Posts for 'SVOD'

I’m pleased to present the 383rd edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

On today’s podcast, Colin and I discuss how Disney’s blundered 2012 content deal with Netflix has now come home to roost. Even though Disney’s content was only activated on Netflix last year, this week Disney announced it won’t renew the Netflix deal and will instead launch its own entertainment-focused SVOD service - but not until it’s able to in 2019.

Colin and I agree that 2019 is a lifetime away given how fast the video world is moving. Importantly, the competitive environment for kids programming is already very crowded and will only intensify over the next 2 years as others’ investments accelerate. While Disney’s content is the gold standard, for many reasons we discuss, the company success in SVOD is far from assured.

Disney painting itself into a corner is a textbook example of the consequences of prioritizing short-term gains over long-term strategic flexibility. Though the original Netflix deal was done in 2012, its ramifications will reverberate for years to come.

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By now we’re all familiar with the 3 big announcements Disney made yesterday: 1) a plan to launch its own entertainment-focused SVOD service, in turn sunsetting in 2019 its Netflix licensing deal for Disney/Pixar content, 2) a plan to launch an ESPN OTT service and 3) spending $1.58 billion to buy another 42% of BAMTech and take control of that business.

Focusing on Disney’s entertainment SVOD service it looks pretty clear now that by signing the original December, 2012 licensing deal with Netflix, Disney blew a big strategic opportunity to get in front of the trend toward direct-to-consumer online distribution.

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This morning, FX and Comcast announced FX+, an ad-free subscription video on demand service available to Xfinity TV subscribers for $5.99 per month. FX+ is quite comprehensive, including full current seasons of 17 different FX shows (e.g. “The Americans,” “Atlanta,” “Taboo,” etc.) along with library seasons of 16 current and prior shows (e.g. “The Shield,” “The League,” “Nip/Tuck,” etc.). In all, there will be over 1,100 episodes of FX programming available to subscribers.

FX+ follows the recent announcement of AMC Premiere by AMC and Comcast, which is another ad-free SVOD service, available for $4.99 per month. However, AMC Premiere doesn’t include AMC’s deep library of popular programs, highlighted by “The Walking Dead,” “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men,” while also including some original digital content. AMC Premiere’s shallow content selection suggests its success will be modest.

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I’m pleased to present the 382nd edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

It’s been a little while since Colin and I last discussed CBS All Access, which now has approximately 1.5 million subscribers. But with the launch of “Star Trek: Discovery” coming on September 24th (first episode on-air, then exclusively on All Access), the timing is good to dig into its place in the market and the role of originals.

Interestingly, Colin and I have differing views on almost everything related to CBS All Access; he sees their progress to date as modest (whereas I’m more impressed), but he thinks Star Trek alone could boost subscribers all the way to the 4 million point, which is the 2020 goal (whereas I’m much more cautious), and he sees All Access as threatening to CBS’s local affiliates (whereas I think they’ve largely been brought under the tent).

Most of all, Colin believes Star Trek is a relatively risky move by the company, while I see it as taking a page from a playbook well-established by Netflix and others who have used originals to methodically build their businesses.

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U.S. adoption of Netflix, Amazon Prime and/or Hulu is up to 64% of homes, an increase from 47% in 2014, according to Leichtman Research Group. Of those who have one of these SVOD services, 51% now have more than one of them, up from 35% in 2014.

On our podcast last week, Colin and I talked about how the number of people taking multiple SVOD services has become a central trend in the industry and is helping spur growth for all providers. Both Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Netflix’s Reed Hastings have insisted over the years that people will take multiple services, and that appears to now becoming reality.

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I’m pleased to present the 380th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

Earlier this week Netflix reported its Q2 ’17 results, with domestic and international subscriber additions exceeding even the most optimistic Wall St. forecasts. But as Colin and I discuss, it is extremely murky what actually drove the strong performance. In fact, Netflix’s Q2 ’17 varied dramatically from prior years, creating a roller-coaster feel that makes it almost impossible to predict where Netflix is heading next.

