The Streaming War During the Covid-19 Pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic has drastically disrupted all business sectors. The arts, culture, and entertainment industries have been hit exceptionally hard since the virus’ first outbreak in January. In response to the crisis, businesses have taken immediate actions: transitioning to remote work, canceling and postponing live events nationwide, shutting down entertainment venues, etc., resulting in lost revenues from sales, merchandising, advertising, and promotions. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic’s impacts are far more permanent for an audience-oriented industry that requires a high level of engagement. The business model might be fundamentally changed and there will certainly be a shift in how content is produced and consumed.
To understand how the pandemic is shaping the streaming industry, it is important to understand its pre-Covid and current status. The following analysis conducted and written by Yujin Luo will divide the timeline into before 2020 and in 2020 based on Covid-19’s first outbreak in January 2020. As people are isolated at home binge-watching and the number of players in the industry grows, streaming services not only need to offer consistently high-quality and a sufficient volume of programming, but also understand and stick to their own unique value propositions.