Curse of the free trial
The Disney+ free trial offer has vanished as the company gets set to release Hamilton direct-to-streaming on July 3. In typical times, the film would have premiered in theaters. As such, there will be no free lunch for those that were considering a 7-day trial just to check out this one release. Free trials are a tried and true component of the subscription TV business. But while useful, there is also a down side as these customers are more prone to churn. Disney+’s low monthly rate is likely attractive enough to keep the service growing without the need for this customer acquisition tool. And if they continue to use the service as the home for new release movies, free trials just don’t make sense.
The NPD Take:
- The evolving business model for Disney+, that is distribution for new release movies, negates the opportunity to leverage free trials as a recurring customer acquisition tool.
- The release of Hamilton has the opportunity to further diversify the demographic audience for Disney+.
Amazon Prime goes live
Live, scheduled streaming TV is not entirely new to Amazon Prime Video. The service has included programs such as NFL Thursday Night Football and the Premier League soccer. However, it is now rumored that Amazon is pursuing a broader live TV offering that could include an end-to-end experience for customers to discover and watch linear TV content including sports, news, movies, award shows, special events and TV shows. Amazon Prime already provides viewers with an access point to nearly all ways they consume content such as transactional digital, SVOD, AVOD through IMDb TV and Channels. A comprehensive live stream offering would be the final home entertainment pillar.
The NPD Take:
- While cord cutting accelerates, viewers still embrace live linear TV. That is apparent through the increased user base for services such as Pluto TV. Integration of live will increase viewer engagement and maximizes their time within the Amazon TV eco-system.
- UI uniformity will be critical for Amazon to truly win with this strategy. Otherwise, it could lead to viewer frustration.
Peacock Premium Comped
Peacock will move out of beta on July 15. As the company prepares for its national rollout they have been expanding device partnerships. Similar to HBO Max, there is still no deal for Peacock to be distributed on Roku or Fire TV. Interestingly the company just struck a deal with Google to launch on Android and Android TV. As part of that agreement, the premium tier of Peacock will be available for free through October 15th, an arrangement not made with other device partners.
The NPD Take:
- If HBO Max and Peacock remain unavailable on Roku and Fire TV that will provide Android TV with a much needed competitive content advantage.
- The streaming video market is now officially over crowded with every major media company offerings its own direct-to-consumer service.