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Inside the Stream: FAST Euro Limits, TV OS Wars, Broadcaster Super Apps
Colin has been in London participating in a CTV conference, and this week he shares some of his observations about how the competitive landscape in Europe compares with the U.S. Among the topics we discuss are why FASTs are unlikely to grow as quickly as in the U.S., the burgeoning market for TV OS’s, and the introduction of broadcasters’ “super apps.”
The discussion is a great reminder that while CTV has taken the U.S. by storm, it is evolving differently in other parts of the world.
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Topics: Podcast
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Inside the Stream: Fubo’s Spulu Duel, Apple’s $700M Movie Splurge, Max and Disney Follow Netflix
First up on this week’s podcast we discuss Fubo CEO David Gandler’s statement that the company is in a “duel to the death” with Spulu, the new sports JV from Disney, WBD and Fox. He makes a good point that if the 3 companies allow the JV access to their sports networks without requiring the JV to also pay for non-sports networks as companies do with typical pay-TV deals, this would put the JV at a cost advantage compared to pay-TV operators like Fubo.
Next, Variety reported Apple spent $700 million on just 3 movies last year, a bet that Colin and I both believe is far too concentrated for a streaming service that is struggling with high churn and badly needs catalog depth. Finally, both Max and Disney+ are trying to emulate Netflix in cracking down on password sharing and on improving churn. Can they catch up with the clear market leader?
Finally, all the session videos from last week’s VideoNuze CTV Advertising PREVIEW: 2024 virtual are available.
Listen to the podcast to learn more (26 minutes, 43 seconds)
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Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Spotify Amazon Music RSSCategories: FIlms, Podcasts, Sports, Studios, SVOD
Topics: Disney, Fox, fuboTV, Netflix, Podcast, Warner Bros. Discovery
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Inside the Stream: CTV Ad PREVIEW: 2024 Reveals Key Market Drivers
Earlier this week VideoNuze held its Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW: 2024 virtual, featuring 19 industry executives speaking on 5 different sessions. In today’s podcast Colin and I discuss some of the key market drivers and themes we consistently heard.
There are many reasons to be optimistic about CTV’s future growth, but also some challenges the industry faces. Across the sessions a theme we heard was that despite CTV’s rapid growth, it’s still relatively early in its evolution, with a lot of room for making CTV ads far more valuable than traditional TV’s 30-second format.
(Note all of the session videos will be posted to VideoNuze early next week for on-demand viewing)
Listen to the podcast to learn more (27 minutes, 11 seconds)
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Topics: Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW: 2024
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Inside the Stream: RIP Freevee?, YouTube tops on CTV, Peacock & Paramount+ Combine?
This week we discuss the logic of Amazon shutting down Freevee, which Adweek reported, and Amazon denied. We see a number of pros and cons to the move. Meanwhile Nielsen said that YouTube was once again the number one streaming service used on CTVs, ahead of Netflix and everyone else. This was the twelfth month in row for YouTube and we explore the reasons behind it.
Finally the rumor mill is swirling that Peacock and Paramount+ may combine forces, and we dig into how it would benefit both entities.
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Topics: Amazon, Paramount+, Peacock, Podcast, YouTube
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Inside the Stream: Walmart-VIZIO Deal; Super Bowl Streamers Mystery
Earlier this week the WSJ reported that Walmart is seeking to acquire VIZIO for over $2 billion. Colin and I discuss the likely strategic rationale behind the deal. We both like the benefits to both companies with grabbing a bigger share of CTV ad spending a big upside.
Meanwhile, the Super Bowl scored a record 123.4 viewers across all platforms according to Paramount. The company also said it was the most-streamed Super Bowl in history, but didn’t disclose how many streamers there actually were. We dig into the numbers and Colin provides his estimates.
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Topics: CBS Sports, Paramount, Podcast, Super Bowl, Vizio, Wal-mart
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Inside the Stream: Where Does the Disney/Fox/WBD Sports JV Fit In?
This week we look through all the buzz around the new Disney/Fox/WBD sports JV to understand the service’s opportunity and likely impact on the TV market.
