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Hulu (part of the Disney clan) doesn’t have the original content budgets of Netflix or Amazon ($3B last year) but has a deep library of animated shows like Family Guy, Bob’s Burgers, King of the Hill, Rick & Morty and South Park and a relationship with Marvel Animation which is being expanded. As for other content, Beatrice Springborn, VP of content development, has said “There’s nothing we can’t buy if we really want it.” Which is basically the way of the world … this world especially. AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner is nearly ready to finally give its streaming offering with potentially another programming model that combines the content of HBO, Warner Bros, Turner’s TV channels, and more under a single subscription Comcast-owned NBCUniversal will launch its streaming service in 2020. CBS owns both the CBS All Access and Showtime streaming services, both of which are increasing their original content budgets and rummaging through their libraries to see what can be monetized … again. Who did we forget? Oh yes, Apple’s recent announcement of Apple TV+, Apple News and Apple Arcade. No pricing was announced for the fall launch but it emphasized that there are over 1B Apple devices worldwide eager for and will, if the past is any example, pay whatever it is to have this service. While everyone in the streaming arena focuses on the tentpole production that attracts a lot of subscribers, they also see these eyeball attracters as excellent opportunities for prequels, spin-offs and cross-promoted content opportunities down the road. But one of the reasons the new streaming content creation houses have taken back their content from others to put it back in their own library for tomorrow is that originals are important for enabling their organizations to better control the breadth and depth of content they offer to subscribers. They understand that not everyone likes the same thing and that everyone likes a change of pace. “In today’s market, you can’t be successful with two or three compelling films or simply a rotating library of action films,” McLennan stated. “Yes, they are very popular – profitable, in fact – but a rounded offering including series about zombies, dragons, violence, family series, late night shows, and more keep viewers coming back for more. The industry is dramatically refining its viewer analysis capabilities, so in-house teams have to decide what gets made and what they believe is going to resonate …and they’re often happily surprised.” “Storylines travel very well across country borders too,” McLennan commented. “People in Germany, France, Australia, Japan, Mexico, the U.S., everywhere like variety and choice. Certain genre of video stories are universal – sci-fi, comedy, documentaries and kids’ shows all resonate with people and appeal to them regardless of where they live or where it was produced. The key is for new OTT services to be able to tap into the themes and stories people want to spend their money on and will, on an ongoing basis, spend time with.” And while the usual players may be leaders at home – in the U.S. – they don’t dominate the global streaming media scene. While Netflix had the global streaming video market to itself in 2016, it quickly found it had to share the market with SVOD players in Spain, Singapore, France, Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Dubai, everywhere. In addition to offering their services in these countries, Netflix, Disney, Amazon and others were told that they had to produce a specific volume of their content locally … or else. “People like the same ‘types’ of entertainment whether they’re in Chicago, Berlin, Sydney, Singapore, Osaka, or Melbourne,” McLennan noted. “When we talk with service providers in various countries, we often hear them say the same thing, ‘but people are different here.’ “While this may be true for certain types of programming; overall, they’re really aren’t,” he continued. “They have similar emotions, wants, needs, hopes and expectations when they go to the theater, sit down in front of their set at home or watch content on their smartphone commuting to work.” He explained that is why the individual “local content penalty” turned out to be good for everyone: • Local viewers had immediate access to such popular content as Marvel’s library, Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, The Wire, The Handmaiden’s Tale, The Good Wife, Star Trek and others.