One of the things, not to say the most, that surprised SkyShowtime when it launched its launch in Spain was its price. At a cost of just six euros a month (and a lifetime promotion of 50% on the price of each moment), the platform was directly positioned as one of the cheapest in the entire market in our country.
And, as has now been revealed by the Company CEO Monty Sarhanthey had a very good reason to enter the scene at a “destroying” price and it has more to do with the message they want to give than a pure marketing strategy (which we imagine also).
In a conference at the NEM (New European Marketing) held in Dubrovnik, Croatiathe executive has assured that it is about transferring the idea, simple but less usual than usual, that it is not essential to leave your room to see something:
“We lean toward a consumer value proposition that puts them in the front end and we launch at a lower price than our competitors for that reason. We are sending a message that our content does not have to cost a fortune to be seen.”
Good price, but limited catalog
An economic strategy in contingency in the face of inflation, the cost of living in general and the war in Ukraine. Another thing is that the CEO of a platform says it precisely whose biggest criticism is precisely the lack of content new compared to its competitors.
Although they are beginning to build an interesting video library, this lack of news —they can be counted on the fingers of one hand and there are too many fingers— makes it is not having a very good reception. To give an example, the catalog of novelties for this month of June consists of only three series. One of them, ‘Foodie Love’, rescued from HBO Max. The others are ‘the invisible‘, the new by Héctor Lozano (‘Merlí’) and season 2 of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’.
Yes, it is okay to want to send the message that it is not necessary to put the content at a price of gold. Especially seeing how Netflix has started to charge almost for breathing and other platforms prices are gradually going up. However, SkyShowtime lacks competition where it really matters: content and originals.
The future is in the bundle
Speaking of price versus content, Sarhan points to something else that is quite interesting and that we are already beginning to see going around the heads of those responsible for studios and platforms: the bundle, which will become a priority in the panorama of streaming.
“One of the important ways we can create value is by ‘bundling’. Our two shareholders have done exactly that. Streaming as an industry is only 15 years old and a lot of the business models that have been around as part of the TV industry for decades are still relevant.”
Something to take into account because, as it seems that they are realizing now on the platforms, the model of “I cook it, I eat it” is not very sustainable and it is leading both Disney+ and HBO Max to remove some of their original series and movies from their catalog in order to sell them to third parties (many of Max have ended up on SkyShowtime). So a return is expected, at least partial, of the television sales model to third parties.
In addition the model “bundle” is beginning to gain strength again. Already, SkyShowtime was going to bring together in theory (later in practice not so much) content from two American platforms such as Paramount + and Peacock. And the recent transformation of HBO Max post merger with Discovery It also points to this fusion of contents.
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