(Image Source: Forbes)

BY EVAN THOMAS
 

ANCHOR LAUREN GORES

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The video streaming market is gaining speed. Distributors are signing content deals for older shows, exclusives, and rights to future programming. It’s finally getting competitive, and studios are jumping aboard.

SmartMoney’s Kelli Grant tells The Wall Street Journal-- for healthy competition with market leader Netflix, look no further than Amazon.

“Right now it’s about 12 thousand titles at Amazon versus about 20 thousand at Netflix, but they’re actually adding more content at a faster rate than Netflix. They certainly are gaining. If you look at it there’s quite a bit of overlap in the content there, but depending on what you watch you might find more titles to your liking at Amazon or more at Netflix.”

So is it finally time to cut the cable? Maybe. Gizmodo points out-- the pitfalls of video aren’t going anywhere. Getting your content can be expensive, or it can require lots of remotes. Pick one.

“So, if it were technically feasible—ie you have access to solid broadband speeds—would you ditch your cable box in favor of a cadre of net boxes and the increased operational complexity if it means paying 70 percent less each month?”

Business Insider reminds us conventional TV still has a nice profitable stranglehold on most of consumer video’s ad revenue. But universal access to all video on all screens all the time could eventually override that model.

“As the lines blur between viewing experiences, convenience, ease of access, and types of video (TV shows and homemade YouTube videos), the advertising dollars will be redistributed across the all-screen video universe.”

But The New York Times says comparing traditional and streaming providers won’t work. The majority of TV subscribers still watch TV on TV-- so online content services must adapt.

“Netflix and services like it are increasingly being positioned as supplements, not replacements, for traditional TV subscriptions as the major studios, networks and distributors work to preserve their existing business models.”

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings agrees. He outlined a new direction for Netflix last month. The trick is to have content consumers who are willing to pay for it. All Things Digital summarizes his plan:

“So Hastings is trying to build an $8-a-month version of HBO — a network you pay for in addition to your regular TV package, not one that replaces it. And to make that work, he doesn’t have to have everything — but he has to have stuff you can’t get anywhere else.”

Whether or not streaming content comes out on top, the numbers speak for themselves. Netflix reported its highest revenues yet last quarter.