The “Premium” of video content from major studios is quickly disappearing. First it was Netflix, then Hulu, and then came Amazon with its Prime Instant Video Service, and Comcast has followed suite with Streampix, which will be soon followed by Verizon’s strategic Redbox partnership…all services that offer access to thousands of hours of premium content viewing for a low monthly fee. Premium video content is becoming easier to access and as more services compete for the customer, the cost to access this content is rapidly decreasing.
But the real risk that can send the industry’s business model out the window remains Apple. A very lucrative part of the content industry’s revenues, premium TV rights, are at serious risk. If Apple succeeds in launching their own video streaming service, the market value of premium content will drop even more and content owners will quickly see their control of an important value chain disappear.
Here’s a very interesting read on the subject: Apple throws weight around in TV negotiations
DigitalSensei's Blog 