It’s funny how the rise of streaming has not ended up where most people expected. When Netflix basically took over the world, studios and most entertainment companies fixated on the potential of their own services and dumped almost all their resources into them. However, they failed to realize that streaming was popular because it was a consolidation and that spreading out multiple libraries across multiple services was not ideal. Not to mention how the optics of profitability with streaming are pretty flimsy so studios were throwing billions into the wind and hoping for some money back, not knowing if they would get a proper return. As a result, we’ve seen a pullback from many companies in favor of returning to the older model of how streaming operated: licensing to other services.
The reality of streaming is that it is probably more viable long-term to sell a license to other companies to stream some of your content rather than maintaining your own service. As of late, shows that were intended for streaming on one service are simply sold to another for distribution. None of these services has done this more as of late than Warner Bros and HBO Max. While their tactics have been disagreeable (especially with the Batgirl shelving and tax write offs), they have been a bit forward-thinking, albeit in a miserly way and not in a beneficial for consumers way, regarding how they need to maintain streaming. The recent Superman cartoon was simply put on Adult Swim, while the newest Gumball season was put on Hulu, which is practically fused with Disney+ at this point. HBO Max has appeal, but brand fatigue, studio meddling, and the sense of exhaustion over streaming means that newer shows and films have a better chance on other platforms, especially ones that are either lower entry or have a wider audience.
The most recent example is the case of the Looney Tunes. The past few years have been a bit rough for the brand. Between the Coyote vs Acme fiasco, Space Jam 2 being a thing, and the sense that the brand is still not quite valued like it should be, these characters are in an odd spot. However, what showcased this the most, but also highlighted a potentially better direction for streaming, is the distribution of the original shorts featuring the characters. Warner originally released a whole lot of them on HBO Max and commissioned a ton of new restorations to fill out the service to get as many shorts on there as possible. However, down the road, an odd thing happened. Half of the shorts’ library was removed from the service. There was never a concrete reason given, but given that many shows have been removed from services simply to avoid paying the original creator’s residuals, I wager that keeping the shorts on the service cost some sort of money in the messy internal rights system within WB. This happened again later, where the shorts that left came back, replacing the shorts that were left alone beforehand. Later, all the shorts were taken off the service, and it just felt like a puzzling and self-defeating move. Why remove the library of some of the most iconic cartoons of your studio, whose brand is immeasurably important to your history?
Well, I think the answer is simultaneously cynical, but probably a better option long term. In August, over 700 Looney Tunes shorts were made available on Tubi. That number is larger than any offering that HBO Max had even at the start and occupies more than 70% of the original short library. This is obviously a better value proposition since not only is a majority of these classic shorts available on an accessible service, but one that is free. This made me realize that having these shorts licensed out means that there is less internal hand-wringing within WB about distribution. If the studio really had to either pay a fee or deal with contracts more aggressively to put only a handful of shorts on their own service, then it isn’t as worth it compared to having someone else handle said distribution in a model that is older and more sound.
It is also more beneficial for the customer. Netflix used to have numerous licensing deals with tons of studios for a variety of shows and movies that were taken away to cut off into personal streaming fiefdoms. Now that studios may return to this licensing model, it means that people may be able to go back to paying for 2 or 3 services like before, as opposed to numerous. Sure, the issue of shows and movies being removed from services due to deals running out will still happen, and that sucks, but it’s far more understandable for that to happen with a third party rather than a service removing something created specifically for said platform due to cost concerns internally. It simultaneously makes all the sense and absolutely no sense at all.
At this point, streaming isn’t going anywhere, but studios put too many eggs into the metaphorical basket. They don’t get as much money from these services as they would either with physical media and licensing through creating exclusive content for said services. The overall cost of maintaining them feels like a money pit when the pros and cons of finances are weighed together. Streaming is starting to seem less like the new future for entertainment and more like a bubble that burst as quickly as it rose. It has a place going forward. That genie is never going back in the bottle, considering the user base. But now, there are going to be ways studios have to adapt and use older tactics since that will probably ensure better savings and accessibility compared to their own prospects. Studios selling the rights to some of their media to be shown on better services is probably the path going forward long term, and I think we are going to see streaming return to a similar form of fewer platforms and more variety as it was beforehand. Probably not to the same extent, but I do feel that the days of every studio and media company having their own streaming service are over, and that’s for the best. I mean, we can get free media on Tubi and even YouTube, so paying multiple subscriptions at this point seems like a less appealing offer.
