Sony may „win“ the streaming wars era by not playing.
Sony announced another big play in the streaming wars yesterday. After signing a deal with Netflix as their official first pay-tv window (replacing Starz), Sony has now signed a second pay-tv window with Disney. The short version is that upcoming Sony theatrical releases (from 2022 to 2026) will debut in theaters and then (after a VOD/DVD/Blu-ray window) will premiere on Netflix. And then after the conclusion of that first pay-tv window, the films will leave Netflix and take their forever home on Disney+ (or a related Disney-owned platform like Hulu). What does this mean? Well, first, the MCU Spider-Man movies will eventually join their Disney counterparts on Disney+. Second, Sony may have found its edge in the streaming wars by mostly sitting out of the streaming wars. As much as we discuss the buzzy and media-friendly Netflix originals, it’s often third-party content, be it television shows like Criminal Minds or older movies like Jason Statham’s Homeland, that notches the biggest general viewership for a given week. And theatrically-targeted movies are still a huge deal even in a streaming era. Consumers may not actually see these movies in theaters, but they prefer to watch films that were previously in theaters (be it a forgotten hit or an ignored-in-theaters bomb) or intended for theaters over streaming originals.
