The Forever Discount Trap…

For Streamers & Subscribers - Weekend Wrap Up Edition - Week 8/2025

Mar 01, 2025

My head is spinning with all the industry news we got this week so let’s dig in.

📈 New In Streaming Made Easy Premium

I’m always thinking about new ways to bring you more value and here’s the latest project I’ve been working on. Starting this week, premium subscribers will have access to a dedicated section in Streaming Made Easy to access key data about top companies operating in Media & Entertainment. It’s called “The Earnings Hub”.

→ For this inaugural piece, who better than Netflix to open the festivities. Consider upgrading to access it here.

💂🏻 MIP MIP

Writing this as I wind down from a couple of days in London for the 1st edition of MIP London. Building a new event is hard so kudos to the team for being fearless and making this happen.

→ My main takeaway: MIP London is not MIP TV, nor MIPCOM and that’s why I liked it! We can pause for a minute, learn and network, things I find hard to do at MIPCOM as we run up and down the Croisette like headless chicken with a glass of rosé in one hand, sunglasses in the other ☺️

I’ll leave you with this stab from Content London. Game on!

🇦🇺 No More Going Alone

The common denominator of all new Max launches? A local partnership to gain scale fast. On March 31st, Max is launching in Australia and their new partner brings them instant access to 1.4M subs! No time to waste in 2025.

🛜 Vertical Integration Out

Focus in. For years, telecom operators thought they should own the pipes and the content. Some lost their way by going even one step further and invested in exclusive content. Thing is, consumers don’t come for the content but the connectivity. This move in the Nordics shows the need to go laser focus in order to excel in your core business.

📏 Barb Leads The Way

Oh boy what did I tell you last week about the debate around what is TV/what is not. Starting in Q3, Barb will measure 200 YouTube channels according to a framework made of 5 categories and the question: what is fit for TV? I can already see the debate around the channel selection. All in all it’s the perfect way to bust some myths and a major win for transparency and measurement. Speaking of which, Comscore shared its own news about YouTube for France & Spain.

📺 The Speed Of Ad Innovation

YouTube innovates at light speed especially on the ad experience. After skippable ads in September, here comes improved mid rolls and guess who’ll do the work? Creators with the help of AI. They got 3 months to work on their past videos and set up their strategy for new uploads. YouTube mimicking the TV ad experience. Their TV viewing share of voice is about to get bigger.

🇳🇱 The (Not So) Forever Discount

When SkyShowtime and HBO Max launched in the Netherlands, I grabbed their life-long launch discounts at 3.99€ and 4.99€ per month. Great way to acquire subs at launch but a rock in the shoe when it comes to ARPU. It’s therefore no surprise to see them making changes to the plans (Sky back in September 2024, HBO this month). What are my options? I can cancel, keep the same price with less features or apply my 50% discount to a more expensive plan. What would you do?

→ My recommendation: never do a life-long subscription, know your worth, do a limited launch promo and off you go because right now, as a customer, I feel cheated somehow, not great.