Prime Video U.K. Boss: ‘Future of Streaming is About Range and Convenience’

Prime Video U.K. managing director Chris Bird said “there’s never been a better time to be an audience” when asked about the saturation of streaming services available to consumers.
 
“The breadth and selection of content available has never been more pronounced,” he said. “Everything is available all the time. I think the future is about range and convenience. Services that can provide that will be sustainable.”
 
Bird also pointed out how Amazon’s strategy encompassed all types of distribution, saying that via the company’s purchase of MGM they were funding movies such as “Creed III” that will be available in theaters before the film moves to the subscription-based Prime Video and eventually AVOD. “At some point down the line, ‘Creed III’ will be available freely, most likely as ad-supported,” Bird said.
 
Bird, who sits on the U.K.’s Creative Industries Council, added that it was important to continue investing in skills and diversity. “We’re in the golden age of film and TV production in the U.K., we’ve never done it better,” he said.
 
Bird was speaking on a panel about streaming at the Deloitte and Enders Media and Telecoms conference in London alongside Roku U.K. director Richard Halton, DAZN CCO Marc Watson and Sophie Jones, CSO and interim CEO of the BPI (British Recorded Music Industry).
 
Watson was equally bullish regarding the saturation of streamers, saying: “We’re some way away from equilibrium, from a business point of view you can see a lot of changes over the next few years.”
 
Read on for some other highlights from the discussion:
 
Marc Watson, DAZN
 “Our view of the future of sports is that it will become increasingly global like other forms of entertainment.”
 
“Our ambition is to be a very big global player in the sports space.”
 
Richard Halton, Roku U.K.
“The problem that Roku solves in the U.K. is a very different one” [to the U.S.]. The U.K. is lucky to be blessed with an extraordinary availability of content that’s licenced fee funded and ad funded.”
 
“Connected TVs are going to become ubiquitous”
 
Sophie Jones, BPI (British Recorded Music Industry)
 “One in 10 tracks that stream globally is by a British artist.”
 
“Streaming is phenomenal value for money and for the price of a subscription compared to what the price of CD was, it’s phenomenal.”
 
Chris Bird, Prime Video U.K.
 “We want to make Prime so valuable to customers it would be financially irresponsible not to have it.”
 
[Asked if the price is going to rise] “We are working as hard as we can to ensure we minimize any cost increases.”

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