The top three streaming platforms will likely be Netflix, Amazon and Disney, unless other tech companies act soon, technology investor Jason Calacanis told CNBC’s “Squawk Alley” on Wednesday.
Disney said on Tuesday night it will remove its movies from Netflix, and will instead launch a branded direct-to-consumer streaming service in 2019. The service would create yet another offering in a crowded field of internet-based video services, as Apple Music, YouTube and even Facebook reportedly eye products of their own.
With its catalog ranging from Pixar to ESPN, Disney is perhaps the “one company” that could compete with Netflix and streaming content from Amazon Prime, said Calacanis, who runs online media company Inside.
“The people who will lose in this, people who maybe don’t have a big enough library — a Viacom, as an example, or maybe even people who haven’t entered yet like Google, Facebook and Apple,” Calacanis said. “Their window might, in fact, be be closing to come into the original content space.”
Calacanis was an early backer of companies like Uber, and is the author the recently released book, “Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups.” He said Disney’s business model, with theme parks, theatrical releases, and licensed merchandise, could let it acquire new customers for a streaming service at no cost.
“It will be very easy for them to get tens of millions of people to subscribe,” Calacanis said. “If something like poker becomes extremely popular, they could, with a direct-to consumer offering, have a poker channel, and do it with a level of professionalism that other people simply can’t. So I think it’s going to open up new opportunities for them.”
Source: Tech CNBC
With Disney going solo, it might be too late for Apple's and Facebook's streaming projects, VC says