In the Race to Claim TV Streaming Victory, HBO and Peacock May Eclipse Netflix: Analyst
Peacock and HBO Max named as potential winners by internet and entertainment industry analysis Laura Martin
Riley Haight
WASHINGTON, June 15, 2022 – HBO Max TV network and Peacock TV are predicted to be top streaming services, while Netflix is not, an expert who tracks the issue told the Tech Policy Institute on Monday.
Laura Martin, senior entertainment, and internet analyst at Needham and Company, said TV and streaming provider success are due to consumer demand and attributed this to how deep the streaming library is and second, how good the company is at personalizing tech in its consumer management.
In the race for TV and streaming providers, she sees two Comcast owned providers, Peacock, and HBO Max by Warner Bros as the two main competitors. At the top, she listed that YouTube and Amazon are apparent winners, alongside Disney due to their ESPN and Hulu bundle and added that in her prediction, Netflix loses. The Technology Policy Institute frequently hosts this event focused on which streaming services appear to be the most successful in the evolving world of digital content delivery.
In April, Netflix reported it lost 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022, with stock shares decreasing rapidly in wake of wake price increases and rumors of password sharing. Today, Martin echoed her predictions at a TPI event in 2020 where she said that Netflix would lose the streaming wars.
Martin stated that amongst increasing and cheaper competition, Netflix needs to innovate, adding to what she told CNBC in April, saying it needs an “ad-driven tier”, or bundling services even if they’re following other provider’s models. Martin added that she doesn’t look optimistically for Netflix’s long-term success in relation to the competition.
Martin explained that fast channel TV, which is traditional tv or free ad-supported TV apps that deliver scheduled programs, such as Peacock. versus ad-supported video-on-demand who provide personalized advertising to the user’s media choice, such as Netflix. “Fast channels provide a user engagement time that is three times longer” than in ad-supported programming, said Martin. She stated that fast channels also serve more ads and are more profitable than advertiser-supported programs.
“On average you use your phone five hours a day, and this is the benchmark that everyone is trying to get,” stated Martin. Because humans are attention driven, she suggested that Comcast focus on user engagement times to render better results for Peacock and HBO Max. “The longer the engagement, the more the optionality to make money from that customer.”
Although Martin looks optimistically to Peacock, she highlighted it is at a disadvantage of being commonly found in the “other” category, often forgotten by Wall Street and users from being grouped together in a long list of other streaming services.
