Two of the biggest movies people want to talk about this week are Wonder Woman 1984 and Pixar Soul, but there is another movie that can’t be missed: Spider-Man: In the Spider-Verse.
The critically acclaimed 2018 animated superhero movie by Sony, which saw Miles Morales stepping into his slinger costume and saving the world with the help of a few other Spider creatures, leaves Netflix on December 25th. That’s in two days. It is also not clear where In the spider verse will arrive. Sony does not have a major streaming platform and none of the other major streamers – HBO Max, Disney Plus, Peacock, Apple TV Plus or Amazon Prime Video – have announced that it will arrive.
Random streams are not new. Movies and TV shows leave Netflix (or Hulu or HBO Max) every month. Ephemerality has defined streaming for years. That’s why sites like JustWatch have found massive success, helping people who go to Google find out where the movie they watched on HBO Max ended or why there are physical messages about the importance of physical media. every week. (This is where I connect to buy Blu-ray if possible, especially since streaming also coincides with impermanence, and titles can apparently be edited on a whim.)
Also, year-ends tend to see more titles as more licenses expire. Here 2020 becomes particularly interesting; it is the beginning of large, visible pieces of exclusivity. Prior to the release of HBO Max, Disney Plus and Peacock, rights owners were ready to license their titles to the biggest streamers.
It’s a profitable business – if you don’t have your own streamer. Netflix paid $ 300 million for Disney movies first released in 2012 (although the business didn’t start until 2016). It was an important moment; Netflix surpassed Showtime and Starz for that premium window offering. That “payment window 1” becomes a bidding war; think about how movies go from movie theaters to Blu-ray / digital retailers, and then finish on HBO before playing on broadcast networks like ABC. Netflix signed a similar agreement in 2013 with DreamWorks Animation. Back in the early days of streaming Bonanza, it was also fantastic for subscribers. With new mega offerings and one of the largest TV libraries available that included shows from every major network, Netflix had it practically everything people needed.
Everything has changed now. Netflix is far from the only streamer in the block, and especially in the United States, it faces several waves of new competition. In 2019, the television research group Ampere Analysis mentioned that about 20% of the Netflix library included titles from NBCUniversal, Fox, Disney and WarnerMedia. Three of these companies have publicly announced the importance of building their own streaming services, taking over much of the content they have licensed to Netflix and other streamers and adding it exclusively to their own products. (The fourth company, Fox, was swallowed by Disney.) It is not just Netflix, but Netflix remains the quintessential example. The Netflix library is literally shrinking – something executives have actually given up as Netflix pushes itself to make more original series and movies than ever before.
This change is as clear as the day we look at Netflix’s list of titles that go to the end of the year. All Seasons West Wing? Gone. You’ll need to sign up for HBO Max to view them. the desk? He will need a Premium Peacock subscription to watch any episode from season three until its end. Ralph breaks the internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 is about to become an exclusive Disney Plus, while dexterity and Sister Jackie Vol they’ll probably find their way to Showtime’s OTT service or whatever Paramount Plus will be. (More details on this in the new year.) For those who do math at home, this means that instead of spending $ 14 a month to watch all these shows, it will now cost about $ 45 a month.
Movies and TV shows from content owners could still reach Netflix. NBCUniversal and ViacomCBS talked about the importance of licensing while setting up their streaming business. But the biggest titles, the ones that directors think people will sign up for, will remain exclusive.
For companies like Disney and WarnerMedia, it makes sense. I’m sure people are watching friendship on HBO Max; it remains to be seen whether it stimulates subscriber growth. Other titles that WarnerMedia does not exclusively need are sold elsewhere – such as Rick and Morty, which is also on Hulu. It’s a similar business to ViacomCBS, which licensed The park in the south to WarnerMedia (now airing on HBO Max) for over $ 500 million. Eventually, the rights will revert to the original content owners and they will make another calculation as to where The park in the south he can make the most money for them.
However, what is impossible to ignore is how much our streaming experiences have changed in less than a decade. It used to be that if you wanted to watch something, there was a 90% chance that Netflix would have it. If Netflix didn’t, it was probably Hulu. Now, you practically need a college degree in content ownership.
All this is a long way to go: “Who knows where In the spider verse will it end “So if you want to watch Netflix, do it now.