NFL throwing hat into DTC streaming space
NFL+ is launching in July with early reports suggesting the service will include live games that can be streamed on mobile devices for $5/month. This is addition to Thursday night football being available on Amazon Prime. NFL+ access won’t include major headlining games such as Monday, Thursday or Sunday night football games. Many of the games will also still be available on local broadcast channels. The NFL also has NFL Game Pass for $99/season that includes live and on-demand viewing.
The NPD Take:
- The NFL continues to lean into the streaming space to access viewers where they are.
- With sports becoming increasingly interesting for streamers, it remains to be seen what strategy will prevail, going alone or having sports be a part of a major streamer.
Netflix trimming movie production
In an effort to right-size the business, Netflix is making changes to its movie strategy by looking to make higher quality films at the potential expense of quantity of films. In particular, the streamer recently made organizational cuts to the family live action and original independent features division with likely more changes to come as the strategy becomes more disciplined.
The NPD Take:
- Netflix appears to be leaning into the quality over quantity mantra to try and stabilize subscriber and viewer trends.
- With so much competition for viewers’ attention and wallets, services need to provide compelling content to drive demand not just lots of content.
Regional sports network diving into stand-alone streaming
NESN, the home of the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins, has become the first regional sports network to go DTC. The service will allow subscribers to watch live games outside of a cable service. The cost for the new service will be $1 for the first month and then $29.99 thereafter. The service will only be available in the New England area due to out-of-market rights by the sports leagues.
The NPD Take:
- Sports is the next frontier for DTC streaming services particularly as more people cut the cord and leagues want to retain and gain viewing revenues.
- The NESN network will be an interesting test for other regional sports networks especially heading into the fall season.