This is according to IHS Markit research director, Ted Hall, who told attendees of the Videoscape Europe conference in London yesterday that the next generation of “streaming heavyweights” are tracking to increase US online video subscriptions by 15% above IHS’s baseline forecast.

“Although Netflix and Amazon will remain the single most popular online channels, the new entrants’ broader offerings will boost their overall market power,” said Hall.

“At Disney, if we stack up all of its online subscription services across Hulu, Hulu Live TV, ESPN+ and Disney+, its total subscriptions will actually, in this context, rival Netflix’s subscriptions total by 2023.”

Hall described Disney+ as “arguably the most highly-anticipated of the new direct-to-consumer services” and predicted that it has a “good chance” of achieving up to 20 million subscriptions by 2023.

Due to launch in November, Disney+ will draw from a strong catalogue of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and Fox content and at price of US$6.99 per-month will also undercut Netflix.

WarnerMedia’s forthcoming SVOD offering, on the other hand, was characterised as a service that “seems to be in the process of finding its identity,” with Hall pointing to recent executive comments suggesting it will be a single-tier offering that won’t undercut WarerMedia’s existing HBO Now service.

“We may be looking at a price-point for this service of somewhere between US$16 and US$18 per-month, so a fair bit above the services that we thought it would be competing with. There’s also talk that it’s leaning more towards having virtual pay TV ambitions,” said Hall.

He claimed that a “fatter bundle” approach makes sense for WarnerMedia’s parent company, AT&T, which has more to lose from pay TV’s decline than Disney does. However, it does also have a large mobile base that it could leverage as part of a future bundling strategy.

Apple TV+, which is due to launch this autumn but still hasn’t had pricing confirmed, is “trending towards our least aggressive forecast scenario,” said Hall. “Were it to be bundled with Apple Music, this would change the outlook significantly.”

“For Apple TV+ it will be brand equity and bankable talent that are the key weapons for attracting subscribers to its long-awaited TV content offering.”

Summing up, Hall predicted that varying levels of aggression will yield mixed results for these new streaming players in what is becoming an “exceptionally competitive online channels market”.

“High-quality content won’t be enough to guarantee success – the number of players that have it is increasing, forcing consumers to make tough choices. Bundling and hybrid models give the major players an edge, whether it’s aggregating online channels or aggregating a wider range of content and services.”

The updated operating system features a new home screen and screen savers; multi-user support so that different users can access their own shows and recommendations; and support for forthcoming subscription games service Apple Arcade with expanded game controller compatibility.

Apple said the new Home Screen is “designed for discovery”, with apps now able to play full-screen video previews on the Home Screen, while Apple’s new underwater 4K HDR screen savers were filmed in collaboration with the BBC Natural History Unit.

The multi-user support makes it easy for users to switch between family members so that they each get their own personalised experience, a unique ‘Up Next’ list, and TV and movie recommendations.

Apple Arcade is due to launch in the autumn and will give Apple users access to more than 100 games across iOS, tvOS and Mac devices. The tvOS 13 update means that Apple TV users will be able to play these Arcade games using Xbox and PlayStation game controllers.

“tvOS powers the Apple TV 4K experience and continues to set the standard for home entertainment,” claimed Greg Joswiak, Apple’s Vice President of Product Marketing.

“With more personalised features to enjoy your favourite TV shows, movies, photos and music, expanded gaming support and stunning new screen savers, tvOS 13 delivers the most complete entertainment experience to everyone in the home.”

The tvOS developer preview is available for Apple Developer Program members from this week and a public beta will be available to tvOS users later this month before a full rollout in autumn.

The news comes after Apple launched an ‘all-new Apple TV app’ in more than 100 countries across iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and selected Samsung smart TVs last month, letting users subscribe to and access on-demand content from individual Apple TV channels, as well as buy and rent content from iTunes.

Apple unveiled this app, along with its much-anticipated Apple TV+ streaming service, at a star-studded event at its Californian headquarters in Cupertino in March.

The app lets customers subscribe to and access on-demand content from individual Apple TV channels, as well as buy and rent content from iTunes.

In the US the channel line-up includes HBO, Starz, Showtime, Smithsonian Channel, EPIX, Tastemade and new services like MTV Hits, with more to be added over time around the world.

Subscribers can stream or download content to view offline and up to six family members can share subscriptions to Apple TV channels using their Apple ID and password.

The new app has a dedicated Kids section with editorially selected shows and movies for kids of all ages, and a Sports section with notifications about teams and leagues.

The new Apple TV app is also personalised, with recommendations from more than 150 video apps and streaming services and over 100,000 iTunes movies and TV shows available via the Watch Now and Up Next sections.

Apple’s original video subscription service, Apple TV+, will be added to the Apple TV app when it launches this autumn.

The new Apple TV app is available on iOS for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV customers with iOS 12.3 and tvOS 12.3, and will be available on Mac from autumn. It can be accessed on all 2019 Samsung smart TVs and select 2018 models.

The launch comes after Apple unveiled the new Apple TV app and announced details of its much-anticipated Apple TV+ streaming service at a star-studded event at its Californian headquarters in Cupertino in March.

Broadcasters are all forging partnerships with different elements of Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google (FAANG) – from selling them content, to using their platforms for distribution – yet the digital entrepreneur Matt Heiman (pictured top) has warned that the industry is “deluding” itself over the terms of the relationship.