Highlighting the confusion is that Netflix management again emphasized the role of its original content in driving the Q2 numbers. Yet independent research just a couple months ago indicated that in Q1 ’17, 85% of Netflix’s U.S. streams were actually licensed content, despite the many billions the company has invested in originals. To top it off, Colin reports that he repeatedly hears industry friends say “there’s nothing on Netflix to watch.”

There’s no question Q2 reinvigorated the Netflix growth story. But what’s behind that story feels harder to understand than ever.

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Netflix reported eye-popping Q2 ’17 results late yesterday, adding a total of 5.2 million subscribers (1.07 million domestically and 4.14 million internationally). These greatly exceeded the company’s own guidance (which it says is the same as its internal forecast) of 600K domestically and 2.6 million internationally for Q2 ’17. As a longtime Netflix observer, here are my 5 takeaways from the Q2 ’17 results:

Read the 5 takeaways

I’m pleased to present the 372nd edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

This week we discuss 4 stories that caught our attention in recent days. First, Viacom’s plan to anchor an entertainment-only skinny bundle without sports or news networks. Colin and I are intrigued, but for a variety of reasons are skeptical Viacom is the right company to lead this.

Next we turn to Facebook, which has made no secret of its interest in pursuing longer-form video. This week brought news of its initial partnerships and potential business models.

We then discuss Amazon Channels expansion into the UK and Germany this week, building on the US model for Prime users to easily subscribe to various SVOD services. Both of us have been very bullish on Channels for a while and see lots of potential for it in other geographies.

Finally we dig into Snapchat Shows, the fast-growing social network’s plan to enlist multiple media companies to make vertical videos. Variety did a really good roundup of all the activity earlier this week, which suggests substantial progress.

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I’m pleased to present the 370th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

Earlier this week, in “A World Awash in Video - Part 2,” I argued that we are on the cusp a massive explosion in the amount of video being produced, as major companies across the ecosystem put video at the top of their strategic priorities.

In today’s podcast, Colin and I explore the topic further, specifically digging into how multiple business models are driving the video boom. Colin shares recent data points focused on how well Google and Facebook monetize their users, which feeds into why video is so central to both companies’ plans.

Many of the monetization topics will be discussed in depth at our 7th annual VideoNuze Online Video Ad Summit on Wed., June 14th in NYC. Early bird discounted registration is available, save $100 now!

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Netflix’s multi-billion dollar investment in original shows is a huge part of the company’s narrative, but it turns out that in Q1 ’17, 85% of its total U.S. streams were actually licensed, non-original shows, according to new research from 7Park Data. The firm believes that while viewers wait for new seasons of originals to appear, they spend time catching up on prior episodes of licensed shows.

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Here’s one measure of how popular watching online video in the living room has become: according to new research from Parks, which was presented at NABShow, among broadband households, over 25% of viewing done on TV was from online sources, up from 10% in 2010. No surprise, linear broadcast TV saw the biggest decline over that period, dropping from 62% of TV time to 41% of time.

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I’m pleased to present the 367th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

Once again, we’d like to thank our podcast sponsor Akamai Technologies, which will show its Media Acceleration capabilities and range of cloud-based solutions at the NABShow in Las Vegas, in booth SL3324. There's still time to schedule a meeting.

First up on this week’s podcast we discuss Netflix’s Q1 earnings which were released earlier this week. Netflix came up a bit short of its own forecasts for both domestic and international subscribers. Colin provides his analysis of what happened and what might be ahead for Netflix in 2017.

Then we shift gears to discuss how TV advertising is increasingly about data-enablement. I share further details on my post yesterday on Videology’s research, and also explain iSpot.tv’s new conversion solution. TV is in a race to provide improved targeting and better ROI to advertisers who are being avidly pursued by Google, Facebook and other digital competitors.  

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Downloading video for offline playback continues to gain momentum with Showtime announcing late last week that it has enabled downloading of its entire roster of programs from its standalone subscription and TV Everywhere apps at no additional cost. Downloading is available on iOS and Android phones and tablets plus Amazon Fire tablets.

