Streaming apps, and answering the HBO question

An interesting note coming out of my media economics class this week. 

We’re talking about streaming TV, and I asked the students to list the apps they subscribe to (or have access too, wink wink). The idea is to think through the economics of this newish form of media. Not just how much they pay for them, but what they get from them as well. 

As an example, one student listed nine different apps they use, either through paying or sharing passwords with friends and family. 

Taking any student discounts available, subscriptions to the nine apps cost $63 a month. 

$63. In streaming subscriptions alone. That doesn’t even account for internet access (or any music services or anything else). 

This is the point of my Subscription-pocalypse theory from 2018

But economics is not the study of money, it’s the study of behavior. And so we’re discussing in class not just how much it costs to subscribe to an app, but WHY they do so. 

The why is important here. It’s not about how much an app costs but what you get from it — the idea of value. Is it worth the money?

I’ve made this point here before, but I’ve never heard it put better than the way my friend Andy Billings said to me a few years ago. It’s the HBO-Game of Thrones question. Does this app have one thing I can’t live without? If so, I’ll happily pay for it. It’s why people subscribed to HBO years ago, so that they could watch Game of Thrones. It’s why I’ll pay for Disney+, so that I can watch The Mandalorian. 

Those are the core questions to ask when looking at streaming TV - or any subscription media service. How much does it cost, obviously. But also, does it answer the HBO question?