Why too many streaming options have spoiled our choices – Editorial

Catherine, Princess of Wales with the trophy last year. New Zealanders will be forced to look online to watch the entire Wimbledon tournament. Photo / Getty Images

Opinion

EDITORIAL

“Trop de choix tue le choix” is a French adage that speaks to a paradox of modern life: when having too much choice ruins the whole experience of choosing. You might be familiar with this feeling. Maybe you’ve felt the dread of looking over a menu with too many options, or a wall of goods at the hardware store (“don’t these 10 different mops all do the same thing?”)

American psychologist Barry Schwartz wrote 20 years ago in his book The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less that increasing levels of consumer options have somehow made us feel less rather than more satisfied.

“Part of the downside of abundant choice is that each new option adds to the list of trade-offs, and trade-offs have psychological consequences. The necessity of making trade-offs alters how we feel about the decisions we face; more important, it affects the level of satisfaction we experience from the decisions we ultimately make,” Schwartz said.

The latest plethora of choice to paralyse consumers is in the television or streaming video market.

Think Netflix, Disney+, Neon, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Acorn – these are all paid subscription services courting Kiwi viewers.

New Zealand’s paid-TV market, after being in the hands of Sky for so very long, is now entirely fragmented with services being beamed directly to customers over the internet.

The same phenomena has also happened to sports broadcasting, with a host of different outlets chasing rights for individual codes or events.

That has led to a frustrating situation for Kiwi fans.

After purchasing a subscription to Sky Sports and having avidly followed the Super Rugby season, or having enjoyed a summer of cricket broadcast for free on TVNZ, viewers would have been looking forward to Wimbledon, tennis’ oldest tournament, starting tonight.

In recent years, TVNZ, Three and Sky have held the broadcast rights for the tournament, arguably the highest profile event in tennis.

But in 2024, with no major player having acquired the television rights, New Zealanders will be forced online, with streaming outlet Tennis TV standing as the only broadcaster with full rights to the entirety of Wimbledon.

Those willing to sign up can pay for one of three plans, ranging from $19 for a month’s subscription to watch Wimbledon itself, $99 for a six-month deal, or $169 for one year.

To its credit, TVNZ will showcase all five finals – men’s and women’s singles and doubles, as well as mixed doubles – on its TVNZ+ streaming platform.

However, that still leaves nearly the entirety of the tournament out of reach for New Zealanders who are not signed up to Tennis TV.

With codes or tournaments able to directly target consumers online, this situation is likely to crop up again and again – and will make watching multiple sports too expensive for many Kiwis.

Either this fragmentation is unsustainable – and the market will consolidate again – or fans will need to make some hard choices as to what they follow each season.