Marcus Richards
Over the last decade, streaming services have seen the most significant surge in popularity and use. This has allowed them to grow to immense proportions, and there are more platforms than ever before. Furthermore, streaming platforms can also be excellent investment opportunities other than just representing good entertainment value.
The global streaming industry was estimated to be worth $372.07 billion in 2021, with the annual growth rate expected to be 11.48% until 2027. Competition in the sector is also heating up, and there are tremendous growth opportunities in the up-and-coming and established platforms. Investing has also been made much more convenient through technical advances driven by the leading FCA regulated brokers, and you can still do it even if you don’t have much experience. So how can you invest in streaming platforms?
Buying shares in a publicly traded company is the easiest way to invest in a streaming platform. For instance, Netflix, Disney+, and Roku are listed on different stock exchanges with various stock prices. A Netflix share is $240.02, a bit on the higher side if you’re a modest investor but a share from Roku, a fast-growing streaming platform, is only $-59.39. However, there are more factors to consider other than the size of the company and share price when making your pick.
Case and point Netflix might be the largest streaming service with the most significant subscriber base in the sector. But they have been falling in popularity with many due to some of their policies and rate hikes, which has negatively affected their growth rates. On the other hand, up-and-coming platforms such as Roku have benefited from this and are seeing steady growth. And you might find investing in growing streaming platforms more profitable.
Trading CFDs
Trading CFDs can also be an excellent way to invest in streaming platforms without bearing the upfront cost of purchasing the company’s stock. CFDs are great because they allow you to take long or short positions on your preferred instrument and can have a considerable spread. For instance, if you expect Netflix’s share price to fall, open a position with a CFD broker, and their value is lower when you close your position. The broker will pay you the price difference.
However, because CFDs are speculation tools, they can be highly volatile and risky as an investment strategy. Therefore, you should exercise caution and only take a position when you’ve done good research and are certain about a movement. Nonetheless, they will earn you skin in the game and help you make moves you would otherwise not have made.
Indices
If you’re an investor who knows about the potential of streaming services but is not too keen on the industry, you can still indirectly invest using indices. When many companies from the same or multiple sectors are pooled together in an index, you only need to open one position to benefit from the pool. You also spread the risk of loss when trading indices because when a few companies in the collection underperform and the rest do well, they pick up the slack.
Furthermore, they allow you to determine your trading horizon depending on your goals. If you want quick turnarounds on your investments, you can use cash indices, while futures will help you implement long-term trading strategies.
Opening a Streaming Service
Sometimes we are too quick to think about investing in what other people have already built, but we never stop to ask what if we made our own. Registering a streaming platform is not that complicated and, for the most part, is just like any other business. Software development technology has also become much more accessible and does not cost as much as some earlier platforms had to pay to get up and running.
Audiences are also always looking for something new and different, which might be the challenge you’re looking for.
Final Words
The TV industry has experienced significant changes over its lifetime, the most drastic being the one happening now with streaming services. Audiences no longer want linear content but the freedom to choose what they want to watch when they want. This has also presented opportunities for investors, which you can also get in on now that you have a couple of ideas on how to.
