If you had any doubt, it’s official: 2020 was the year of the streamer. According to this article, the largest streaming platforms, combined, increased their subscriber numbers by over 50%.
We’ll never know what would have happened in a world without the pandemic, but as is, most streamers enjoyed the spoils of the terrible year. And the fear over the streaming wars has yet to happen. A year ago, the average household was subscribed to 2.7 streaming platforms, and that has now been bumped to 3.1.
Now, what’s the bad news? The looming question is if the arrow is going to keep shooting up, level off or start taking a dive.
There is evidence which makes the case that the outrageous subscriber growth will taper off significantly due to multiple factors.
First of all, the brightest one is that the pandemic is hopefully on its way towards an end. With people being vaccinated, no one is sure when life will be back to normal but there is a feeling that we’re getting there. And as fewer people are stuck at home, less TV will be watched. We think.
Secondly, places like Netflix and Disney+ were able to gain subscribers because they had new, original content you couldn’t get anywhere else. If you haven’t at least been tempted to watch either The Queen’s Gambit or The Mandalorian you can consider yourself in the minority. But when more traditional TV starts producing a lot of content again that competition for eyeballs will return.
Third, more streamers are on the way. Peacock had already debuted but they have really debuted now that they have The Office. And with new platforms like Discovery+, sooner or later those streaming wars are probably going to happen whether we want them to or not.
So, while it’s been days of wine and roses, what are these platforms going to do when they see things going flat or heading south? They’re going to need to the best tools available to retain subscribers and maybe even continue to grow.
In other words, they need AI.
Streaming platforms, with their massive amounts of viewer data, can utilize Resonance AI to tell them exactly what inside their content is working, and what isn’t.
Instead of depending on views, or trying to piece together why someone tuned away, the Resonance AI platform actually looks at everything inside the content and then makes million of connections between the elements and viewer metrics.
In other words, Resonance AI can tell you if the characters, dialogue, music, pacing or other elements are resonating with the audience. This allows content creators to make deeply informed decisions on how to both proceed with their current content as well as what to focus on with new content.
Success increases the chances of failure. This is the time when streamers can’t take their numbers for granted and need to use pioneering technology to keep people watching.