Obviously the whole Russia fiasco has been a blow to subs, but NETFLIX are also continuing to lose subscribers in their biggest market - the USA. And as they keep putting prices up to fund the Netflix Originals machine (a black hole for investor capital) it pushes more people to cut the service.
There is a hierarchy of streaming services, with Disney+ the first one to go for most households. Disney+ is not a bad service but the reality is that the novelty factor wears off pretty soon after you have watched a few flicks from 'back in the day'. I think it would be hard for Disney+ to increase their subscription fee without causing mass cancellations.
Why is this important for Sky TV? Well, for a long time I have been touting that 'the bundle' will live on in some form or another. And that, in the NZ context, I feel that Sky TV is in the best position to maintain their position as the content aggregator of choice given the relationships they continue to foster as well as the flexibility they now offer (in terms of platforms, satellite and streaming).
Speculation continues surrounding how long Sky can keep their key contracts like HBO, Showtime etc before those services go OTT. Some state this it is an inevitability that all of the key players will cut Sky TV out atogether and go it alone.
I don't think there is any evidence to support this bold worst-case-scenatio claim. However there is a lot of evidence (i.e. Sky showing a continued ability to secure important content rights across entertainment and sport) that suggest the opposite.
And all the big studios will be reflecting on what is happening at the moment with NETFLIX, Disney etc. Warner-Discovery are currently locked into various deals with SNT but I don't think they will be in a hurry to cut Sky out at renewal time given the certainty they get from a healthy revenue stream versus taking your chances as a standalone service in an increasingly crowded market. Not saying it definitely can't happen - but I do think that, on the balance of probabilities, the relationship with Sky will remain warm.
