VideoNuze Posts

Univision has launched its ambitious UVideos online and via mobile apps for iOS and Android devices. Announcing UVideos, Univision cited Nielsen research that 60% of  Spanish-speaking Hispanic consumers like to share video clips with friends online, with 60% of them saying they want more Spanish-language digital video.

When visiting UVideos for the first time, Univision has helpfully posted the splash screen below with navigation cues called out to orient new users.

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Last Friday morning Comcast reported strong Q3 '12 results, including its 8th straight quarter of lower year-over-year video subscriber losses. For Q3 '12, it lost 117K subscribers, vs. 165K in Q3 '11. This pattern stretches all the way back to Q4 '10, when Comcast lost 135K subscribers, vs. the 199K it lost in Q4 '09. Obviously no business likes to lose customers, but Comcast's (and all cable operators') reality is that with the incursion of telcos and satellite operators, some market fragmentation was inevitable.

On its earnings call, Comcast executives didn't point to any one reason for the ongoing video subscriber improvement, except to point to solid execution and "competing effectively with our improved products and services." Of course it doesn't hurt that the economy and housing have both picked up recently. Comcast's performance is also likely coming at the expense of telcos and satellite operators, whose Q3 results have not yet been fully released.

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I'm pleased to present the 153rd edition of the VideoNuze-TDG podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon, senior analyst at The Diffusion Group. This week Colin and I review Netflix's Q3 '12 results and its bumpy path forward.

As I wrote earlier this week, by the end of 2012, Netflix will have lost 8 million, or half the DVD subscribers it had back in July '11. That loss of subscribers and cash flow come at an inopportune time, given Netflix's aggressive international expansion. Colin is slightly more optimistic about Netflix, citing its better-than-expected international subscriber results. We also share thoughts on where Netflix goes from here.

Unrelated to Netflix, Colin also just released a complimentary white paper called "Examining the Trend: From IPTV to Broadband IPTV, which is available for download here.

Click here to listen to the podcast (24 minutes, 46 seconds)

Click here for previous podcasts

The VideoNuze-TDG podcast is available in iTunes...subscribe today!

Reminder that all early bird, discounted registrants for the Dec. 5th VideoSchmooze Online Video Leadership Forum in NYC will be entered to win an $850 Samsung 40 inch LED Smart TV, generously provided by NeuLion. The only qualifier is you must actually be in attendance when we do the drawing.

The early bird discounted ticket price is $95, which includes the full morning program through 12 noon, continental breakfast and networking.

If you need to understand what's driving the online video ecosystem forward and how it's impacting related industries like pay-TV, advertising, content and devices, then VideoSchmooze is a must-attend event. VideoSchmooze's outstanding industry analysts and executives will cover the hottest topics including the OTT landscape, TV Everywhere, multi-platform distribution, monetization, innovation/technology enablers, changing consumer behaviors, devices, and more.

The lead sponsors for this 9th VideoSchmooze are Adobe, AOL, Collective and thePlatform, with supporting sponsors Akamai, Undertone and NeuLion.

Register now for the early bird discount and an opportunity to win the Samsung Smart TV!

Despite the massive proliferation of video-enabled devices, a new survey released this morning by Verizon finds that 89% of "borderless" consumers and 90% of "non-borderless" consumers still prefer watching TV programs on their TVs. The survey is part of a new research initiative called the Verizon FiOS Innovation Index: Borderless Lifestyle Survey and is based on approximately 2,300 adult respondents.

According to Verizon, "borderless consumers" are defined as owning a computer, a smartphone or tablet, have an Internet-enabled device with them at all times, are interested in technology and connectivity upgrades and the benefits of a connected home. Verizon believes that fully 40% of Americans are now borderless consumers, with those 18-34 comprising the largest number.

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Netflix reported its Q3 '12 results yesterday, including dismal streaming growth of just 1.2 million subscribers in the critical U.S. market. But the big takeaway for me continues to be the breathtaking contraction of its highly profitable DVD-by-mail segment. By my calculations, beginning in Q3 '11 (when the Qwikster debacle was launched) through Netflix's forecast for Q4 '12, the company will have lost approximately 8 million DVD subscribers, or about half the estimated 15.9 million it had back on July 1, 2011.

Can you think of any other company that has pursued a voluntary strategy shift away from a reasonably healthy core business, which then resulted in half of its customers dropping in the subsequent 18 months? I cannot. In fact, I wonder if there's ever been one. That's how remarkably bad the Qwikster decision is turning out to be.

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"Killer app" is surely one of the most cliche terms in technology and one I try hard to avoid using. But today I'm making an exception because, in my opinion, the new TiVo Stream device actually has a bona fide killer app: the ability to wirelessly download recorded programs from a TiVo Premiere DVR to an iOS device for offline, high-quality playback. I've been using Stream mainly for this purpose for the past month and have absolutely fallen in love with the device.

The ability to download recorded programs is huge for several reasons. First and foremost, often when out of the home, it just isn't possible to stream video. A high-quality WiFi network may not be available (for instance, when flying). And even if it is, it may be over-shared, lacking necessary capacity for streaming. Wireless carrier 3G aircards similarly lack capacity, and with 4G aircards, data usage plan caps quickly kick in, making streaming an expensive proposition.

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I'm pleased to share that VideoNuze is collaborating with Broadcasting & Cable / Multichannel News magazines to produce the "Ultimate Guide to TV Everywhere," with a December 3rd publication date.

The 16-page guide will include up-to-date research data and analysis, interviews with industry leaders, case studies and more. It will tackle the questions surrounding TV Everywhere head-on, providing essential insights for busy industry executives. Topics covered will include strategic and business drivers, core technologies, changing viewer behaviors/expectations, business/rights issues and enabling devices.

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