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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1491529
Amazon Prime found that out early on and so did Hulu. That didn’t stop nearly every content organization from joining the fray – Viacom/CBS/Paramount, WBD/HBO Max/Discovery, Comcast/NBC/Peacock, the magic kingdom (Disney/MCU/Pixar/ILM/huge chunk of Hulu) and oft-overlooked Apple along with 200ish other folks. Still, in the eyes of folks sitting at home, Netflix almost everywhere is the gold standard of streaming. Netflix jumped on the worldwide trend early, leveraging all of the advantages of international, non-US production and global distribution, recognizing that good and great stories don’t recognize country borders – including an estimated 30M in China where the company doesn’t even offer their service … don’t ask. While paring back slightly, they still commissioned more than 130 international first-run shows and 62 features, adding to their growing content library and carving out some excellent franchises for their future. Nearly all of the movies/shows are gotta’ see, gotta’ talk about projects. Those that don’t resonate with viewers quickly, quietly disappear. But series like Squid Game (South Korea), Money Heist (La casa de papal – Spanish) and a growing number Indian, African, Central/South American and European films/shows are hits in their home countries as well as in the Americas. Netflix shifted a lot of its original content investment this year to less-mature markets with more growth potential - Central Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia. During the same period, Amazon greenlit 92 shows and 23 features. 2023 is going to be tough for them as nearly all of Amazon’s services (the exception is their cloud services which are roaring) feel the impact of the global downturn and see people returning to in-store vs. online shopping. Disney showed why the mouse led the entertainment industry with 45 new shows and four feature films for its Disney + audience to end the year with more than 235.7M subscribers (including Disney +, Hulu, ESPN+, Disney+ Hotstar). At the same time, they delighted theater chains/visitors, giving them seven of the top 15 films shown in cavernous rooms including Spider-Man: No Way Home (in co-op with Sony), No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Avatar: The Way of Water and a smattering of pretty decent Pixar projects. “A few” were so good we even had to put our seat in sticky seats and have greasy/salty popcorn with a bunch of imperfect strangers. The rest? We’ll eventually catch them on our home screen when they stream where the seats are cleaner/more comfortable, dress code is more relaxed and the popcorn is … fresher!