Two key questions we consider: 1) How big is the target market of sports super-fans for the JV who haven’t maintained their pay-TV subscription (since sports has been a firewall to cord-cutting)? And 2) With ESPN’s own direct-to-consumer service launching in 2025, how will it differentiate itself given ESPN will also be included in the JV’s offering?
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Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Spotify Amazon Music RSSTopics: Disney, FOX, Podcast, Warner Bros. Discovery
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Inside the Stream: Interview with Zone TV’s CEO on Block Deal
This week we interview Jeff Weber, CEO of Zone TV, which was just acquired by Block Communications. Zone TV has been operating for 22 years, and has recently been focused on streaming and FASTs. Jeff explains his motivation for the deal, the evolving market for FASTs and what’s next.
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Inside the Stream: Netflix’s Record Q4 Boosted by Paid Sharing and Ads
Netflix added 13.1 million global subscribers in Q4 ’23, its best fourth quarter ever. As we discuss, the company is capitalizing on the introduction of paid sharing and a lower priced ad-supported tier. Paid sharing, which requires those who were using someone else’s login credentials to start their own subscription, has been especially effective. Netflix designed a smart strategy to eliminate this long-valued benefit. It could have become a PR nightmare, but instead has rolled out seamlessly.
Netflix said that the ad-supported tier now accounts for an impressive 40% of new subscriptions in markets where it is available. In yet another move to optimize revenue, Netflix is discontinuing its $11.99 per month Basic plan, which will drive more new subscribers to the ad tier or the least expensive ad-free tier which is $15.49 per month.
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Inside the Stream: Was Peacock’s NFL Exclusive a Success?
NBCUniversal said that last weekend’s Chiefs-Dolphins wildcard playoff game was a big success, attracting an average audience of approximately 23 million viewers on Peacock. In this episode of Inside the Stream, Colin and I dig into key metrics of how to assess the game’s financial success to Peacock, specifically, how many incremental subscribers did the game add, and how likely are they to stay around and for how long?
Peacock reportedly paid $100 million for rights to stream the game and so getting a strong financial return is essential.
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Inside the Stream: CES Highlights, NBCU and Disney Step Up in Ads, Netflix Growth
Big TV manufacturers made news at CES with new models and improved viewer experiences. Meanwhile NBCUniversal and Disney stepped up their ad games with announcements of many new initiatives. Separate, Netflix said it now has 23 million monthly active users, up 8 million in the past couple of months. Lastly, Amazon announced broad headcount cuts to Prime Video, MGM and Twitch.
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Topics: Amazon, Disney, NBCU, Netflix, Podcast
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Inside the Stream: Streaming TV Predictions for 2024
Keeping with our annual new year’s tradition, this week Colin and I offer our top predictions for streaming TV in 2024. They cover a wide range of topics including SVOD, CTV ads, TV OS, sports, FASTs, AI, cord-cutting and more. Let us know what you think - agree or disagree with us?
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Topics: Amazon, NBA, Netflix, Podcast
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Inside the Stream: The Top 10 Streaming Video Stories of 2023
This week on Inside the Stream we discuss our top 10 streaming video stories of 2023. As longtime listeners know, the top 10 countdown is our tradition for the final podcast of the year.
In 2023, our top picks include the rise of smart TVs, the Actors and Writers strikes, TV OS wars, CTV advertising, traditional TV’s continued fall, Disney acquiring the rest of Hulu, YouTube’s growth, SVODs drive for profitability, sports migration to online and Netflix remaining the king of SVOD. We dive into all of them and explain why each is significant. Let us know what you think of our top 10 - did we miss anything?
Listen to the podcast to learn more (38 minutes, 12 seconds)
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Topics: Disney, Hulu, Netflix, Podcast, YouTube
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Inside the Stream: Surprises Revealed By Netflix’s Engagement Report
On this week’s Inside the Stream Colin and I dig into Netflix’s first engagement report, released earlier this week. The report details what subscribers watched during the January-June 2023 period. It includes viewership of over 18,000 titles, which comprises 99% of all viewing on the service. Colin has used the data to make several calculations about Netflix’s overall business. Hopefully other streaming services will share similar data in the future.
