Michael Luisi Looks at What Could Replace Streaming
We are rapidly hurtling towards a future where streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video surpass cable TV in viewership thanks to their huge troves of content that are delivered on-demand and ad-free.
Streaming device manufacturer Roku predicts that so-called cord cutters will officially topple cable subscribers by 2024, estimating that 60 million households will make the jump to streaming services over the next five years.
Those estimates may be overly aggressive according to film and television veteran Michael Luisi, who’s served as a producer on over 40 productions during a career that has included successful stints at Miramax and WWE Studios. He notes that just 3.5 million households cut the cord in 2018, and that figure could drop slightly in 2019.
The Variety of Streaming
Nonetheless, that day is certainly coming, and Luisi believes that there are several reasons why. With the rise of free, ad-supported VOD platforms like Tubi and Pluto TV, and the growth of virtual multichannel video programming distributors like DirecTV, Sling, and PlayStation Vue, there are more alternatives than ever allowing people to be selective in shat products they wish to subscribe to.
The pace of streaming adoption has been frenetic according to eMarketer data, which shows that there were 5x more pay TV households than cord-cutters in 2013, a figure which has shrunk to just 2x as many and shrinking fast as of 2019.
Given that incredible rate of displacement, it’s fair to ask whether streaming could eventually meet the same fate, rapidly falling by the wayside in the face of an exciting new technology format.
The Cloud, VR and AI Will Augment, Rather Than Compete With Streaming
Michael Luisi doesn’t see streaming being replaced any time soon, noting that it would require both a technological advancement that supplants streaming (which is a highly efficient content delivery method) and a massive content shift to the new format. After all, no service will be worth its salt without loads of content, the costs for which are rising dramatically as the streaming wars heat up.
The Cloud
Rather, Michael Luisi expects that new technology formats will be incorporated into streaming rather than competing directly against it. While cloud-based streaming is making more headway in the gaming world, where it has greater utility, it could become more prominent in video streaming as video quality pushes into more-demanding 8K resolution.
Virtual Reality
Among the most promising video technologies is virtual reality, or VR, which is already being adopted by Netflix and Amazon. The Netflix VR app works with VR headsets like Samsung Gear, Daydream, and Oculus, allowing subscribers to watch whatever content they want through the headset. The virtual screen can be enlarged to the point that it’s greater than the viewers’ field of vision, completely immersing them in the video.
As VR adoption rises, Michael Luisi believes that we’ll likely see VR-specific content such 360° videos that require active participation from the viewer to watch. For example, a VR video could require the viewer to turn their head to follow a car chase or giving the viewer the ability to walk around within a scene and change your viewpoint.
AI
AI-powered content could be another possibility much further down the line. Such content could be delivered through headset-like devices that actively monitor your brainwaves and adjust what is being shown based on your reactions and mental state.
AI-generated music is already upending the music industry, and while video content is not nearly as simple to produce as music, Michael Luisi believes it’s only a matter of time before AI can create video through animation or other means and stitch it together into not only coherent, but compelling stories.
While we can never be quite certain about what technologies could arise tomorrow or 20 years from now, Michael Luisi concludes that video streaming in one form or another appears here to stay for the foreseeable future.
