Core VRIN-based Competencies of HBO Max
Quality content
Quality content is the number one core competency in the media industry. Warner Media owned HBO offers TV shows and movies to the audience. Its content is unique and has been known for establishing milestones in the TV industry. For instance, its TV series the Game of Thrones is one of the most-watched TV shows in the 21st century. As such, the content created by the company and its brand equity is inimitable and non-substitutable. Furthermore, it has a customer base of loyal fans that are always at every launch of a new series. Through this valuable competitive advantage, HBO Max provides significant benefits to Warner Media.
Large Audience Reach
The global presence of AT&T is presently is almost in every country in the world. Besides, the telecommunication company is one of the largest telecom industries in the U.S. with a big clientele base. Warner Media Entertainment also provides a wider network coverage area, thus helping the company to build the brand reputation of its products to the international market. The large network coverage, based on the development of 5G technology, provides value to customers, thus being rare and costly to substitute.
Areas of Weakness of the HBO Max
Globally, telecommunication companies are faced with stiff competition because of the emerging new markets. To address such rivalries, it is imperative to address a company’s weakness and to provide solutions to such drawbacks. In the case of Warner Media Entertainment, HBO Max is faced with the weakness of censorship and price-related terms and conditions. The availability of censorship in HBO Max restricts its clients from viewing the TV show properly. Besides, some of its payments’ terms and conditions are unattainable to most people because of the inability to choose preferable TV shows to watch.
To confirm the ever-changing market demands, HBO Max should reduce the TV censorship because the action restricts the ease of viewing. In essence, an individual should have the power to choose what to watch unrestricted (Blanchet and Fabry, p. 221). In terms of pricing and packaging, the company should consider rearranging its TV shows bouquet that conforms to reasonable prices. If the bouquet is arranged well with flexible terms and conditions, the consumers would not be worried about the high prices offered but about how to afford the subscriptions to watch the unique content the media company provides.
How Netflix Threatens HBO Max
Netflix is the major player in the video streaming platform. HBO max has a lot of TV series and movies, but most of its cinemas are not highly in demand compared to those of Netflix. This limits the number of new entrants as they may prefer Netflix compared to HBO max because of its diverse programming strategy (Berkshire). The following strategies are used by Netflix Company which makes it out-do other telecommunication competitors.
Strategic Partnerships and subsidiaries
To remain competitive in other markets, Netflix has partnered with other competitive film production companies in other locations. For instance, Sacred Games is a TV series co-produced by Netflix in partnership with Phantom Films, which enables Netflix to have a content orientation, based on the user demands (Blanchet and Fabry, p. 221). Furthermore, Netflix has penetrated other challenging markets like India, where they are planning to produce TV shows in such local dialects as Marathi and Gujarati.
Promotion-Based Strategy
Unlike HBO Max, Netflix encompasses intense promotion through such social media services as websites and YouTube. The platform offers free trials to new customers for one month which has given it a competitive advantage through luring new consumers. Moreover, its ability to offer promotional TV series through YouTube trailers improves viewership. Besides, it strategically uses boards and Hoardings in open environment, thus creating awareness of all of its upcoming series and movie production.
Four Strategies to Employ in CBS All Access
Increase Exclusive Originals
Unlike HBO Max that offers exclusive originals series and shows, CBS All Access provides random current and past shows with some popular shows getting a season to watch out of the multiple seasons a TV show can air. Moreover, some shows are completely non- available even to the highest subscription package. Therefore, CBS All Access should strategies on increasing the more exclusive original TV shows to maintain its consumer base.
Reduce Offline Download Restriction and Commercial Breaks during Watching
CBS All Access has offline downloads restricted to commercial-free packages, which increases glitches. Unlike HBO Max, CBS All Access does not provide stable network streaming because it is prone to freezing up, thus making an individual watch all over again the already viewed TV shows. By reducing such restrictions, the consumers believe that TV shows with several commercial breaks are not the best for subscriptions.
Increase TV Shows on the same Platform
HBO Max TV shows are located and provided within the same AT&T media platform. However, in CBS All Access, there is a reduction of TV shows that the platform can comfortably display because it targets niche viewers rather than a large audience (Sweet 110). For instance, one may find more movies in Hulu than in CBS itself. Therefore, CBS All Access, as the name suggests, should employ the strategy of airing all the shows irrespective of the number of seasons a particular series has.
Strengthen the Internet Connection
CBS All Access is known to provide horrible experiences to its customers because of its poor network connection. By increasing its bandwidth, the media technology’s ability to find location reduces the challenges of streaming and buffering. Moreover, the network’s spinning feature during buffering takes a lot of time to load, thus creating a customers’ boredom and loss of morale during watching and viewing of the available TV shows.
Works Cited
Berkshire, Geoff. HBO, FX, Netflix Make Emmy Gains as Broadcast Nets Fade. Variety.Com, 2016.
Blanchet, Cyril, and Nathalie Fabry. “Influence of New Cinematographic and Television Operators on the Attractivity of Tourist Destinations”. Journal of Tourism Futures, vol. 6, no. 3, 2020, pp. 219-222. Emerald, doi:10.1108/jtf-11-2019-0127.
Sweet, Anne. “Portals, Audiences and Feminism: Rebooting a Franchise and Star Trek: Discovery’s Gender Politics (CBS all access, 2017-).” Genre En Séries: Cinéma, Télévision, Médias, no. 8, 2018, pp. 106-133. Openedition, doi:10.4000/ges.544.