They say that you can tell what a company’s priorities are by where they spend their money, and in 2021 it was increasingly clear that for the major U.S.-based studios creating content for TV, their priorities — and their money — was in streaming far more than ever before.
According to a new study from research firm Ampere Analysis, four of the five major domestic content creators produced between 40 and 50% of their original TV programming specifically for subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services; more often than not, ones that they owned.
For example, after having nearly no VoD content as recently as 2019, 48% of the programs made by Discovery were for streaming services, primarily discovery+. Similar to Discovery, other major studios Disney, WarnerMedia, and Comcast all landed on 40-50% of their originals being earmarked for streaming.
By contrast, Paramount lagged behind with only 33% of their TV content being created for VoD. As their linear network CBS has long-courted older demographics, it is not completely surprising that they trailed their competitors, even though their streamer formerly known as CBS All Access has been around since October 2014.
However, based on their Paramount+-focused Investors' Day in February, it would be a bit of a surprise if we didn’t see their number of streaming originals increase substantially in the coming years.
And while the shift to content specifically geared towards VoD has clearly been a boon for streaming services, it has also had a significant impact on their corresponding linear networks as well. As of last month, the broadcast networks had combined to order just 34 pilots, which is believed to be a record low.
Some of these changes were undoubtedly prompted by the pandemic, both in terms of production being slow to pick back up following COVID-related shutdowns, but also for studios looking to capitalize on the increased subscribers that they picked up when people were quarantining in 2020 and 2021.
After customers sign up for a service, the battle for their streaming dollars is far from over. According to Samsung, 39% of people unsubscribe from a platform because there is not enough new or original content to make their subscription worthwhile.
So, platforms need to turn out a steady stream of compelling content for a multitude of different types of users in order to minimize their churn. As nearly all major studios and networks have begun pivoting to streaming, it is no surprise that their financial and creative attentions will go that way as well.
As linear viewership continues to decline to record lows, streaming ad and subscription revenue is becoming a bigger focus for networks. So, expect to continue to see more and more shows being made for streaming and fewer and fewer for traditional broadcast.