Picking up where we left off,
Reports of the death of the advertising model may have been premature
Ten years ago the standard narrative had fully embraced the idea of a single revenue stream future with that one stream being subscriptions. Not only was the possibility of alternate TV models dismissed, but we also saw a spillover into other industries. Suddenly everything from cars to Lego were going to be subscription based.
This was in sharp contrast to the existing model where companies made money from subscriptions, advertising, ticket sales, marketing, and syndication. Under the Netflix model, everyone paid a monthly fee and in exchange got a super bundle of every show Netflix was currently licensing, all available for viewing on demand. (Somewhat ironically, advocates of the future of streaming at the time would often point to bundles as a reason that cable was inferior despite the fact that Netflix had taken the concept even further.)
About six or seven years ago, people in or close to the industry started noticing that while actually turning a profit with streaming was proving difficult, some of the best numbers were coming out of partially or wholly ad supported divisions. Companies like Amazon, Fox, and Paramount launched standalone ad supported services. Subscription-based services like HBO Max moved toward adding commercials. Even Netflix started backing away from the model. This trend was obvious years before any national journalist picked up on it.
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