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Inside the Stream: SVOD Bundling, Peacock Hits 30M, WBD’s FASTs, Hulu’s Disney+ Tile
On this week’s Inside the Stream Colin and I first discuss the trend toward SVOD services being bundled with one another. We agree the approach makes sense to cut churn and increase the lifetime value of subscribers. Next, Peacock has hit 30 million paying subscribers, which we believe is a healthy milestone for the three year-old service, though its losses are in the billions of dollars.
Meanwhile, WB Discovery has launched 11 FAST channels on Freevee, and Colin shares his thoughts on why the company could be more aggressive with FASTs. Last up, Disney moved the needle on integrating Hulu by adding a tile in the Disney+ UI for a beta group of subscribers.
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Topics: Disney+, Hulu, Peacock, Podcast, Warner Bros. Discovery
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Inside the Stream: NASCAR’s $8B Rights Deals, D2C vs. Pay-TV, TikTok vs. YouTube
This week on Inside the Stream Colin and I cover a number of different topics that have been in the news. First up, NASCAR has signed new rights deals with TV and streaming partners for nearly $8 billion, a huge increase from its current deals.
Next we discuss new research indicating that non-pay-TV viewers will outpace traditional pay-TV viewers by the end of the year. Then, TikTok is encouraging creators to make longer videos, in a move to compete with YouTube. Last, Hub reports that built-in apps on Smart TVs get greater usage.
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Topics: Hub Research, NASCAR, Podcast, TikTok
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Inside the Stream: YouTube TV’s Strong Q3, Sports in Flux
LRG estimates that YouTube TV added 600K subscribers in Q3 ’23, bringing it to a total of 6.5 million subscribers. YouTube TV’s growth is by far the strongest of all pay-TV providers, double the growth of Hulu + Live TV and Fubo, with all traditional providers losing subscribers in Q3.
On this week’s podcast we discuss what’s behind YouTube TV’s growth, and also how sports TV continues to be in flux.
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Topics: Podcast, YouTube TV
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Inside the Stream: Disney, Roku, WB Discovery and Dish Q3 Results
It’s earnings season, and on this week’s podcast, Colin and I discuss results from Disney, Roku, WB Discovery and Dish. The four companies’ subscriber counts, profitability and shifting business models all provide insights into larger industry trends and challenges.
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Topics: DISH Network, Disney, Podcast, Roku, Warner Bros. Discovery
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Inside the Stream: Will Disney’s Big Hulu Bet Deliver on Kilar’s Streaming Success Plan?
Disney has officially begun buying out Comcast’s 33% ownership in Hulu, for at least $8.6 billion. Hulu will become a centerpiece of Disney’s strategy to appeal to a broad range of audiences. Coincidentally former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar recently shared his recommendations for how media companies can succeed in streaming. Can Disney’s big Hulu bet deliver on Kilar’s vision?
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Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Spotify Amazon Music RSSTopics: Comcast, Disney, Hulu, Podcast
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Inside the Stream: Nexstar Makes Case for Broadcast, YouTube’s Teen Bump
This week Colin and I explore Nexstar’s assertion that the recent Disney-Charter deal will benefit local TV (Nexstar is the largest owner of local broadcasters in the U.S.). Nexstar points to improved bundling that will stabilize pay-TV and spending on underperforming niche cable networks that can be reallocated to local TV. We also discuss new research showing that YouTube has edged past Netflix in consumption among teenagers.
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Inside the Stream: Xumo Stream Box is Good For Cable But Limited Elsewhere
The new Xumo Stream Box from partners Comcast and Charter began rolling out this week. On this week’s Inside the Stream we discuss the new device’s opportunities. Overall it seems like a smart play for the cable TV operators to streamline their device strategy, blending traditional pay-TV with streaming. So within their footprint Xumo Stream Box should find success. However, as we discuss, the box will likely have limited appeal outside of their footprints.
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Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Spotify Amazon Music RSSTopics: Charter Communications, Comcast, Podcast, Xumo