“This is my own personal view, but [FAANG] want [broadcasters] to be potato farmers,” he said at the 2019 Connected TV World Summit in London last week.

“They want us to each have our own small allotment. You can pretend you’re growing by owning three or more, but you’re still just a potato farmer and the Kingdom can come and say ‘that’s my potato farm’ and knock you out.”

Continuing the analogy, Heiman, who sold his digital content business Diagonal View to Sky in 2017, said broadcasters, like potato-farming serfs, could build co-operatives to shift the power-balance, or better yet rebuild their own empire.

“But what [the tech giants want] is a lot of very small, very healthy potato farms that help feed their empire.”

Despite the rather dire warning, broadcasters have still built often unexpected alliances with the new competition.

Sharing a stage with Heiman, ITV’s Head of Digital Entertainment, Janine Smith, admitted the relationship with FAANG was “complicated”, but also served strong commercial interests.

“We’re not just the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster – we’re also a global production company, so different parts of the business have different wants, needs and opportunities from FAANG,” she said. “That makes the position of ITV a difficult one.”

For example, ITV as a broadcaster both competes with Netflix for viewers, but also sells the streaming service original content.

“The FAANG businesses want our budgets and audience, and on the ad sales side it’s a particular threat – but we’ve diversified our business to mitigate against that and make the threat less impactful,” said Smith.

Meanwhile, James Tatam, Vice President of Commercial, Digital and Operations at Channel 5, said FAANG had become a “very important part” of the wider Viacom-owned ecosystem.

“We compete with some of elements of FAANG, but err on the side of partnering,” he said. “We’re a very partner-centric organisation with lots of irons in the fire.”

For example, Channel 5 works with Facebook on marketing, Amazon on distribution and Apple on app distribution, amongst others things.

“But we absolutely compete with Facebook and Google for advertising revenue – and that’s something we share in common with the rest of the TV industry.”

Tatam added that Channel 5 was not afraid of competition. “It’s actually a good thing,” he said, adding: “But no relationship is stable in this environment. We have to constantly test and re-evaluate how best to move the business forward and see what deals to pursue and which partnerships to seek.”

However, TV broadcasters want a “level playing field” for that competition, with online companies held to the same standards as the highly regulated TV industry.

“There are different regulatory standards between online and broadcasting,” Tatam said, “But progress is being made.”

This article was originally posted on Videonet’s sister website Mediatel Newsline.

The US tech giant ended months of speculation by confirming that its video subscription service will feature a new slate of programming and will appear in a new Apple TV app alongside channels from partners like HBO, Showtime and Starz.

The Apple TV+ streaming service will be available from this autumn, with Apple promising exclusive original shows, movies and documentaries from “the wold’s most creative storytellers.” Pricing is due to be announced closer to launch.

The new Apple TV App will be available on iPhone, iPad and Apple TV in more than 100 countries from May. The app will also launch on Samsung smart TVs this spring, will be available on Mac from the autumn and is due to roll out on Amazon Fire TV, LG, Roku, Sony and VIZIO platforms “in the future”.

Channels partners also include CBS All Access, Smithsonian Channel, EPIX, Tastemade and Noggin with Apple promising more will be added over time around the world. Viewers will be able to pay for the partner channels they want on an a la carte basis, and will also be able to use the app to access iTunes movies and TV shows.

The new app is built to offer a personalised experience based on viewing across existing apps and services. It will offer suggestions for shows and movies from more than 150 streaming apps, including Amazon Prime and Hulu and pay TV services like Canal+, Charter Spectrum, DirecTV Now, and Playstation Vue. Netflix previously ruled itself out of being part of the offering.

On the Apple TV+ content front, programming will appear from talent including Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Octavia Spencer, J.J. Abrams, Jason Momoa, M. Night Shyamalan and Jon M. Chu

“We’re honoured that the absolute best line-up of storytellers in the world – both in front of and behind the camera – are coming to Apple TV+,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services.

“We’re thrilled to give viewers a sneak peek of Apple TV+ and cannot wait for them to tune in starting this fall. Apple TV+ will be home to some of the highest quality original storytelling that TV and movie lovers have seen yet.”

In a research note ahead of the launch, Futuresource Consulting predicted that Apple’s SVOD service would play a key role in the evolution of the market in 2019, particularly in the US. However it added: “We don’t expect the service to impact the growth of the leading players, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video”.

At a press conference at Netflix’s Hollywood offices, Hastings said Netflix had chosen not to integrate with their service and prefers to let customers watch Netflix content on its own platform, according to multiple reports.

Apple is expected to launch its much-rumoured TV and video service on March 25, after it sent out invites last week for an ‘Apple special event’ at the Steve Jobs Theatre in Cupertino with the tag-line “it’s showtime”.

Apple’s streaming offering is expected to combine its own original content with subscriptions from partners like Starz, CBS, Lionsgate and HBO.

Apple hired Sony Pictures Television’s co-presidents Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg to lead its move into original programming in 2017. Since then has appointed TV talent like former Channel 4 content chief Jay Hunt and has also struck a multiyear deal with Oprah Winfrey.

Speaking on the company’s Q4 2018 earnings call in November, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the breakdown of the cable bundle will take place at a much faster pace in 2019 and predicted Apple would participate in this in a variety of ways – including by offering original content and third-party video subscriptions.