subscription count, but it also resulted in a nasty breakup with long-standing creative partners like Christopher Nolan, and nearly landed them in court with partners like Lionsgate.
In less problematic news, it was business as usual for most of the other streamers. Apple TV+ continued to be the best streaming service no one’s using, with the highest quality/quantity percentage out of all the major streamers, while Prime Video created its answer to Netflix Geeked with FanologyPV. (That’s Fanology Prime Video.)
Netflix opened a gaming studio as they continue their quest for streamer supremacy, and ticked off a whole lot of folks when they refused to take any kind of stance on the transphobic musings of Dave Chapelle in his comedy special. Meanwhile, CBS All Access became Paramount+. The rebrand was an attempt to reach a younger audience, despite that same younger audiences’ general disinterest in what platforms their parents are subscribing to so long as it has the series they’re interested in.
Disney announced the plan to shift its focus to streaming with major wins like WandaVision, Loki, and the most recent Marvel series, Hawkeye, adding on to already impressive wins with the likes of The Mandalorian in 2020. Unfortunately, the lack of a live-action series headed into Q4 resulted in stagnant subscribers. It seems like the MCU enthusiasm didn’t extend to the animated What If…? In other Disney-owned news, Hulu continues to grow at a snail’s pace. However, it remains valuable to the entertainment giant as a more adult-centric streaming platform for series like Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. and Hit-Monkey.
Finally, free-to-stream platforms like Tubi, IMDb TV and Vudu continue to be popular with both consumers and investors alike. Viewers love that they get free content, and the platform owners get the benefit of un-skippable ad revenue.
Through the day-in-date release drama, the legal woes, and a boom in subscribers as folks remained quarantined due the pandemic, it was a pretty solid year for streamers. But of course, there were the good, the bad, and the undervalued in the year in streaming.
Squid Game reigned supreme this year. The series seemingly came out of nowhere, holding fan attention for much longer than the typical weekend news cycle on Netflix releases. As they’re able to produce the most content, Netflix saw the most wins in 2021. Huge events like the Fear Street Saga helped the streaming giant stay on top, but they weren’t the only ones to go big.
With Disney making the decision to focus on streaming amid pandemic woes, Marvel TV came back in a big way. WandaVision, Loki, and The Falcon in the Winter Soldier kept fans up at midnight every Friday (and eventually Wednesday) any week there was a live-action series running.
Other major wins include The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Raised by Wolves, Midnight Mass, and Hawkeye.
The nature of streaming makes it difficult to promote every movie. There’s Netflix content that even folks in entertainment don’t know about until after it’s already released. Apple TV+’s CODA flying under the radar is a shame both financially for Apple (who spent a whopping $25 million on the film) and for the fans that missed it.
Marvel’s Hit-Monkey didn’t get nearly the amount of recognition it deserved, which may or may not be a symptom of it landing on Hulu for more adult themes. Gems like V/H/S/94 and The Medium flew under the radar over on Shudder, too. But perhaps the biggest casualty of failed promotion was Amazon Prime Video’s impeccable The Underground Railroad.
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The date is December 2020 (bear with us, this is relevant), subscribers are stagnant, and the pandemic rages on. In an unprecedented move, Warner Media announces that it’ll be releasing its entire 2021 film slate on HBO Max. Seems like a smart move from the consumer perspective (something Warner would lean on, as things devolved), but here’s the twist: The studio didn’t really tell anyone about the plan. Instead, they went with the willy nilly approach and simply let their partners find out via the public announcement. The move upped their subscription count, but it also resulted in a nasty breakup with long-standing creative partners like Christopher Nolan, and nearly landed them in court with partners like Lionsgate.
In less problematic news, it was business as usual for most of the other streamers. Apple TV+ continued to be the best streaming service no one’s using, with the highest quality/quantity percentage out of all the major streamers, while Prime Video created its answer to Netflix Geeked with FanologyPV. (That’s Fanology Prime Video.)
Netflix opened a gaming studio as they continue their quest for streamer supremacy, and ticked off a whole lot of folks when they refused to take any kind of stance on the transphobic musings of Dave Chapelle in his comedy special. Meanwhile, CBS All Access became Paramount+. The rebrand was an attempt to reach a younger audience, despite that same younger audiences’ general disinterest in what platforms their parents are subscribing to so long as it has the series they’re interested in.
Disney announced the plan to shift its focus to streaming with major wins like WandaVision, Loki, and the most recent Marvel series, Hawkeye, adding on to already impressive wins with the likes of The Mandalorian in 2020. Unfortunately, the lack of a live-action series headed into Q4 resulted in stagnant subscribers. It seems like the MCU enthusiasm didn’t extend to the animated What If…? In other Disney-owned news, Hulu continues to grow at a snail’s pace. However, it remains valuable to the entertainment giant as a more adult-centric streaming platform for series like Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. and Hit-Monkey.
Finally, free-to-stream platforms like Tubi, IMDb TV and Vudu continue to be popular with both consumers and investors alike. Viewers love that they get free content, and the platform owners get the benefit of un-skippable ad revenue.
Through the day-in-date release drama, the legal woes, and a boom in subscribers as folks remained quarantined due the pandemic, it was a pretty solid year for streamers. But of course, there were the good, the bad, and the undervalued in the year in streaming.
Biggest Hits
Squid Game reigned supreme this year. The series seemingly came out of nowhere, holding fan attention for much longer than the typical weekend news cycle on Netflix releases. As they’re able to produce the most content, Netflix saw the most wins in 2021. Huge events like the Fear Street Saga helped the streaming giant stay on top, but they weren’t the only ones to go big.
With Disney making the decision to focus on streaming amid pandemic woes, Marvel TV came back in a big way. WandaVision, Loki, and The Falcon in the Winter Soldier kept fans up at midnight every Friday (and eventually Wednesday) any week there was a live-action series running.
Other major wins include The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Raised by Wolves, Midnight Mass, and Hawkeye.
Undervalued Gems
The nature of streaming makes it difficult to promote every movie. There’s Netflix content that even folks in entertainment don’t know about until after it’s already released. Apple TV+’s CODA flying under the radar is a shame both financially for Apple (who spent a whopping $25 million on the film) and for the fans that missed it.
Marvel’s Hit-Monkey didn’t get nearly the amount of recognition it deserved, which may or may not be a symptom of it landing on Hulu for more adult themes. Gems like V/H/S/94 and The Medium flew under the radar over on Shudder, too. But perhaps the biggest casualty of failed promotion was Amazon Prime Video’s impeccable The Underground Railroad.
Continue reading...