VideoNuze Posts

I'm pleased to present the 320th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

As both Colin and I wrote this week (here and here), Comcast delivered very strong video and broadband subscriber gains in Q1 '16. Despite all of the rhetoric around cord-cutting and the fact that SVOD services - which were considered a potential substitute for pay-TV - have boomed, Comcast had its best first quarter in 9 years, adding 53K video subscribers vs. a loss of 8K subscribers in Q1 ’15.

As Colin and I discuss on the podcast, Comcast is benefitting from weakening competition, its own investments in product/content/user experience, and triple-play bundling, powered by broadband adoption. As has been the case for a couple of years now, the X1 set-top box, now in 35% of video subscribers’ homes, continues to be the linchpin in video, driving up ARPU, VOD and DVR usage, reducing churn, etc. In an era of rising viewer expectations, X1 delivers a superb, differentiated, web-like experience.

Given all of the above, I think Comcast has a strong outlook at least through 2016 if not beyond. Colin is a little less sanguine and we discuss our differences.  

Listen now to learn more!

Click here to listen to the podcast (23 minutes, 4 seconds)

Click here for previous podcasts

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The VideoNuze podcast is also available in iTunes...subscribe today! (note the link has been updated)

A reminder that early bird discounted registration is available for the 6th annual VideoNuze Online Video Advertising Summit on Tuesday, June 14th in NYC. All early bird registrants will be entered to win a 55-inch TCL 4K Roku TV, generously provided by Roku.

Our overarching theme this year will be the ongoing convergence between TV and online video advertising. So far, over 25 executives are on board to speak at the Ad Summit, from industry leaders like A+E Networks, American Express, Conde Nast, IAB, Initiative, Mindshare, NBCU, Newsy, Turner, The Washington Post, The Weather Company, Whistle Sports, Zenith Optimedia and many others.

I’m thrilled that Marc Debevoise, EVP/GM, CBS Digital Media at CBS Interactive will be our morning keynote guest. I will be interviewing Marc about CBS’s digital strategy, including initiatives like CBS All Access, CBSN its live-streaming news channel, Super Bowl streaming, monetization strategies, mobile distribution along with larger industry trends.

The packed program will feature 13 sessions focused on the convergence of TV and video advertising from both a strategic and operational perspective, mobile video, how TV networks are succeeding in the digital era, multi-platform campaigns and connected TVs, the critical role of data, the NewFronts/Upfronts, succeeding in the platform economy and lots more.

The Ad Summit will again be a must-attend day of learning and networking with industry leaders from brands, agencies, content providers, technology companies and others in the ecosystem. Last year's Ad Summit drew over 450 attendees and featured 50+ speakers.

There are 15 industry-leading companies on board so far as sponsors, including Title Partner Videology, Premier Partners Altitude Digital, DashBid, Extreme Reach, Verizon Digital Media Services and VertaMedia, Headline Partners Alphonso, Beachfront Media, Cedato, FreeWheel, Genesis Media, JW Player, Operative and Placemedia and Branding Partner Roku. As always, I’m extremely grateful for our partners’ generous support!

Learn more and register now!

Comcast is on an epic roll. Despite years(!) of cord-cutting warnings by the blogosphere and analysts, Comcast once again proved the naysayers wrong, adding 53K video subscribers in Q1 ’16. It was the best first quarter in 9 years for the company and easily eclipsed the loss of 8K subscribers in Q1 ’15.

The Q1 gain builds on the strong year Comcast recorded in 2015, losing just 36K subscribers vs. a loss of 194K in 2014. Remarkably, Comcast now has 25K more video subscribers that it did one year ago (22,400K vs. 22,375K).

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Turner announced this morning that it will launch a new ad-free SVOD service this Fall dubbed FilmStruck, which will be managed by Turner Classic Movies and exclusively draw on movies from Criterion Collection. According to the release, FilmStruck is targeted to “diehard movie enthusiasts who crave a deep, intimate experience independent, foreign and art house films.”

A Turner spokesperson confirmed that Criterion’s 1,000 movie catalog will move over from Hulu in November, where it has been under an exclusive deal announced in February, 2011 and extended in April, 2014.

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The latest evidence of the complete transformation of the living room landed in my inbox last Friday morning as I was preparing to head out of town: according to Leichtman Research Group’s latest study, a whopping 65% of U.S. TV households now have at least one TV connected to the Internet.

And among that 65% of U.S. TV homes, 26% have one device, 22% have two, 29% have 3-4 and 23% have 5 or more. That means approximately 15% of U.S. TV homes are in a similar category as me (I have a Tivo, Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV and Chromecast) and I thought I was an extreme case because I’m in the business. LRG said the mean for those with a connected TV is 3.3 devices.

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I'm pleased to present the 319th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

Colin and I are back from NABShow where I produced the 2-day Online Video Conference, which included 52 speakers over 15 sessions. One of the highlights for me was doing a keynote interview with Michael Paull, VP of Digital Video at Amazon who oversees the company’s new Streaming Partners Program (SPP).  

As I wrote yesterday, SPP will likely have a majority of U.S. SVOD services included this year, putting Amazon in the undisputed role as THE third-party distributor of SVOD in the U.S. Colin and I dig into why that is potentially so critical and the implications it could have for Netflix and the pay-TV industry. (Colin provides a personal example of how Amazon hooked him on a subscription to Tribeca Shortlist which he never would have found on his own).

We then transition to specific takeaways from NABShow. Colin notes that many vendors were demonstrating how online video can be delivered with guaranteed quality and user experiences, making online video every bit as good as TV itself. For pay-TV operators specifically, the imperative to move video services online has never been higher.

Listen now to learn more!

Click here to listen to the podcast (23 minutes, 41 seconds)

Click here for previous podcasts

Click here to add the podcast feed to your RSS reader.

The VideoNuze podcast is also available in iTunes...subscribe today! (note the link has been updated)

Amazon is likely to have a majority of all SVOD services available in the U.S. included in its recently launched Streaming Partners Program (SPP) this year, setting the stage for the company to become the main third-party distributor for dozens of SVOD services. As this happens, there will be significant implications for the structure of the SVOD industry, not least of which will be changing the competitive dynamic between Amazon and Netflix, just as the latter’s domestic subscriber growth appears to be flattening. Another important implication would be Amazon’s impact on the U.S. pay-TV industry and role with cord-cutters.

Michael Paull, Amazon’s VP of Digital Video, who runs the SPP, told me during our keynote interview on Tuesday at the NABShow Online Video Conference that he expects “dozens” of SVOD services in the U.S. will become part of the SPP in the coming months. When added to the 30+ SVOD services already available in SPP, the result would be that the majority of U.S. SVOD services would be part of SPP. (Note, according to Parks Associates’ recent research there are 98 U.S. SVOD services aside from Netflix, Hulu and Amazon currently available).

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