The Streaming Wars Didn't Kill the Little Guys. In Fact, They're Thriving.

Executives from the Hallmark Channel made a curious decision this fall: They started a new streaming service.

It seemed like an awfully late date to do so. Most media companies entered the streaming fray years ago, and few have had success going head-to-head against titans like Netflix, Amazon and Disney.

But Hallmark executives decided the timing was not an issue. Their app, Hallmark+, did not need to appeal to the whole country, they said, just their core audience — the people who regularly flock en masse to the network’s trademark holiday and feel-good programming.

“We don’t have to make content that are all things to all people,” said John Matts, Hallmark Media’s chief operating officer.

He might very well be onto something.

For much of the past decade, conventional wisdom inside the entertainment world has been that only a small handful of megaservices would survive the streaming wars. After all, they had the stars, the budgets and the technological prowess.

But numerous media executives now believe that there could be room for some more modest streaming services, too.

About two dozen smaller, low-cost specialty streaming services have generated significant subscriber growth over the last couple of years, according to a new report from Antenna, a subscription research firm. This includes streamers from traditional cable networks (AMC+, BET+) as well as those that fall under specific genres, including British television (BritBox, Acorn TV), horror (Shudder) and anime (Crunchyroll, Hidive).

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/13/business/media/hallmark-britbox-streaming-growth.html

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I'm dropping Amazon due to Bezos.
I might pick up Netflix to replace it, or maybe Cruchyroll.