First-Party Content Production in a Competitive Media Market
Streaming platforms are pouring money into original content, but whether it pays off depends on two things: how much their content already overlaps with competitors and how flexible their pricing is. When prices are fixed (e.g., standard subscription tiers), platforms are more likely to invest in originals—especially if competitors offer similar libraries—because originals help differentiate. But when platforms can easily adjust prices, heavy content overlap actually reduces the incentive to invest in originals, since pricing can be used instead to compete.