Quality as an essential factor for a sustainable business in streaming platforms model

More than 70% of users of streaming platforms in Spain subscribe to several of them, whose catalogs are made up of thousands of titles. Consumption increases, especially on weekends, when almost half of the users admit to watching between 2 and 4 hours a day (Geca, 2024). The most popular streaming services are Prime Video and Netflix, which are fighting for the audience's attention in a market with dozens of direct competitors and with upward pressure on prices. Is this model sustainable for companies and for the audience?

The audiovisual industry is going through a historic stage characterized by the increase in the supply of always-available content, access to it through multiple devices, the proliferation of data from these digital devices and the emergence of consumption habits that have enhanced personalization, interactivity and mobility. Against this backdrop, streaming platforms are immersed in a battle for audience attention and the search for a sustainable business model . The School of Communication of the University of Navarra, in partnership with the School of Economic and Business Sciences, has started a new project of research financed by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities to investigate and propose solutions to facilitate that this subject of companies can offer quality content in a sustainable audiovisual ecosystem. 

The project will investigate for three years the quality indicators of audiovisual content, the relationship between quality and sustainability in the models of management and production, and how streaming platforms can implement these indicators to improve their management and services. The novelty of project lies in the fact that quality is not analyzed only as an end in itself, but aims to verify that the quality of content is the core topic to achieve the sustainability of model of management and business of the platforms, and not so much the quantity of titles in the catalog.

During the duration of the project, researchers will interview different profiles related to the topic, such as producers and managers of audiovisual content, quality managers or those responsible for sustainability policies in streaming platforms, and will conduct focus groups and audience surveys to get their impressions. 

The objectives of research are to identify the quality factors used by the platforms that affect their sustainability policies, to know the criteria that are most valued by the audience, to standardize a content production model and management that integrates quality indicators, and to propose a sustainable business model applicable to streaming platforms. It is also intended to promote raise awareness among users of the impact of their viewing habits on the sustainability of model.

The group of work is composed of members of the group of research Markets and Communication Companies (GIMECO) of the University of Navarra, and led by professors Cristina Etayo, from the School of Economics and Business Administration and Enrique Guerrero, from the School of Communication.

Enrique Guerrero emphasizes that "this project links in an innovative way the quality of content and the sustainability of production models and management audiovisual. In addition, it aims to provide a series of guidelines to improve both the business practices of streaming platforms, as well as the working conditions of the audiovisual sector and the quality of its contents and services. By improving the efficiency of model, it is possible to reduce costs and time, improving the satisfaction of all the agents involved".

For her part, Cristina Etayo points out that "the current project represents a continuity in the work that the team has been carrying out for more than 15 years in this field and that has allowed the consolidation of a group of research of reference letter in this topic".