Thursday, August 23, 2012

Is The Online, OnDemand, Subscription Model The Way Forward For All?




Netflix launch in the UK at the beginning of 2012 and we thought that they would have a tough time establishing themselves, their brand and competing head to head with Amazon’s Love Film rival. We were wrong! Netflix in its first seven months has acquired 1 million subscribers in the UK. They have created a new business territory that is now worth £72 million and growing in just 7 months! Netflix took 10 months to achieve 1 million subscribers in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 10 months again in Canada. The catchment and infrastructure is different in the UK and Ireland with some 67 million consumers with good access to high-speed Internet services, whereas Canada is smaller population 34 million and Latin America and the Caribbean have 98 million but inferior infrastructure.

Some may say so what and point to LoveFilm’s 2 million customer base is wider and is across not just the UK, but also Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Norway and Sky. However, Netflix plan to launch in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland by the end of the year. But the fact is that Netflix can to the UK and gave a simple message video on demand and as much as you can view for one price. The recent Harris Interactive ‘Screenlife’ report (July 2012) asked smartphone and tablet users to rate the appeal of an online music service on any connected device, with access to  practically any track available today even if you don’t own them, where you pay a monthly subscription of around £5 – 10? They also asked the same about watching as many films or TV programmes from a large library using any connected device, where you pay a monthly subscription of around £5 – 10? The response was significant

Appeal
Extremely
Very
Somewhat
Not Very
Not at all
Not sure







Smartphone






Music
14%
11%
24%
24%
25%
2%
Video
17%
16%
25%
17%
21%
2%







Tablet






Music
28%
17%
18%
16%
21%
1%
Video
32%
19%
19%
12%
17%
1%

Netflix claim that the top UK and Ireland genres are comedy and drama and users’ favourite time to stream is on a Sunday night, according to the service.
So will the same shift to an on demand subscription based service model impact other media markets? It is clear that the the  way we all consume and pay for media is changing radically and moving from, pay to own, to subscribe for on demand. This is no longer about music, film, games, TV,information and books , but about all digital media and how we find it, access it and pay for it.

Today’s book market is tearing itself apart with discounting, ebook pricing tactical games and a lowering of consumer price perception. Will now lead to a Spotify or Netflix for books or a continuation of the devaluation of the content? 

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