Technology

Paramount+ investor day ends era of streaming launch events: a look back at what we've learned


Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., waves while onstage with Oprah Winfrey, chief executive officer of Oprah Winfrey Network LLC, during an event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, U.S., on Monday, March 25, 2019.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

ViacomCBS will perform what’s become a rite of passage Wednesday, trotting out executives to explain why its new streaming service is awesome and different from all others.

Wednesday’s event will be the end of an era of sorts. Barring a surprise entrant from a non-media company, ViacomCBS’s Paramount+ presentation will be the last of the major streaming investor days, which double as a consumer showcase of what’s on each service.

There are a certain traits that make or break an investor day. Specifics on price, a tentpole original shows, breadth of library content and hopefully a surprise or two.

Here’s a look back at all of the major streaming launch events in the past 18 months ⁠— the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Apple TV+, March 2019

  • Price: Unsaid (later turned out to be free for a year with the purchase of an Apple device, $4.99 a year thereafter). Apple has since extended the free trial by several months for its early subscribers.
  • Subscriber forecast: Not given
  • Tentpole original series: “The Morning Show”
  • Prized library content: None
  • Surprise: How bad the event was

Let’s be honest, the Apple TV+ event was not good. This event happened in the way back, when people could see each other in person. Apple invited hundreds of its employees, reporters and a slew of celebrities (Oprah!) to explain its streaming vision in Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, Calif. But Jobs probably would not have been pleased. Apple had few shows, limited video trailers, zero library series or movies to showcase and the company didn’t even reveal details about how much the service would cost. This was the first major streaming event, and it taught other companies what not to do.

Disney+, April 2019

AT&T’s HBO Max, October 2019

Quibi, January 2020

CEO Meg Whitman chose the Consumer Electronics Show to unveil Quibi, a service built for people to users to watch short 10-minute episodes or chapters of shows while waiting in line or killing time. Quibi said it planned to introduce more than 175 original shows and 8,500 short episodes in the 12 months following its April launch.

Yada, yada, yada, Quibi doesn’t exist anymore. This service’s failure wasn’t a surprise. The speed of its collapse was.

Comcast’s Peacock, January 2020

Discovery’s Discovery+, December 2020



READ SOURCE

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.