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The writers strike has ended after five months. But one of the reasons the WGA went on strike in the first place is the way that the streaming model hollowed out the industry, especially Netflix. Shorter seasons and frequent cancellations made jobs less secure and dependable for workers industry-wide. Then when Netflix had a net loss of subscribers last year for the first time ever, it set off a panic. Streamers have since been pulling tons of series, both original and licensed–apparently Hulu just offloaded a bunch of classic shows like Arrested Development, and the less said about Max, the better. But the streamers believe that now is the time to start a trade alliance, the Streaming Innovation Alliance, to advocate for federal and state policies that protect them. The optics of this coming on the heels of the writers strike is….pretty bad. The alliance announcement is full of corporate BS that sounds like something from Succession: out of touch corporate euphemisms and passive aggressive language that I believe is leveled at the writers and other industry workers, as well as regulatory bodies like the FCC.

Several major streaming services, including Netflix, Max and The Walt Disney Co., have formed a trade alliance to advocate for federal and state policies that benefit the streaming industry.

At launch, other members of the Streaming Innovation Alliance include AfroLandTV, America Nu Network, BET+, discovery+, For Us by Us Network, MPA, MotorTrend+, Paramount+, Peacock, PlutoTV, Telemundo, Televisa Univision, Vault TV and Vix.

Former Republican Rep. Fred Upton and former Democratic acting FCC chair Mignon Clyburn are the senior advisers for the coalition. Charles Rivkin, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association, helped bring the parties together.

“Streaming provides great value, vast programming choices and unprecedented options for consumers. The MPA looks forward to working with the SIA and its members to ensure federal and state policy propels this incredible innovation forward — and doesn’t undermine the value and diversity consumers are enjoying today,” Rivkin said.

The first act of the alliance is the release of a new poll Tuesday that found registered voters “favor streaming innovation and are wary of proposals to regulate the market,” such as requirements that streaming services collect more user data or enact measures that could “deter them from offering sensitive programming.”

“Streaming services have opened up a new era of progress for program diversity that is bringing relevant stories and options to historically underserved communities at a record pace while opening doors for production jobs to people of color that have been shut for decades,” Clyburn said. “Any policy that drags down streaming would turn back the clock on this vital progress as well.”

Added Upton, “The rise of innovative, new video streaming services is an American success story we should celebrate and encourage, not smother with obsolete and ill-fitting rules and regulations designed for completely different technology, products and business models. Viewers have never gotten more for their entertainment dollar, and I urge policymakers to resist any effort to curtail this hugely beneficial innovation. Let’s not allow some backwards-looking regulatory scheme to block gains consumers so strongly value and appreciate today.”

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

This whole thing had me rolling my eyes. The part of this that immediately doesn’t scan: the results from the “poll of registered voters.” No registered voter in the US would actually say “yes, I want a giant media corporation to collect more data about me”. That is just not something that people believe in this country. It’s ludicrous that the streamers framed increased data collection as “a proposal to regulate” them. If anything, the federal government would try to stop them from collecting more user data, not mandate it. That’s definitely a poll question designed to trick people.

Clock the language from Mignon Clyburn: “any policy that drags down streaming” would be bad for diverse storytelling? That sounds to me like a passive aggressive swipe aimed at the legal protections unionized workers enjoy. What really “drags down streaming” is the way that management has attempted to turn an entire industry into an AI robot gig economy and pay everybody poverty wages. That, and a worsening user experience on streaming platforms–with more ads, incomplete storytelling from cancellations, a kabillion boring reboots, crackdowns on password sharing between families, and rising prices. At some point, these jokers are going to have to take a look in the mirror if they really want to solve the problems of their business model.

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