Loyal VideoNuze readers know that I’ve been an enthusiastic downloading proponent for 4 1/2 years, back to when I first experienced TiVo’s implementation of it via TiVo Stream. I immediately saw downloading as a killer app because it allowed high quality out-of-home viewing independent of shaky or non-existent WiFi hotspots and/or eating up expensive mobile data plans (if they could even support video streaming).

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Amazon further reinforced its position as the most influential company in the video industry with news late yesterday that it had won the rights to stream the NFL’s 10 game Thursday night football package for $50 million, with plans to make the games available for Amazon Prime members only (they'll still be broadcast alternatively on CBS and NBC, and on NFL Network). The sum is a whopping 5 times more than the $10 million that Twitter reportedly paid for the same rights last season.

The key to understanding Amazon’s willingness to pay up for the TNF rights is the power of its unique business model, based on Prime. As I wrote last November, Prime is the linchpin for Amazon’s ever-expanding video initiatives.

At last summer’s Recode conference, Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos plainly articulated Prime’s value to the company in driving greater customer loyalty and increased purchases (if you’re a Prime customer, you no doubt know this dynamic yourself). And keep in mind, with approximately 60 million members paying $99 per year, Prime generates $6 billion in revenue for Amazon before a single purchase has been made.

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Recode reported a couple days ago that Apple is potentially looking to sell online subscriptions to HBO, Showtime and Starz in a single bundle to subscribers. Since Apple has made so little progress in video compared to its peers, a bundling move like this could give it a boost. But if I were handicapping which company is much more likely to sell HBO, Showtime and Starz in a discounted bundle - and succeed with it - I’d put my money on Amazon far sooner than Apple.

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“Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner explained how Netflix’s and Amazon’s international distribution capabilities are changing the TV industry’s economics as well as mitigating domestic viewership fragmentation, in an interview he did with Videology’s Chairman and CEO Scott Ferber at the company’s “Full Frontal 2017” event on March 8th.

It’s no secret that both Netflix and Amazon are aggressively promoting their SVOD services in approximately 200 different countries around the world. But Weiner explained how having their own international distribution footprint distinguishes them from other networks, enabling them to pursue projects with the intention of globally distributing the programs without the necessity of having partners.

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TiVo has released its 16th quarterly Video Trends Report (previously published by Digitalsmiths, which was acquired by TiVo in 2014) and the key takeaway is that pay-TV’s high cost is creating huge industry vulnerability that is already showing up in increased cord-cutting/cord-shaving and higher penetration and use of SVOD services. It also looks possible that interest in skinny bundles could be fueled by their low cost compared to traditional pay-TV.

TiVo found that in Q4 ’16, 17% of respondents didn’t subscribe to a pay-TV service, and of this group, 19.8% cut the cord in the last 12 months. No surprise, “price/too expensive” was the top factor influencing respondents’ decision to cut the cord, cited by 80.1% of them. But in second position was using a streaming service such as Netflix/Hulu/Amazon, which was cited by 48.3% of respondents.

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More data today showing the ascendance of Netflix into Americans’ lives. Leichtman Research Group’s 15th annual On-Demand TV survey found that 23% of U.S. adults now stream Netflix on a daily basis, nearly quadruple the 6% who did back in 2011. 81% of Netflix users say they watch Netflix on a TV set. And 54% of adults said they have Netflix, vs. 53% having a DVR, the first time the penetration lines have crossed (in 2011, 44% had a DVR and 28% had Netflix).

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I’m pleased to present the 357th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

First up, Colin shares his experiences streaming the Super Bowl on numerous services and devices. Overall the video quality was pretty strong, especially on Sling TV. Colin also used the Fox VR app with Google Cardboard and relays his reactions.

While Super Bowl LI was one of the best-viewed in history, NFL ratings this past season declined across the board and we discuss what’s likely happening. As I wrote earlier this week, the wide adoption of ad-free SVOD feels like a major culprit.

We then transition HBO Now, which Time Warner reported earlier this week now has over 2 million subscribers. Neither Colin nor I are super-impressed with HBO Now’s growth, especially by comparison with Netflix’s performance in the same time period. We both think HBO Now’s relatively high price of $15/month is the key issue.

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