It’s a whole new world we’re living in now. Almost anything you can possibly want is able to be delivered right to your door. If it’s something digital, delivered instantly to any or all your devices. So, with today’s technology, how is it that consumers aren’t able to stream new release movies playing in cinemas and live eventsincluding concerts, standup comedy, musicals, etc. in the comfort of their home?
Currently, millions of consumers are left out from these new releases and live experience due to the physical bottlenecks in the traditional distribution channels which require consumers to attend in person and each buy a ticket at a physical venue. There are about 46 million Americans that live in rural markets and about 16 millions households with little children. You can image how these consumers can have a hard time accessing the latest in entertainment. However, they see all the advertising, have access to internet and have the disposable income to consume the content. This is a lot of lost revenue for the industry!
Well streaming is clearly the solution but the current streaming capabilities and models such as SVOD and AVOD do not protect the value of content releasing in the first run window a.k.a, the theatrical window or the live window. The reason is per-person ticketing! The first window requires per-person ticket sales, which make up the “box office” numbers for movies and the “gate” for live events. Current streaming technologies in the market can’t sell a ticket per-person. Yeah sure they can all stream the content and some have inaccurately labeled their offering as “tickets” but nobody in the industry knows how many viewers are actually watching and whether or not they are engaged.
Importance Of The First Run Theatrical Window For The Industry
During the pandemic, major studios put theatrical release movies on their streaming services; some even at no additional cost. The strategy was very helpful for consumers trying to access entertainment from home during the pandemic lockdowns and surely boosted their new subscriber growth. However, this was like shoving a round peg into a square hole. Streaming services weren’t designed for this release window.
Money and intrinsic value were lost! Households who would normally pay $15 per-person at the local cinema would now watch it as a part of the monthly subscription. One studio charged $30 on top of their low monthly subscription which caused its own issues. Households of 3+ viewers saved money paying $30 vs. going to the local cinema. On the flipside, for many consumers, the $30 on top of the monthly subscription to watch a new release movie was a bit expensive; especially when the local cinema ticket was less than $15 per-person. For example, where I live, Tuesday is half price movie tickets.
Losing value and leaving money on the table wasn’t all their problems. Many directors and A list talent got very upset; especially ones whose earnings were tied to the box office performance of the movie. Some even took legal action against the studio and made their stance public. Ultimately, the pandemic ended and as theaters opened back up, the studios and exhibitors agreed on a 45-day theatrical window, reduced from the pre-pandemic 90-day window. This meant that movies would be required to have a 45-day run in theaters before they could be streamed. So, the movie industry was now back to square one!
With live entertainment things are a little bit different. Artists make most of their money on live performances, which is why they go on tours. Artists sell tickets per-person and sell merchandise to fans, which results in majority of their earnings. So, incurring the cost of production and live streaming their concert on YouTube doesn’t make business sense for the artist or the rights holders. Which is why you don’t see major live concerts streamed on Youtube for $5.99. Some artist have used platforms such as Fortnite and Facebook to connect with their fans in unique ways but it hasn’t become the norm in the industry. Usually things that increase the bottom line get adopted quickly. As cool as it may be, an artist avatar in a virtual world is just not the same as watching them in real life on stage.
The Solution = Turn Mobile Devices & TVs Into Ticketed Streaming Platforms
So, how can consumers watch movies in cinemas and live events at home? Sounds like a complex problem to solve! However, every problem has a solution. With today’s technology, a streaming marketplace (digital arena) that utilizes computer vision and AI to detect, count and ticket the correct number of viewers watching is possible and we’ve built it!
XCINEX has been developing a unique pay-per-viewer streaming marketplace dubbed VENUE to solve this very problem and provide early VIP access to consumers on a per-person ticketed basis from the comfort of their home!
VENUE will be available for iOS and Android mobile devices to provide access to consumers on the go. The mobile app is also a great way to try out the VENUE platform for those who aren’t ready to upgrade their home TV setup.
However, the mobile app does come with one limitation. To maintain the quality of the experience, VENUE mobile app limits viewers to only two people per mobile device. This means if more than two people are bunched together shoulder to shoulder to watch content on VENUE, the app will pause the content and ask the users to move to the TV experience for a group viewing.
For the TV, VENUEx is a unique streaming media player unlike anything else on the market today. Not only does VENUEx offer the VENUE app but also access to all your favorite streaming services, video calling, immersive experiences and more.
Our reason for building VENUEx was twofold. Firstly, there are no streaming devices or smart TVs with embedded cameras that we can leverage for our services. TVs with embedded cameras are just now coming out and the cameras in them don’t have the performance, especially in low light, VENUE needs to do what it does. Here is a comparison chart showing how VENUEx differs from the other streaming devices in the market today:
VENUE is a digital exhibition marketplace controlled by the content owner so they can create campaigns, set ticket prices, determine where to stream and where to blackout. The goal is to expand their reach to their fans. VENUE will not stream catalog content like AVOD and SVOD streaming services. When the movie is done in cinemas, it also comes off of VENUE. When the live event is over, it comes off of VENUE. Therefore, we don’t in any way compete with the likes of Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Peacock, Disney+, Paramount+ and others in that window. We also don’t compete with cinemas or arenas either because the experience is very different watching at home vs. at a physical venue. The goal is to expand the ticketed audience and provide seamless access for consumers who can’t or won’t go to the physical venue.
We decided to look where nobody is looking and built a unique product we believe will redefine home entertainment. We are dedicated more than ever to bring VENUE to market in 2023 and change the way fans consume content and the way content creators interact with their fans. hashtagWeAreXCINEX