‘Compounding’ (in the sense both of combining and adding to) will characterise global TV throughout 2021 as the streaming TV boom forces a re-engineering of the TV value chain and the strategies for reaching the end viewer.
The breadth of choice in the streaming market today means compounding (or bundling) multiple streaming services into packages must be the next step in the evolution of the streaming market.
This goes beyond simple aggregation on a ‘platform’ like a Roku stick, Sky Q set top box or Amazon Fire device. The streaming industry has yet to embrace the combining and discounting of packages of streaming services and this form of compounding seems bound to rise to the fore in the coming year. Several of Netflix’s recent strategic moves (including its ‘Play Something’ feature and audio-only options) point to positioning for a future in which streaming moves beyond ‘appointment viewing’ typical of on-demand behaviour towards a future where happenstance plays a greater role in content choice.
