I don't understand this thing with companies licensing their content... Everything is global so they should do away with the restrictions on who can watch what and when...
jpp72
It could be due to legacy distribution agreements, or future agreements. Remember Studios make the content and license it (for fees) to broadcasters.
Take for example Disney buying Fox Studios. Fox Corp still owns FOX TV station/network (since Disney already owns ABC and can't own two). SO Disney and other Studios will still license content to Fox TV for broadcast, which is likely to spill over into agreements for streaming that content as well.
NOW, when it comes to ORIGINAL CONTENT made specifically for a streaming service only (say Star Trek Picard for Paramount+ or Mandalorian for Disney+) it should be pretty straight forward.
In the case of Yellowstone, its a combination of SEVERAL production studios (at least per IMDB
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4236770/companycredits/ and google searching finds several articles on other studios in partnership as well) So I'm sure all those studios want to make as much profit as they can, so they are going to shop it around for the best carriage fees and payback options they can get. Of course this impacts where the show/movie lives when it comes to streaming.
I'm sure the major studios like Disney, Paramount (owns CBS and that family of networks), NBC Universal (owns Peacock, and the networks of NBC), will want their studio's movies and TV shows to be exclusive to their own streaming services, but they are also going to want content too, so they will likely "trade" or make agreements to let their content play on other platforms so they can get content from other studios.
It sucks for us as consumers who just want to watch it and purchase it because its too confusing.
You have people willing to pay for stuff but if they are not tech savvy, they will end up just pirating it... is that better?? Look at all the hoops i go through with VPN, Virtual Credit Cards, VoIP Phone number just so i can pay for content i want... I could just as easily (actually is easier with Sonarr & Radarr) pirate all that shit and keep my hard earned cash.
jpp72
^^^^ This! exactly what I've seen people who pirate type on Reddit.