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One company will be much better positioned than others to take advantage of these major changes in the media landscape: Disney. Disney is poised to use its Disney + successes to drive not only streaming subscriptions but also ticket sales for its parks, cruises, concerts and other live events, whenever these become safe again.
In the post-Covid media economy, almost all content could essentially serve as marketing campaigns for physical in-person offers. With so much recorded audiovisual entertainment becoming available at a relatively low price through streaming services or for free, through pirate networks, the only media-related category that seems likely to attract high consumer spending will be physical experiences. People will want to go places – and do, see, smell, taste and touch things – after an extended period of restricted movement and limited socialization. People will also be looking to feed their social media feeds with photos and videos of themselves in unique and exciting environments. Disney park attendance was still going to become gangbusters after the pandemic, but with Disney providing fresh media content to hundreds of millions of homes while the pandemic – both via Disney + and via pirate networks – the mouse harbors a strong collective desire to enter Disney-themed spaces as soon as health protocols permit.
This is why I suspect that Disney is deliberately playing the pirate game. By launching high profile projects to massive global audiences through both legal and illegal online mechanisms, Disney guarantees that a huge hype machine will immediately promote these projects. It doesn’t matter if half or more of this machine is powered by pirates, as this will allow Disney properties to drive and define culture, and ensure that after Covid-19 massive crowds pay top dollar for inhabiting (temporarily ) Culture. worlds they have learned to love through their screens. Never mind that Disney gave up the massive box office that a movie loves Mulan could have won if theaters had opened in 2020. What matters to Disney is that a lot of people watched this movie even though they hadn’t paid for it, and that the easy and consistent access to its content has expanded the fan base, making it fans keen to give Disneyland, Disney World, and Disney Cruises thousands of dollars in 2022.
So where is Warner Park or Netflix Park? To reap high profits in the future, media companies will need to earn both from streaming and experiences. Universal has parks, but its Peacock streaming service has yet to gain cultural value. A wise move on Netflix’s part would be to bid soon (if not already) on a movie channel like Alamo Drafthouse, which combines the latest projection and sound technology with a cool retro-nostalgic vibe, and serves High quality. food and drinks throughout each screening. Steven soderbergh Told The daily beast earlier this week, he sees an opportunity for big movie chains to become “repertory cinemas” in the future, attracting audiences who want to see classic films in theaters. Even though people can watch movies at home for little or no cost, they can pay a little for the cinema as a special event.
A wide range of media-themed experiences is also likely to gain traction, including meetups, live performances, panel discussions (such as PaleyFest), and conventions (such as Comic-Cons), where fans can pay for the privilege of seeing and even meeting creatives and cast members, performing with official props, touring replica sets, and otherwise embodying theatrical encounters with their favorite actors, directors, characters and sets – which they can then turn into social media posts in which they, the fans, are the stars. Fan events have always been used to promote TV series and movies, but in a post-Covid climate, this can also work backwards: shows and movies could be promotions for exciting in-person activations.
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