VideoNuze Posts

I'm pleased to present the 214th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. Note the interesting coincidence that we're publishing our 214th podcast on 2-14-14; hopefully it's some sort of good omen :-)

In today's podcast Colin and I parse the $45 billion Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger, announced yesterday. As I wrote, I see the deal as all about helping Comcast achieve further scale that is required in order to succeed in today's video environment. Colin notes that after TWC's bruising battle with CBS, during which it lost hundreds of thousands of subscribers, the merger will shift some power away from broadcast and cable networks.

We also discuss regulatory issues, net neutrality, the companies' bet that cord-cutting won't accelerate any time soon and lots more. There are many angles to the merger, which we'll continue discussing as the merger review unfolds.

Listen in to learn more!

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It looks like Apple will be the first casualty of the Comcast-TWC deal. Just yesterday Bloomberg reported that Apple was negotiating with TWC for it to become the first pay-TV operator to make its programming accessible in a new, upgraded Apple TV device. Assuming the report is accurate (and who knows, given the spin game TWC was playing to rebuff Charter's bid), it's pretty fair to say that Comcast will have no interest in Apple getting its nose under the TWC tent.

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Comcast has announced that it will acquire Time Warner Cable in an all-stock transaction valued at $45.2 billion. Comcast is already the biggest video and broadband provider in the U.S. and will now get even bigger, assuming the deal is approved. Comcast has committed to divest around 3 million of TWC's video subscribers to stay below 30% of the total U.S. pay-TV market, so the combined company would have approximately 30M video subscribers. Broadband subscribers would be a little less than 30M.

For me, the big takeaway from the deal is that in the broadband era, scale matters a lot - and to compete effectively, a company simply has to have it. Nearly ubiquitous broadband and wireless connectivity, plus massive proliferation of devices, have enabled online-only players to have easy access to massive global audiences. This context has helped fuel the rise of companies including Google, Facebook, Amazon, YouTube, Netflix, Twitter and many others. With innovative services and solid execution, it's now possible to create huge businesses quicker than ever.

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Jerry Seinfeld gushes about the role the Internet has had on society and online video's potential for content creators in a "BuzzFeed Brews" interview with business editor Peter Lauria. It's pretty cool to see how deeply Seinfeld gets the power of online video and how it's reinventing entertainment.

Seinfeld himself has hit upon a successful formula in online video with his interview show, "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," which just exceeded 25 million streams on Crackle and got great visibility during the half-time of the Super Bowl with the mini Seinfeld reunion episode.  

Among Seinfeld's choice quotes in the interview:

watch the interview

While at NATPE, I did a video interview with Ezra Cooperstein, COO of Fullscreen, one of the biggest multichannel networks (MCNs), with 27 million unique viewers and 358 million videos viewed in December, per comScore. Ezra explains exactly how MCNs' currently add value to YouTube creators, how the business is changing to more of a studio model, what the company is doing internationally and key trends for 2014, among other topics.

The edited interview is below and runs approximately 7 minutes.

watch the video

Online video platform Kaltura has raised $47 million, bringing its total capital raised to date to approximately $100 million. The round was led by new investors SAP Ventures, Nokia Growth Partners, Commonfund Capital and Gera Ventures, along with participation from existing investors. Kaltura plans to use the new funding for product development and to expand internationally in Brazil, Mexico, China, Japan, Australia, Singapore and Korea.

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Nielsen released its latest Digital Consumer Report yesterday, finding among things, that 52% of broadband-only homes in the U.S. are in the 18-34 age range. Nielsen notes this group accounts for fewer than 5% of total U.S. households, but believes it's important to understanding the future digital living room. Nielsen said 80% of this group owns game consoles and 41% tablets, both twice the rate of traditional TV households.

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CBS Local Digital Media announced yesterday that its web sites and mobile apps drew a record 56.8 million unique visitors in January, up 37% vs. January, 2013, and 12% higher than the previous best month of April, 2013. Mobile is now up to 48% of total visits, and accounted for 27.1 million uniques, up 109% vs. January, 2013. There were also 30 million video clips viewed in January.

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