Dual portfolio management strategies of online subscription video on demand (SVOD) companies: a genre perspective

ABSTRACT Effective portfolio management is vital for organisations to achieve competitive advantage. This study investigates how online subscription video on demand (SVOD) companies manage their genre portfolios. Using longitudinal data of all original content produced by the two largest U.S. SVOD platforms and all primetime shows provided by the U.S. Big Four broadcast networks over a seven-year period (2012–2019), this study demonstrates that the SVOD companies used dual strategies to maximise appeal to both subscribers and critics. Specifically, the SVOD companies differentiated from their own previous genre portfolios by offering more shows in the genres that had been less offered by themselves, while increasing shows in the same genres where their own shows and the broadcast network shows received positive recognition from television critics.