‘Sometime’ streaming presents challenge

Television watchers signing up for one show, then cancelling subscription

Winter has finally come for Game of Thrones, which aired its latest season finale Sunday and left the land of Westeros in as deep a crisis as it has seen in thousands of years. But with the HBO fantasy series now on hiatus until at least the end of 2018, some viewers say they’re taking a break from HBO entirely — highlighting a challenge facing many entertainment companies in an era of constant stimulation and on-demand digital services.

Colleen Morrison, a Game of Thrones fan in New Jersey, signed up for HBO’s online streaming app in June. Now, Morrison says, it’s going to be an easy decision to cancel her subscription this week after she re-watches the season finale.

“I didn’t mind paying each month because it’s the kind of show where I wanted an immediate viewing to avoid spoilers, but I’m also not interested in keeping the service since I’m not invested in anything else,” she says.

Morrison is part of a small but savvy crowd of consumers who know exactly what they want out of their TV experience. Costconscious and empowered by the internet’s convenience-at-a-click mentality, these consumers take advantage of free trials, no-contract commitments and the media industry’s own struggle in the face of technological change to help guard their wallets.

Ignoring the barrage of in-house teasers and promos for other related content, these viewers resist the siren song of TV networks which, more than ever, are being forced to battle one another for attention dominance. An abundance of high-quality television shows from Netflix and old-school cable programmers like AMC and HBO are helping some consumers become more discerning in their tastes — and less loyal.

Abandoning one series or channel for another has never been more convenient or less risky, particularly when many cable channels offer streaming apps directly to the public instead of through cable companies or other traditional TV providers.

“In a world where you can turn anything on and off whenever you want, you’re always fighting for my wallet,” says Rich Greenfield, a media analyst at BTIG.

The significance of this convenience is enormous.

Part of the reason for Netflix’s success has been a relentless string of successive television hits, as well as its use of data to design shows that are highly tailored to specific audiences. There’s some evidence other TV producers are also following this strategy; even as Thrones was wrapping its season finale, HBO made sure viewers got a taste of its upcoming drama, The Deuce, which doesn’t debut until Sept. 10.

“Your promos help remind people so that at the end of the month they feel, ‘You know what, I guess we did watch stuff on the network this month,’” says Quentin Schaffer, a spokesperson for HBO. The company hasn’t noticed any immediate uptick in cancellations since the season finale of Thrones, but it’ll be at least a month or two before any cancellations show up in the numbers. HBO doesn’t make a habit of disclosing cancellation figures, though.

The idea is to hook people into becoming year-long addicts — which is far easier said than done, particularly when there’s so much other internet content to consume, let alone other TV shows.

Abandoning one series … for another has never been more convenient or less risky, particularly when many cable channels offer streaming apps.