What does it mean when NYC loses Kanopy?
Big news in the educational streaming market this week - I may be the first person to ever type those words!- as the New York City Public Libraries Drop Kanopy’s “Free” Movie-Streaming Service. The NYPL, Queens and Brooklyn Public libraries all dropped the service (they are actually distinct library systems) citing costs. Now while many readers may not even know what the heck the educational streaming market is, I think this is bigger news - and worse news - than it seems.
Up until now, if you had a library card from these or many other public libraries, you could watch movies for “free” by just using your library card to access Kanopy, which has become one of the biggest streaming libraries for film in the educational marketplace. I scare quote the “free” part because Kanopy reportedly charges libraries about $2 per view (with a view being at least 30 seconds of watching), which adds up. In fact, these three libraries said the cost got too high for them to renew their contracts and would invest more into ebooks and audio books. Mind you, that’s what public libraries pay. Educational libraries, like a University or College, pay even more, with some quoting $150-300 once more than 3 people watch the film. For a good run-down of the educational market, Kanopy and how this all works, read this Film Quarterly article.
This is bigger news than it seems because those are three gigantic Kanopy clients. And Kanopy proved it when they flipped out - sending emails and communications directly to library users that, while couched in nice terms, were clearly trying to spark a mini-revolution among customers. If other libraries follow suit, it could be bad news for this new player, and for the educational ecosystem. And that’s bad news for fans of arthouse films who use the service, but also for filmmakers and distributors, especially doc filmmakers, who rely on educational sales/rental income to make up a not insignificant portion of their overall revenues. In fact, for some smaller films, the educational market is their primary income stream. And for even bigger arthouse films, it’s a meaningful revenue stream.
A closer look at the math is kinda interesting. Variety reported: “According to the New York Public Library, about 25,000 of its patrons (around 1% percent of the system’s 2 million cardholders) used Kanopy. The Queens Public Library said only about 6,000 of its 1 million cardholders used the service and that Kanopy was planning to raise the subscription rate to about $125,000 annually.” So while $2 per movie sounds cheap, it was adding up for the libraries.
But the numbers are an even scarier harbinger of bad news for arthouse films to me - just 1.25% of NYPL users, and just 0.6% (barely half of a percent) of Queens library users bothered to watch movies on Kanopy. And using the Queen’s numbers, they had about 62,500 views among 6,000 viewers, or just an average of 10 movies per user annually - and this in one of the hottest markets for indie and arthouse films in the US - and for “free.”
Granted, these aren’t the most scientifically accurate numbers or analyses here, but the simple math shows not a lot of demand for arthouse films. And this is presumably among the 25% of the more culturally curious NYC residents who have a library card and presumably read a lot and would be our target audience (approximately 25% of NYC’s population has a library card). To really analyze this, we’d need to compare it to their other subscription rates, etc. but I don’t see the numbers getting much more impressive. As the NYPL said on its own site: “our resources are better utilized purchasing more in-demand collections.” Ouch.
So we have a situation where too few people want the service, $2 bucks a pop is considered too much for some of the better funded customers in the country to afford, and where many other public libraries could follow this lead and make the same decision. And given that the library is often where younger audiences often first encounter this media, the lost opportunities are pretty scary. Yes, libraries have some other options and can still buy DVDs for awhile, but if the libraries of New York aren’t seeing enough demand to justify the cost, and Kanopy can’t make the business model more affordable, things look grim for the future of any streaming service focused on niche films, or their fans.
WHAT I"M READING: FILM
Hollywood and Madison Avenue both have a problem - they need to work with more women behind the camera - directors particularly, but also in other positions. Well, Alma Har'el has a plan to "flip the script" and the LA Times has the article on her new venture, Free the Work, “a global network for women and underrepresented creators and the people who hire them.” Read the article to learn more about the project and how to get involved.
FastCompany has some questions about Netflix’s massive ‘Murder Mystery’ viewership numbers - Numbers netlix released regarding Murder Mystery imply a 120 Million dollar opening weekend. Many are skeptical and continue to call into question Netflix’s metrics for measuring viewership. Me: It doesn’t matter. We’ve built an entire system around knowing these numbers, but they only matter to advertisers. And stars. But stars know their market value and can still negotiate the rates they want. Nonissue.
