People will get more selective about their subscriptions
Make space Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime! This year, viewers streaming choices expanded thanks to the launches of Apple TV+ and Disney+. WarnerMedia's HBO Max and Comcast's Peacock is slated to launch in 2020.
More options also mean difficult decisions. Consulting and research firm Magid found people are willing to spend $42 a month for streaming services, which is slightly more than the year before. But they only want four subscriptions instead of six, meaning people will start selecting quality over quantity. After all, despite hundreds of thousands of hours of programming, there are only 24 hours in a day. People can't spend every waking moment consuming content.
Viewers will start looking for free or cheap ways to stream
With people being more selective with what they pay for, audiences will start to search for streaming options that won't break the bank. Two upcoming services, Comcast's Peacock and Quibi will be ad-supported, meaning prices will be much lower than most other services out there already.
Viacom is investing dollars into streaming service Pluto, which it acquired last January. Xumo, Tubi, and the Roku Channel also provide streaming ways to replace traditional cable and satellite subscriptions at a fraction of the price – or in most cases, no cost.
The demand is high on the advertiser side as well. Marketers are looking for ways to reach the cord-cutting audience since most of the subscription streaming services don't offer traditional commercial breaks.
Streaming services will win big during awards season
The caliber of streaming programming has never been better than before. And Hollywood's critical elite is finding it harder and harder to ignore the services.
The Golden Globes gave Netflix the most nods out of any network with 17 nominations, thanks to movies like The Irishman and Marriage Story. Apple TV+, which just launched this November, garnered some attention for its debut series The Morning Show.
While Netflix has been strict in the past that its movies should stream on its services before or very close to their theatrical debuts, it began to acquiesce for certain high-profile titles. The Irishman had a limited theatrical debut on November 1, way ahead of its November 27 streaming debut. The streaming versus theatrical release debate has been a sticking point with several traditional film festivals and awards circuits, with Netflix most notably pulling its films from the Cannes Film Festival in 2018 and 2019.
This could be the year Netflix takes home an Oscar in one of the top categories including Best Picture, Best Actor, or Best Actress, further cementing itself not as a disruptor but a contender that's here to stay.
Kids and teens will keep looking to create their own entertainment
It's not just movies and TV shows that are bringing younger generations to the screen.
YouTube, which relies mostly on user-generated content, has been creating its own celebrities for years. This trend of people – not just traditional media companies – creating entertainment content will continue to grow thanks to meme video accounts on Instagram and clever-looped clips on TikTok. While these "episodes" may last seconds instead of hours, these clips compete for viewers' attention alongside films and series.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
Starbucks’ AI barista aims to speed service and improve experience. Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune Business Editor, explains its impact on workers and customers.
