In 2020, as Covid 19 invaded countries and continents and changed the world forever, the streaming industry was partying. Faced with growth worthy of any celebration, and the general confinement of the planet, the media giants could not believe the figures and the optimism that streaming entertainment presented them. The streaming video market in 2020 was valued at $376 billion. And according to Fortune Business Insights, the numbers will continue to rise at an average of 12% per year for the next decade.
Although analysts, observers, journalists and other fans of the industry did not doubt the potential growth of the industry, it was evident that in the face of so many competitors there would be changes, setbacks and some deaths.
The day finally arrived and the party ended abruptly last week as Reed Hastings gave his quarterly report to investors. The fear among the owners of the money was immediate and immediately discounted the bad news. 200,000 subscribers less than in the 4th quarter of 2021 and worse still, the expectation of losing another two million for this 2nd quarter. In the case of Netflix, the company’s cost to value since this report has been approximately $55 billion, or more than 38% of its capitalization value.
Experts on the subject are still debating whether Netflix will be able to get out of this serious predicament and, if so, what will be the cost that this will mean. Will you have to sell ad space? Will you have to implement measures to prevent users from sharing passwords? If so, how much time and money will it cost you to switch to this business model?
The other sad news that broke last week was the closure of the newly created CNN+. A month after the launch of its platform, Warner Discovery preferred to assume the loss of some tens of millions of dollars and get rid of a headache than to bet on an uncertain and changing market. Even more so when the brand portfolio of this giant already has HBO and Discovery+ with a solid footing in this market.
For the other giants in the industry such as Disney and Roku, the seriousness of the Netflix case also took its toll.
of long tablecloths
Televisa-Univision announced its results for the first quarter of 2022, the first since the new merged company was created on January 31 of this year.
The good news is: In financial terms, consolidated pro forma revenue for the quarter grew 12.2% compared to the prior year, reaching $1 billion.
Advertising revenues increased 12.0% ($569 million) and subscription and license revenues increased 14.3% to $403 million reflecting strong growth in both the United States and Mexico, on a pro forma basis.
Adjusted OIBDA increased 6.7% pro forma as revenue growth fully funded streaming investments.
The Univision channel achieved 23% primetime growth, the highest growth among all major US networks.
The company’s Mexican channels increased their weekday broadcast market share from 54% to 60%. In Mexico, the channels increased broadcast ratings by 13 percent.
