Less than a year ago, I welcomed Netflix’ announcement to launch in the Nordics. Two months later, the service was launched, pushing the competition into a race for streaming customers.
Because of Netflix, the local competition felt forced into launching their proprietary over-the-top offers. Furthermore, HBO launched their new service called HBO Nordic. Very few had any idea how fast the Netflix launch would impact the market – and what impact the streaming disruption would have on Cable TV revenues.
Seven month later, streaming is an everyday word used by TV viewers. According to a newly published survey by YouGov, 11% of households have reduced the pay TV spend by downgrading to a smaller package. Furthermore, one out of six considers cutting the cord completely.
As of today 400.000 customers, out of the 2,6 million households in Denmark, have signed up to the local Netflix subscription and in addition to this, 4 % have a subscription to the American version. This is an amazing victory for Netflix. In only seven months, the Los Gatos based company has outpaced all other commercial streaming services.
This is just the beginning of a major transformation of the global TV industry. Netflix looks like a winner. It seems likely that Cable TV companies will get squeezed between infrastructure focused broadband players, such Waoo! and Google Fiber, on the one side, and the pure OTT players such as Netflix, on the other side. Is the in-between-strategy of the integrated CableCo the “TV Everywhere” strategy a winner? Well, the Cable TV companies are long time professionals in packaging content, smart pricing and negotiating with the broadcasters about advertising, so no one can answer that question. My belief is, the more focused the strategy, the better chance of success, and for now it seems difficult to get all the customers spend on TV and offering the best broadband at the same time.
Because of Netflix, the local competition felt forced into launching their proprietary over-the-top offers. Furthermore, HBO launched their new service called HBO Nordic. Very few had any idea how fast the Netflix launch would impact the market – and what impact the streaming disruption would have on Cable TV revenues.
Seven month later, streaming is an everyday word used by TV viewers. According to a newly published survey by YouGov, 11% of households have reduced the pay TV spend by downgrading to a smaller package. Furthermore, one out of six considers cutting the cord completely.
As of today 400.000 customers, out of the 2,6 million households in Denmark, have signed up to the local Netflix subscription and in addition to this, 4 % have a subscription to the American version. This is an amazing victory for Netflix. In only seven months, the Los Gatos based company has outpaced all other commercial streaming services.
This is just the beginning of a major transformation of the global TV industry. Netflix looks like a winner. It seems likely that Cable TV companies will get squeezed between infrastructure focused broadband players, such Waoo! and Google Fiber, on the one side, and the pure OTT players such as Netflix, on the other side. Is the in-between-strategy of the integrated CableCo the “TV Everywhere” strategy a winner? Well, the Cable TV companies are long time professionals in packaging content, smart pricing and negotiating with the broadcasters about advertising, so no one can answer that question. My belief is, the more focused the strategy, the better chance of success, and for now it seems difficult to get all the customers spend on TV and offering the best broadband at the same time.
