In a world dominated by on demand content, the great monarch of this realm is Netflix. With an ever more complete catalog of original proposals, the great N consolidated globally not only as a platform to watch films and series, but as a producer and generator of quality audiovisual material.
However, it is not the only one that disputes the crown. Around the world, major competitors such as Amazon (with Prime Video), Disney (with all the licenses it holds, such as Marvel and Lucas Films, as well as Hulu and Fox) and AT & T (Warner and HBO) are in a constant bid to stay with part of this market. What is the key in this contest? Have the best licenses, in addition to own material.
With 146.5 million subscribers globally, according to the figure that spread in its latest earnings report, the company does nothing but grow. However, 2019 can be a year of break for the entire industry.
The landing of Disney + is not a minor news. In fact, it could mean Netflix's biggest challenge. Even the mouse signature has already withdrawn a large number of licenses from its competitor's platform.
This was reflected, for example, in the sudden "cancellation" of some of his series such as Daredevil, Iron Fist or Luke Cage.
"There are too many competitors," said Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix. "Disney is about to enter, AT & T will expand HBO, YouTube is growing around the world and even Fortnite consumes part of our market," they say from the firm.
In addition, they consider that they have the necessary weapons to be successful in compulsa: "How can they affect us if we can produce the best content in the world?".
During 2019, the budget for original content increased from 11,900 million dollars to 14,500 million, an increase of 22 percent year on year. Time will tell if Hastings was right. Wallet has and to spare.
The proposals "made in Argentina"
Given the success of Netflix in the country, several local proposals were launched for fans of movies and series.
QubitTV is one of them. Present in Argentina and Uruguay, the Argentine video on demand entertainment company made its relaunch during 2018 with a new business strategy.
The focus is "on the creation of cinephile experiences for consumers," they explain to iProUP from the firm. Its competitive strategy focuses on the public obtaining a differential in varied and quality films.
With an average growth rate of 1,000 new monthly users, QubitTV is positioned as a young and innovative company. It has the largest number of strategic alliances in the country, both with large and international film producers and distributors as well as national and independent.
The platform offers seven free trial days and, once that period ends, a monthly subscription for $ 209.
This allows users to "enjoy the best cinema curated by experts", from a very varied catalog, composed of classic titles, independent films, the best of Hollywood and, soon, valuable films of the national cinema.
"We are a 100% Argentine platform that is developing an exponential growth, we are constantly betting on the business and we are constantly investing in new technologies and premium content selected by experts." We focus on offering a good user experience: digital, portable and cinephile, "says Nicolás Jordán, CEO of QubitTV.
The firm was born in 2011 to provide OTT audiovisual technology and content aggregation services especially aimed at companies (B2B).
He specialized in the development of multi-device video on demand platforms for telecommunications companies in Latin America (especially in Argentina), where he also started his own brand: QubitTV.
With close to 10,000 paid users in the country, the company is clear about its goal for the coming years: achieve 60,000 customers in the next 18 months.
Another option is CINE.AR PLAY, the content proposal of the National Institute of Cinema and Visual Arts (INCAA) and ARSAT.
The platform is free and already has more than 600 titles of Argentine films, 80 series proposals and 400 short films. In addition, it has simultaneous premieres with movie theaters.
He was born in April 2017 and during 2018 he premiered 170 films in parallel to the commercial circuit. It also added a window for producers.
At the same time, it allowed audiences to access the novelties of the billboard by paying $ 30 for the premiere.
"The approach was to use the same concept for the exhibition of Argentine cinema and to value the national contents, with the main and priority objective of adding new audiences, both from the linear TV channel (CINE.AR TV) and from the platform Free VOD (CINE.AR PLAY) ", explains Karina Castellano, the director of CINE.AR, to iProUP.
The free catalog of CINE.AR PLAY adds content every Tuesday and the premiere segment does it on Thursdays, as do the cinemas.
For the time being, it has increased the number of subscribers by more than 400% since the brand was launched in 2017. This was a continuation and deepening of the exhibition policy carried out by INCAA with its linear and digital screens, through the TV channel and platform.
If you take January 2016 as a reference, CINE.AR went from having 260,000 subscribers to more than 1,200,000 to date, of which 100,000 are international.
In addition, only in 2018 received 20 million visits and subscribers visualized 1 million hours of content in that period.
Complementary, not rival
Competing with Netflix is almost a lost battle. Not so aim to be a complement to this giant. Understanding the space that each of these proposals occupies is important to measure its scope, the possibilities of accessing a shared audience and offering differential proposals to other market platforms.
"Films and varied genres used to be popular consumption, QubitTV recovers that desire for the chosen, awarded and recommended films, titles of all time in Hollywood, both recognized and exponents of the new cinema." QubitTV teaches us to see and discover good films, "concludes Jordán.
Therefore, it is positioned as a platform of video on demand complementary to the "Gran N", puts the focus on international cinema -which is highly valued by the Argentine cultural consumer market- with an attractive experience.
Its exponential growth as a young, local company and a benchmark for cinema in the region places it at the level of other internationally renowned players such as Filmin (Spain), LaCinetek (France) and Filmstruck (USA).
For its part, CINE.AR relies on its free catalog to target not only the large public interested in national content, but also uses it as a window for the local industry.
In this way, both producers and directors find an ally on the platform to be shown globally: "Content is internationalized and audiences are added to audiences, which in the case of the Argentine series published on CINE.AR PLAY has resulted in sales of formats , new seasons or future business deals in the most important audiovisual markets. "
An example of this was the Cordoba police series "La chica que limpia", which could not find a screen and was published on the platform in 2017. After it went on the air, the production house not only managed to reach the audiences but also began to talk for a second season on international circuits and sell the format to big players in the market.
"CINE.AR is in the process of expanding, prioritizing the internationalization of Argentine contents but also adding spectators to Ibero-American production", explains the director.
More proposals
Movistar is another of the companies that bet on this segment. As it advanced to iProUP, the company began to operate with Movistar TV in several cities of the country. This proposal also does not rival Netflix (because it includes it among its catalog), but it adds live television and more signals on demand.
The basic subscription includes all TV channels in full HD, on-demand content that provides these signals, and exclusive Movistar Series, which promises to have at least one premiere per month.
To this is added an eSports channel. The one mounted on an access of 100 mb costs $ 1,709 during 12 months, while the one of symmetrical 300 mb ascends up to $ 2,057 for the same period.
"Instead of worrying about the dollar, enjoy a wonderful cinema, for the next year MUBI is free throughout Argentina." With that phrase, this firm, with Turkish capitals, landed in the country offering its service at no cost throughout 2019.
It is enough to register to access the catalog of this platform, which aims at a moviegoer audience that wants to revisit classics and discover new directors and cinematographies from around the world. In the United States, the value of the subscription is US $ 8.99.
DirecTV, meanwhile, will launch DirecTV Go in Argentina this year (it already works in Chile and Colombia). To the service that the company provides, some of the mentioned alternatives will be added.
In the case of Claro, it offers its packaged services customers the chance to contract OTT Crackle and Noggin services, for a monthly bonus of $ 120 on the first and $ 90 on the second.
In this way, a variety of proposals coexist with the "Great N" with the aim of conquering an audience increasingly thirsty for quality content, at any time and place.
The issue is not competing with Netflix, but delivering attractive and unique alternatives. Therefore, adapting a bit the familiar saying, if you can not with them, complement them.
