Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1126636
DGA QUARTERLY 51 Disney's purchase of Fox for example: the deal not only gave Disney a large additional library of content, it gave the company ownership of Hotstar, one of the largest streaming services in India. While Hot- star touts nearly 7 million subscribers, the company's ad-supported platform is utilized by a staggering 300 million active monthly users. India, at present, has more than 500 million people connected to the internet (primarily mobile), with another 800 million wait- ing in the wings. Netfl ix and Amazon are both racing to boost their presence in the country, both buying libraries and commissioning dozens of original fi lms and TV shows. They're making inroads, but like China, the Indian market is dominated by local players, includ- ing the already mentioned Hotstar, Eros Now and Hooq. WHAT'S OLD IS NEW AGAIN This growth, and the potential for much more, is not only driv- ing stock market valuations, but also causing established "legacy media" companies to embrace the SVOD business model and the markets and valuations they o er. Disney, AT&T (via WarnerMe- dia), NBC Universal and the BBC/ITV are moving away from the traditional licensing model and setting up global direct-to-consumer initiatives of their own. Tech giant Apple has also thrown its hat into the ring, investing heavily in original content. (Fig.6) The rush to spend billions on original content, not only by Apple but on an even larger scale by Netfl ix and Amazon, is an arms race against the legacy media com- panies, which are poised to bring their massive librar- ies of content back home when their services launch. It's well known that library titles and repurposed content are in large part what drive consumers to these services. Despite Netflix launching hundreds of original programs, library content still makes up nearly 65% of viewing on the service, according to data analytics fi rm 7Park. That includes major Netfl ix draws like NBC Universal's The O ce and Warner Bros.' Friends, for which the streamer recently shelled out $100 million to keep for an additional year. IN DEMAND Streaming video is still a new technology in the grand scheme of things. And like any fast-developing industry, it's going through rapid changes. Early entrants such as Netfl ix and Amazon are fac- ing looming competition from a variety of companies. And the spread of fast, reliable cellular technology has opened up a much bigger world of viewers. ® FIG. 4 FIG. 5 FIG. 6