Michelle Bonilla

Hi Michelle – Great article. 5G could make streaming video much more accessible. I wonder how this will affect the contracts of the actors/actresses? Knowing that their show may last well beyond the traditional syndication… should they get paid more? Disney+ just launched and it’s full of titles and shows that we’ve probably all seen (and some new ones), but did the people acting in those films/shows get paid more because Disney is now using them for another revenue stream?

I totally love this article given the conversation we’ve had recently with an industry professional. I feel like set-top box cable and it’s style of programming is going away along the lines of the public payphone. I also find James’ comments interesting because it reminds me of the whole hooplah of the 90s and music royalties for those artists. How will that be tracked and validated? It certainly seems a solution to address the bandwidth-intense multi-stream household is neccessary and if companies to keep up in this race, they will obsolete themselves.

Great article, Michelle. I think a lot of who succeeds and who doesn’t will also depend on infrastructure. We know cable is available to many homes in the US but what about other countries. With the disruption of 5G, it seems that the race to who succeeds could depend on which industry builds up their infrastructure first in areas where there is need. I would love the opportunity to break away from my families dependance on cable if 5G can deliver.

The cable industry has definitely always been up against some threats, however, like you mentioned, it seems they are facing more threats now than ever. To me, it is unsurprising that the cable industry is continually facing competition. Consumers want convenience (which streaming services offer). They also want to be heard. Like you said, cable TV providers historically do not cater to their customer’s feedback. As a result, other innovations have been created that satisfy customer’s preferences and are changing the cable TV industry. With the introduction of 5G, I think the cable industry will have a decrease in subscribers. If consumers are able to save money by streaming television instead of purchasing a cable bundle, I believe they will do so. Additionally, with smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc., it will be more convenient for consumers to watch their shows and movies on these platforms, while also saving money.

Michelle – This is a really good article. It is interesting how leadership didn’t adjust even after seeing the changes headed to their industry. They let a lot of stakeholders down (franchise owners, store clerks, shareholders) by not changing direction or at least turning the ship a bit. I actually worked at a video store (not blockbuster) way back in the ’90s. It was an after school job. Blockbuster was our competitor – they had more titles, but they always cost more. I remember thinking about the changing technology with video quality. These video rental stores always have to play catch up with the latest tech: VHS<LaserDisc<DVD<BluRay<???? – doing so is expensive and not the most environmentally friendly.
Thanks for writing this.

Like you said, Blockbuster did not prepare for disruption. Many of these declining companies are not due to up and coming competition, but rather the lack of perception when it comes to what the future may hold. We’ve seen many companies evolve with the times or mold the future. Netflix is actually a decent example. What started off as a DVD mail order service (which in my opinion, wasn’t very clever… who wants to wait 3-5 days for a movie to arrive?) turned into what we now know as streaming. Nintendo is another great example. Often stomped by its competition in the console world, Nintendo comes out first when it comes to portable gaming. And now it has successfully merged the two with The Switch (especially now that they have followed a now popular model in technology where they offer a “basic” version for those weary of price point).

Wow, I never thought about how Blockbuster totally could have transitioned to become a streaming platform. Instead they focused on the brick and mortar expansion and left room for DVD delivery and eventually streaming. If Blockbuster had been on the cutting edge, they might have retained their customer base. In the phase where Netflix was delivering DVDs, Blockbuster could have been competing by hand delivering DVDs to people at their homes within an hour of ordering. It’s fun to look back after we’ve seen things play out and imagine how it could have gone differently,