A brand new video enterprise introduced by Elon Musk will face some sturdy challenges from entrenched incumbents, in accordance with pundits interviewed by TechNewsWorld.
Reports started showing final week that the bête noire of social media is crafting an app to stream long-form movies to customers of X (previously Twitter). “You can soon watch your favorite X long-form videos directly on your SmartTVs,” Musk revealed on X through the DogeDesigner account.
Coming quickly https://t.co/JlnlSL7eS9
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 9, 2024
The upcoming service shall be launched on Samsung TVs and Amazon’s Fire TV platform and shall be a YouTube-like long-form video streaming service designed to make it simpler and extra snug to observe long-form content material on an even bigger display, SamMobile reported Monday.
Musk has stated X could be a “video-first” platform transferring ahead, and this improvement exhibits that this can translate past the small content material bins sometimes accessible on feeds to an even bigger display, in accordance with Engadget.
Experts stated Musk’s announcement is greater than bluster. “The likelihood that he’ll try this is high. The likelihood, given how he has mismanaged Twitter, in him doing this right is exceedingly low,” noticed Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst of the Enderle Group, an advisory providers agency in Bend, Ore.
“This is not an area he has shown a competency in,” he instructed TechNewsWorld.
Formidable Ambition Versus Formidable Competition
Musk’s monitor file of disrupting industries with ventures like Tesla and SpaceX demonstrates his capability for daring innovation. Yet, the streaming market is fiercely aggressive, with established gamers like YouTube dominating, added Mark N. Vena, president and principal analyst with SensibleTech Research in San Jose, Calif.
“Success would depend on Musk’s ability to offer unique features, compelling content, and seamless integration with Samsung TVs while addressing user concerns about privacy and data security,” he instructed TechNewsWorld.
“While his vision and ambition are formidable, the journey to establishing a credible alternative to YouTube on Samsung smart TVs is fraught with obstacles, making success uncertain but not impossible,” he stated.
Mike Horning, an affiliate professor of multimedia journalism at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Va., was unsurprised by Musk’s announcement. “I felt he was going to move in this direction when he hired Linda Yaccarino to be CEO of X,” he instructed TechNewsWorld. Yaccarino is a former govt from NBCUniversal with deep ties to the promoting business.
However, Matthew Dolgin, a senior fairness analyst with Morningstar Research Services in Chicago, was skeptical of Musk’s tweet. “Based on his history and the reported challenges at X, I would say it’s premature to expect that this will come to fruition,” he instructed TechNewsWorld.
Dolgin doesn’t see a requirement for what Musk is providing from both customers or content material suppliers. “From a consumer perspective, we don’t see one. YouTube is free, easy to use, and widely accessible,” he stated.
“From the perspective of content providers,” he continued, “we think they benefit greatly from the network effects of Google and YouTube, so we wouldn’t expect them to be looking for an alternative platform, either.”
“Any demand on that end would have to be driven by an expectation of materially greater income for the content providers,” he added.
Better Storytelling Platform?
Enderle agreed that there doesn’t look like any demand for what Musk is promoting proper now. “Demand would have to be built, and Musk doesn’t really believe in marketing, so he’ll try to use Twitter to create that demand,” he stated. “I don’t expect it will end well, given how many folks have dropped Twitter.”
Vena, although, does see a market opening for Musk. “As streaming becomes increasingly popular, users are seeking diverse content options beyond what YouTube offers,” he defined. “A competitive service could cater to niche interests, provide exclusive content, or offer a more curated viewing experience.”
He added that issues over knowledge privateness and content material moderation on YouTube have additionally spurred curiosity in options that prioritize consumer management and security.
“Moreover,” he continued, “the proliferation of smart TVs has created a ripe market for new streaming platforms to integrate seamlessly into home entertainment systems.”
“Overall, the demand for a YouTube competitor in the TV space reflects both a desire for innovation and a quest for alternatives that better align with users’ preferences and values,” he stated.
A Musk various may additionally provide content material creators larger freedom, maintained Neil Chase, a author, actor, story coach, filmmaker, and co-founder of Brimstone Pictures in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
“All content on streaming services is curated to such a degree that the quality of storytelling and informational content has gotten generally weaker,” he instructed TechNewsWorld. “There are certain things people are allowed to say and certain things they are not. This is a fact.”
“The one thing that Musk brings to the table that others don’t is a platform for storytellers and content creators to express their creativity and thoughts in a space that’s less regulated,” Chase asserted. “This is attractive to a certain percentage of both content creators and audiences.”
Eye Toward Universal App
Musk may consider YouTube is spreading itself too skinny to compete with market upstarts. “YouTube has been expanding, trying to take on TikTok and Reels,” defined Ross Rubin, the principal analyst with Reticle Research, a client know-how advisory agency in New York City.
“Maybe Musk feels that is an opportunity, that YouTube is taking its eye off the ball chasing short-form video, and there’s an opportunity to appeal to content providers who want to do more substantial or cerebral types of content,” he instructed TechNewsWorld.
Rubin famous, nevertheless, that one of many important challenges for Musk is that X appears to be shedding, not gaining, momentum by way of membership progress and advertiser progress.”
That was evident in a report launched earlier this month by Edison Research. The analysis famous that in 2022 and 2023, 27% of the entire inhabitants within the U.S. reported utilizing Twitter. In 2024, 19% of the entire inhabitants within the U.S. is utilizing X, a 30% drop.
Musk’s transfer into TV seems to be a part of his purpose to make X a common app, a spot the place customers can go to fulfill all their on-line wants.
“I’m sure his engineering team can do whatever he wants to do,” Rubin stated. “The question isn’t functionality. It’s making X the go-to service for multiple functions the way WeChat is in China.”
“That is a tall order,” he continued. “In the U.S., we have the kinds of incumbents that weren’t in China as WeChat rose to prominence.”
“You can put all the components in place, but how are you going to attract people to the platform?” he requested. “How do you onramp people to this integrated service offering?”