The two largest theater chains in the US, AMC and Regal, face impending bankruptcy amid continued lockdowns, and as Hollywood’s pipeline of films slows to a trickle.
Production and distribution disruptions caused by governmental lockdowns have accelerated many transformations that were well underway in production, distribution, and viewership trends.
British exhibitor Cineworld, the parent company of Regal Cinemas in the US, said on Monday that it would shutter all 663 of its theaters in the US and the UK starting October 8th.
Day-and-date and other alternative film releasing models have been around for over a decade. Still, most major studios have avoided a strategy that skips the theater altogether, that is, until now.
SVOD is still a minor segment of the overall streaming market in Germany. Proportionally, Germany spends less than half of US households ($24 billion) on SVOD services when adjusted for currency and population.
A Federal Judge ended the Paramount decrees that ceased Hollywood’s monopoly on producing, distributing, and exhibiting films citing the move would “serve the public interest in free and unfettered competition.”
AT&T is desperate to sell some or all of DirecTV to pay down its $180 billion mountain of debt. According to inside sources, the satellite service is being offered at a $20 billion valuation, marking a $29 billion loss since 2015.
The growth of SVOD services in Scandinavia shows no signs of slowing down. Despite heavy competition from local services Netflix has gained four million subscribers.
Since the COVID lockdown began, nearly five million UK households have signed up for a streaming service. Netflix, Amazon, and Disney+ have been the primary beneficiaries of this boom.
COVID-19 has decimated global content pipelines by halting film production, canceling greenlit projects, and closing cinemas. However, the present disruptions have only accelerated transformations that were well underway.
With most of the world in mandatory lockdown, Netflix doubled its quarterly subscriber estimates from January through March by adding 16 million new subscribers.