xboxgreen said:
Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV, Disney plus, and more have all succeeded based on the subscription model. Some of those shows cost a lot money and time as well. |
Without delving too much into the discussion overall, I just wanted to point out that your examples of successful streaming services are highly flawed. Disney Plus - and by extension; Hulu, who are part of Disney's DTC effort, is hemorrhaging money since the beginning. It's considered to be among the company's least financially successful ventures since Disney was formed. Apple TV is in the red by at least one billion dollars annually, and is floating simply due to Apple at large choosing for it to do so. There is nothing in the model itself that makes Apple money.
Netflix are more or less the only streaming service that have consistently been in the black, but even they have faced struggles and continue to do so (mostly revolving around royalties and residuals due to increased competition in the space, The Office is the foremost example of a production growing beyond measure in fees to own the rights to). Even if Netflix were constantly doing great, this would only raise new concerns as long as competitors lose money (namely monopolies, which are bad news), as this is a likely signal that there's no room for more actors in the space.
Spotify is widely hated by artists and creators, but loved by shareholders. The truth is that subscription-based entertainment in any form is unproven as a concept, or at any breadth. The equation is hard to solve, and I don't see Gamepass doing it either.
https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/apple-tv-plus-streaming-losses-1-billion-per-year-1236344052/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinereid/2025/02/08/disneys-streaming-unit-loses-three-times-more-money-than-disneyland-paris/
