Imagine. You are watching one of your favourite shows on Netflix. Its prequel spin-off is available on Amazon Prime. Both the series are exclusively available on the said platform. For example, the Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon. You decide to watch both the shows simultaneously.

(P.S. – TBBT is available on Amazon Prime as well. This example is taken to support my point.)

In the TBBT, you are watching the episode where Sheldon’s sister (Missy) visits him. In Young Sheldon, you are hooked on the episode where Missy runs away from home. The episode ends on a cliffhanger and you are curious to learn what happens next. Every time you have to switch over apps to see on your phone or laptop to view one.

This is fine if auto-renewal is turned on for both. Although we receive renewal emails and notifications, sometimes we are busy or too lazy to renew our subscriptions. You forget that you’ve turned off auto-renewal and now that you have to specifically allow platforms to save your payment information. 

Visualise the same scene but this time it’s around 11:30 p.m. By the time you finish watching two episodes, it’s 12:10. RENEW NOW TO CONTINUE WATCHING is displayed on your screen. Then you renew your subscription and carry on.

This made me think what if we could access all our streaming platforms on one app with a single subscription plan.

Although there are many service providers that allow you to access content from multiple streaming platforms from one app. While Amazon Channels lets us add other streaming services like HBO, Starz, etc., Hotstar has associated with Disney to give us a variety of viewing options (Marvel fans marvel!). Limited to a handful of developed countries only.

The purpose of all these apps is simple, give us a multitude of entertainment options and keep/increase the subscriptions.

Smart TVs have made it easier to access all our entertainment channels on one device. 

Payment terms for all of them are more or less similar. Auto-renewal or manual renewal. Yes, it’s an amazing feature until you look at multiple entries in your e-Statement around the year. But, what if we had only one entry to an app or a service provider that would allow us to access all the other streaming platforms (of our choice) using a single login ID. This would be similar to shopping platforms with multiple vendors.

Let’s consider Amazon for example. Assume that we opt for online payment mode. We enter the required information as we decide to buy something and then we are redirected to complete our order through a payment gateway. What we do is pay the portal that is Amazon and then it pays the vendors (deducting its commission charges). Amazon may have different accounts with multiple vendors. The money ultimately goes to the vendor. But we pay the service provider.

Similar is the case with content creators that give rights to OTT platforms to showcase their work. Netflix and Amazon Prime have produced many interesting series, films and documentaries.

Coming back to the point, here, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, etc. would be the vendors and the content they source/produce would be the vendor’s resource.

Two questions come to my mind when I think of this –

1. Which platforms should it primarily cover

2. What about its pricing model

One – All (because, why not!). 

Two – It can have a structure similar to Netflix. Basic, Standard, and Premium.

i. Basic – Access to 8 major platforms

ii. Standard – 15+ platforms

iii. Premium – 30 platforms  

Additionally, there are free platforms so this one app can provide complimentary access to 25 free platforms. These 3 plans can be divided into 4 categories based on the number of screens – mobile device only, 1, 2 and 4.

Sounds like a herculean task to gather all the resources and take the initiative but I really think it will add comfort of not having to navigate through multiple apps and track auto-renewal dates.

Disclaimer – This is not a sponsored post. All the given particulars are published in good faith and for general information purposes only. The author does not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information. Any action taken upon the information you find here is strictly at your own risk.

© Amulya P Kalyanshetticarry