Being the best streaming video on demand service is partly about having a long tail of content.
And partly about bagging few exclusives to hook people in. Spark's Lightbox made a good score on that front today. It will exclusively offer Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul (yet to start screening in the US) from February.
Breaking Bad, already in Lightbox' stable, has been a smash hit in the download world, so Saul is guaranteed to generate a lot of hype in the New Year.
Basing a whole spin-off series around a light-relief character can be a dodgy proposition (see Joey), but like millions of others I'll at least give it ago.
But (and there's always a but in the tangled world of video streaming), it's easier said that done to bag an actual exclusive. For Saul will be on offer through Netflix after episodes have screened on US network AMC — and tens of thousands of Kiwis access Netflix services in the US, UK or elsewhere (not many in the great scheme of NZ viewership but a lot if, like Lightbox, you're aiming for 70,000 sign-ups in your first year).
In a further twist Netflix NZ (now confirmed to launch in March), will presumably lack Saul in its lineup since local rights have already been stitched up. Fans of Netflix US will sniff, then continue with their geoblock-busting habits (or, Spark will hope, give Lightbox a look).
The good thing for viewers is that the likes of Netflix, Lightbox, Ezyflix, QuickFlix, Video Ezy Ondemand and Sky's pending Neon don't have contracts, and are liberal with their free trial periods. I see lots of hopping around between services during 2015. Who'll be the winner? Possibly none of them amid all the service switching and dipping offshore.
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Lightbox bags Breaking Bad spin-off, but ...
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