The video arms race is only just about to begin. I know we think...

The video arms race is only just about to begin. I know we think that online video is as old as 240p cat videos.

But the battle for eyes and the race to monetize it is really only just beginning. In addition to the current video behemoths (Netflix, Youtube, Facebook, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Twitch)... The following players have also announced services soon to launch: Apple, Disney, Comcast/NBC (a partner of Hemisphere), WarnerMedia (trial completed with LNU), Fox, CBS.

Within the next 2 years, we will see the titans vie for competitive edge (which, incidentally, seem to revolve around personalisation, sports, and efficient advertising.)

Not all of these companies will survive. They will be looking for solutions that no one else has. The arms race is coming.

It's bigger than we've even mentioned on this forum. For example we've hardly talked about the live streaming of video games. Amazon's Twitch v Microsoft's Mixer.

Twitch is the incumbent - 11 million broadcasts per month, 15 million visitors per day. 14th most visited website in the USA. Acquired by Amazon after reportedly Google backed out of a deal due to concerns about anti-trust with their existing ownership of youtube. Twitch is the exclusive streamer of Blizzard eSports events. Twitch has a history of acquisitions to improve user experience, for example it acquired video indexing platform ClipMine in 2017. It is monetised by ads.

Mixer is agressively targeting Twitch, luring away one of their top stars this month. But apart from audience not much differentiates the services... Microsoft revamped it last year and seems to be actively looking for ways to grow their share. .

Will either look at LNU? Impossible to say at the moment... just an example of how these big titans are fighting it out in ways and areas you might not even be aware of.