Prediction: Roku gets bought out in 2022
December 14, 2021
With the TV business evolving and technology changing viewers’ habits, the analysts at Hub Entertainment Research have mapped their top 5 predictions for the TV industry in 2022.
1) Roku Gets Bought:
- A leading player in the market buys Roku, which facilitates Roku’s expansion to the international market.
- Roku could be a perfect fit for a company like Apple; Roku would give Apple’s TV service a boost by offering consumers a lower-priced alternative to the Apple TV box.
- “Roku’s efforts to catch up to competitors internationally would get a significant boost by partnering with a company already well established outside the US. At the same time, a company looking to expand its advertising business would benefit from Roku’s robust data collection tools,” commented Peter Fondulas, Principal at Hub Entertainment Research.
2) Smart TVs Rule:
- Sales of standalone streaming devices will begin to decline as smart TVs become the norm.
- Smart TVs are affordable, easier to set up and use, and come preloaded with streaming apps as well as social apps like TikTok.
- “One thing today’s viewers need more than almost anything else: a simple way to navigate and use all their TV sources. Smart TVs provide this capability right out of the box, are easy to set up, and your account info carries across all of the household’s TVs running the same operating system. No need for people to switch inputs, mess with HDMI cables or keep track of another remote,” commented Jon Giegengack, founder and principal at Hub Entertainment Research
3) More Companies Will Create Their Own TV Operating Systems:
- More companies are recognising that smart TVs will allow them to control the beginning of the discovery process, collect data, and serve ads so their own sets with built-in operating systems can be valuable ‘real estate-.
- Comcast and Amazon are ahead of the competition with their own products already in market.
- “After almost 100 years, the TV set is poised to become its own gatekeeper, eclipsing ‘middlemen’ like broadcasters, cable providers, and more recently streamers,” said David Tice, a consultant for Hub Entertainment Research.
4) Netflix Feels the Heat:
- Consolidation and mergers will drive greater competition than Netflix has seen before.
- The Discovery and Warner merger will result in a new streamer to rival Netflix.
- “Netflix has dominated streaming, but as competing media companies invest more in content and networks to save their best IP for their own platforms, Netflix will have to fight harder to maintain its position as the ‘home base’ for streaming consumers,” said Giegengack
5) Library Content Will Become More Valuable:
- As the original productions arms race continues to heat up, compelling library content will be an antidote to ‘content inflation’ – especially for big organisations with lots of IP to leverage, like ViacomCBS and WarnerMedia.
- “Buzzy originals attract new subscribers. But cataloguue shows like Friends and The Office have often out-performed originals on streaming platforms, while platforms like Pluto have acquired big user bases with very few originals. For many viewers, a good show is a good show, whether it’s brand new or just ‘new-to-me,'” said Giegengack