In the United States, there are well over 100 subscription streaming services. If you add in the free streaming services, you will find hundreds of other options both large and small.
If you have watched my coverage of cord cutting for the last few years, you will likely have heard me say there are more streaming services in the market than the market can support. The question has always been which services will find a following and become profitable and which will eventually shut down.
Now in 2024 it seems that shutting down streaming services has suddenly become popular with cable executives as they try and push customers to their main streaming services. A great example of this is Boomerang, a streaming service dedicated to classic cartoons based off the cable TV network. Earlier this month, Warner Bros. Discovery announced it would be shutting down Boomerang on September 30 and moving it over to its Max streaming service.
This comes as Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery have started to shut down their streaming services dedicated to specific cable networks. They are promoting Paramount+, Disney+, Hulu, and Max instead. Each one of these network apps, like the ABC app, was its own streaming service that competed with other streaming services owned by the same parent company.
We have also seen bundles become more popular. Discovery+ and HBO Max have merged to become Max. We are also hearing reports that Paramount+ is in talks with both Peacock and Max for a possible joint venture streaming service offering both company’s content.
All of this points to the main issue: there are just too many services for everything to be successful.
According to our surveys, the average cord cutter pays for three to four streaming services and often one of these services is rotated—meaning they don’t pay for it year-round. So, there may not be enough subscribers to keep all 100+ paid streaming services successful, especially with some companies owning multiple streaming services.
In the past, investors have propped up these streaming services hoping to get lucky and pick the one that will become successful. Now investors are pulling back and want to see these services become profitable. This is forcing executives who are used to running cable networks to find ways to make streaming profitable. For now, that seems to be to bundle them together to offer fewer options but new ones with more content.