7 FREE STREAMING SERVICES TO SAVE YOU FROM SUBSCRIPTION HELL - With Kanopy leaving New York and many more streaming services ready to take its place for a fee, Wired lists some free services one can use,and their list is: IMDB TV; The ROKU Channel; Tubi; Pluto TV; Crackle; Vudu; (You may notice that there’s only six. The one I left out, of course being Kanopy).
Disney Pushing To “Significantly” Expand Hulu’s Original Programming, Says CEO Randy Freer Hulu is stepping up its original content game, according to TubeFilter and the Information. And Disney is also saying that most future programming will have to be made by Disney owned studios, or be co-produced by a Disney brand, and “how much production support Disney will provide in exchange for that co-producer credit isn’t clear.”
Bob Iger tells Barron's that Disney+ is not about competing with Netflix: "We’re not launching Disney+ to catch up to Netflix or even compete with them. The marketplace is hungry for this, and we have a brand people know and love." And as Evan Shapiro said on LinkedIn - that's smart:
Discovery Can pay it’s CEO a shit-ton, but won’t pay unscripted producers up front anymore - which is causing some panic attacks in the film-adjacent world. Deadline has the report. I’ve heard reports of producers having trouble getting financing for Netflix series, and now Discovery will become tougher as well.
WHAT I"M READING: BRANDED CONTENT
Advertisers wish Netflix would bring on the ads, but Sarandos isn't stupid - Digiday reports that advertisers can't shut up about how much they really wish Netflix had ads, and they use a lot of good arguments for why it should have them, mainly by pointing to the balance sheet. But the balance sheet doesn't reflect consumer love or hate, and sorry folks, but consumers/audiences hate ads. And Ted Sarandos knows that - as reported in Deadline, he told the audience at SeriesFest in Denver - "the company has no plans to incorporate advertising (a subject of mounting speculation) or bid on live sports. Both are “not core to the proposition” of Netflix." Good branded content, maybe. Ads - not if they want to keep up paying subscribers. Sure, AVOD has a place- with people who can't afford to pay (ads are a tax on the poor now, of course, but that's a longer story).
Samuel Scott at The Drum had a scathing op-ed on the hypocrisy of brand purpose marketing at Cannes Lions. His argument is that no one is walking the talk, and especially when it comes to having an impact on environmental issues. He argues it helps more with employee recruitment than actual impact. I don't agree 100%, but he's right about a lot of this, and it's worth a read and a think.
Why does Content matter? - Lynn Browne (Co Founder of Brand Verge) lists why Branded Content is ultimately more effective than traditional advertising.
YouTube's Sataya Raghavan tells brands how to optimise their Branded Content - The director of YouTube partnerships in India further argues that Branded Content is helping brands stay relevant and reach more audiences.
Colombia wants to be known for its creative economy even more than its coffee - Colombian President Ivan Duque was at Cannes Lions where he’s pushing his “Orange Agenda,” which involves heavily funding and supporting the arts and creative industries. I can’t wait to hear what locals think when I am in Bogota in two weeks for the BAM Bogota Market, but I like the sound of this:
“We’re talking about a sector where you have festivals, carnivals, gastronomy, museums, visual arts, live arts, media, TV, movies, digital, advertising, marketing, gaming, jewelry. You add up all those sectors in a country like Colombia, its contribution to the economy is double the size of coffee and even bigger than mining,” said Duque, which garnered enthusiastic applause from the Cannes crowd at his session. “So we have to help people understand that when we’re talking about the creative industries, when we’re talking about talent and innovation, we’re talking about a very vibrant and important force to change our nation.” (President Duque)
WHAT I"M READING: INTERNET/OTHER
Cory Doctorow wrote an "op-ed" from the future for the NYT, where he speculates on the damage done when we give too much power to a few internet companies, and crack down on free speech in service of ending "harassment, extremism or disinformation" Which doesn't work, of course. Worth a read for why we should pay more attention to the poor policies being considered in the tech space.
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