MainStream EP #3

Ever heard of the saying, “won the battle but lost the war?”

When we talk about the streaming wars, we talk about the battle for attention. Hundreds of thousands of streaming services, all wanting our eyeballs to stay fixated on their OTT apps. This is the battle, not the war.

The long game is likely determined by who owns the box. It’s the platform provider who consolidates said apps. I’m talking about OTT hardware platforms like Google TV, Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX?

As OTT competition heats up, it’s only natural for users to want a central location for all their subscriptions. Why bounce around from one app to another when you can find new episodes from the shows you follow in one place? Apple TV has taken this approach with their “TV” app. The same goes for Roku and its “Channel” app. These platforms take the manual work of jumping between apps out of the equation. It’s convenient for users but detrimental for the individual brands.