2019 has come to an end, so it’s time to look back at our 2019 predictions. At the end of 2018, I picked 5 serious predictions and 5 way-out-there predictions. Today, we are going to look back at the predictions and see how we did.
Now if you think I am making these up or maybe edited them after I made them, here is my YouTube video with my 2019 predictions.
Let’s take a look at how I did.
5 Serious Predictions
#1 A Major Live TV Streaming Service Will Fail
In late 2019, Sony announced that PlayStation Vue will shut down in January 2020. With growing competition and subscriber numbers reportedly falling, Sony is getting out of that business. Now the service won’t shut down until January 2020, but it was announced in 2019 so I am going to list this one as an accurate prediction.
#2 NFL Sunday Ticket Streaming Online
This one almost happened, but the NFL owners have decided to push it off until the end of the 2021–2022 NFL season to renegotiate their contracts. So, this one was a miss but was discussed within the NFL leadership.
#3 Disney Will Own 90% or More of Hulu
In 2019, not only did Disney buy FOX shares they also closed on a deal to take over management of NBC’s 30% of Hulu. NBC still owns their 30%, but they turned over voting control to Disney and there is a deal to allow Disney to buy NBC’s shares of Hulu in a few years if Disney wants them. So, I am going to say this one was half correct: Disney does have 100% control over Hulu and a deal in place to give them 90% or more ownership of Hulu in a few years but, as of today, NBC still owns 30% of Hulu.
#4 5G Slower Roll Out
This one is a hard one to tell. 5G did see a major roll out in 2019, but AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon are live in just a few markets. T-Mobile got their 5G network live late in 2019, but it’s the only network to claim full 5G in 2019. So, I am going to say this one was correct as some providers like AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon didn’t expand as fast as some predicted they would in 2019.
#5 Disney+ Will Be a Huge Success at the Start but Slow Down
This one is hard to tell. Disney+ rolled out a bit later than I expected, so we are still in the honeymoon stage. Also, Verizon’s free year deal won’t expire until late 2020. I was right that Disney+ had a huge roll out unlike anything I have ever seen. Yet we may not know if it will slow down for a few more months yet. So, I am going to say this one was a big miss.
5 Way-Out-There Predictions
#1 AT&T Will Sell Their Satellite Customers to DISH
This didn’t happen, but there has been talk within AT&T’s investors about doing just this. The one thing holding AT&T back from selling DIRECTV satellite customers is they are trying to move them to the more profitable AT&T TV service when it launches in early 2020. This prediction may have been better made for 2020.
#2 Walmart Will Buy Roku
At the end of 2018, all the talk was of Roku being bought by someone. Recently that talk has died down and Roku has seen great success in 2019. Now the question is will we see talks of a Roku sale heat up in 2020 and, if so, who will be the buyer.
#3 Google Will Ditch Chromecast for Android TV
Google has continued to ignore its Chromecast service. The biggest news about Chromecast was not streaming TV in 2019 but its new gaming service that will stream games through the Chromecast Ultra. The future of the Chromecast streaming player is in the hands of the new Google gaming service that uses the Chromecast Ultra.
#4 Samsung Will Sell a Roku TV
This one didn’t happen, but there are more Roku TV providers in 2019 than ever before. Roku also expanded into higher end TVs with the new TCL 8-Series Roku TVs. We need to wait for a major brand like Samsung to pick Roku as their new OS.
#5 Apple’s New Streaming Service Will Bomb
This one is a hard one to rate. Rumors are that the new Apple TV+ service is not getting paying subscribers as Apple had hoped. For now, Apple TV+ is growing but mostly on the fact that if you buy a new Apple product you can get a free year of Apple TV+. What is clear is Apple TV+ did not get the same attention or excitement from consumers as Disney+ did. For now, I am going to list this one as a wait and see.
So, how do you think I did on my 2019 predictions? Leave a comment and let me know.
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