The never-ending war between the world’s leading video-on-demand companies came to a head when Amazon bought legendary Hollywood studio MGM (Metro Goldwyn Mayer) in a deal worth $8.5 billion. MGM’s sale on May 26 followed more than six months of negotiations. The American studio, known for Roaring Lion, was weakened by serious financial difficulties before the pandemic. The long-term closure of cinemas was the final nail in the coffin. Although the market value of the MGM studio was low (estimated at only $5.5 billion a few months ago), several giants of the digital industry, including Apple, were interested in buying it. But Amazon won the bid and made history by becoming the first player in the video streaming industry to acquire a major Hollywood studio. By buying MGM, Amazon is clearly showing its desire to take down Netflix. The Prime Video service already has almost 200 million users, which is close to its California competitor with 208 million subscribers. The competition for the top spot in the video-on-demand market has never been tougher. As part of my IP-TV research on the discoverability and availability of the diversity of Internet content, I regularly monitor the changes and imbalances caused by the digital distribution platforms that dominate the global market for cultural products and services.
