10 Ways To Save Streaming Services

10. Stop Trying To Be Netflix

This only applies to catch-up services like All4 and BBC iPlayer but the point remains: Stop trying to be Netflix, because it’s not a market you can easily penetrate.

The BBC produces a number of new shows that appear online before getting a TV broadcast in a dead timeslot like midnight on a Friday, while Channel 4 co-produced dark comedy-drama The End Of The F****** World with Netflix, but only broadcast the first episode before sticking the rest on All4, killing the chance for it to become a mainstream TV hit. Three months later, it premiered on Netflix to rave reviews.

The problem is that these websites have been around for years purely as catch-up services. They’re a supplement to television, not an alternative, which means that people won’t spend the evening idly searching through them for new content because that isn’t what they have been for until relatively recently. Plus there’s the fact that iPlayer comes bundled in with the TV licence fee, and All4 is completely free, so users won’t necessarily feel a need to get their money’s worth.

Making these expensive shows that only get a TV broadcast late at night or sometimes not at all is a complete waste of time and money, especially for a commercial broadcaster. Take a lesson from the BBC, who couldn’t even make a Doctor Who spin-off work as an online exclusive, with Class being axed after one series because nobody watched it.