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4. Comcast Gets Hit Shows from FOX and ABC for Xfinity TV
This week brought yet another twist in the intriguing relationships between pay-TV operators and broadcast TV networks, as Comcast announced deals with both FOX and ABC to add recent episodes of over 20 hit shows from the networks to its Xfinity TV video-on-demand line-up. The move is a solid step forward for Comcast, giving it access to all 4 major broadcast networks' programs, a first. This is also content that isn't available on Netflix, providing another good differentiator.
Categories: Broadcasters, Cable TV Operators, Video On Demand
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Netflix is Likely to Become the Largest U.S. Video Subscription Service When It Reports Q1 '11 Today
Netflix is likely to become the largest U.S. video subscription service - as measured by total subscribers - when it reports its Q1 '11 results at 4:05pm ET today. The milestone would be the latest evidence of Netflix's rapid accent as a major force in online distribution of Hollywood films and TV programs, as well as a central player in the unfolding battle for the digital living room.
Netflix ended 2010 with just over 20 million subscribers, and provided Q1 domestic ending subscriber guidance of between 21.9 million and 22.8 million subscribers. If Netflix slightly beats the high end of its guidance range it will eclipse Comcast, currently the largest video service provider, which ended 2010 with 22.802 million video subscribers.
Categories: Aggregators, Cable TV Operators
Topics: Amazon, Comcast, Netflix
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Senior Comcast, ESPN, Turner Executives to Discuss TV Everywhere's Game-Changing Role at ELEVATE
I'm delighted to announce that TV Everywhere's game-changing role in the TV and advertising ecosystems will be the topic of a marquee panel of cable
industry executives at ELEVATE: Online Video Advertising Summit on Tuesday, June 7th in New York City. The panel, which I'll moderate, is titled "TV Everywhere: Game-Changer for Premium Online Video and Advertising" and includes:- Jeremy Legg - SVP, Business Development and Multi-Platform Distribution, Turner Broadcasting System
- David Preschlack - EVP, Affiliate Sales and Marketing, Disney & ESPN Networks Group
- Matt Strauss - SVP and General Manager, Comcast Interactive Media
As I've written since it first burst onto the scene almost 2 years ago, TV Everywhere is the most significant initiative in the TV industry today because it aims to untether all of the most popular programs from cable TV networks that have traditionally been locked to the set-top box in the TV room, making them available on myriad connected and mobile devices. In this respect, TV Everywhere is a strategic imperative for the pay-TV industry; as new entrants like Netflix, Hulu Plus and others have strongly embraced delivery to connected and mobile devices, they have raised the competitive bar for all others.
Categories: Cable Networks, Cable TV Operators, Devices, Events
Topics: Comcast, ELEVATE, ESPN, Turner
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Guess What? This Cord Cutter Family Story Has a Happy Ending for The Cable Company
Today VideoNuze features a guest post from Ephraim Cohen, founder and managing partner of The Fortex Group, a public relations firm with many clients in the online video and social media industries. Ephraim has also become a good friend through his firm's work on past VideoSchmooze events and the upcoming ELEVATE conference.
As a VideoNuze reader, Ephraim was inspired to think about and share his own family's experience and changing behaviors with video. As you read it, you'll no doubt get the sense that this is still an early adopter's behavior pattern, with some technical knowledge required to make everything work. However, to me, a key takeaway is that for entertainment-only consumers, expanding choice will inevitably cause them to consider their video options and seek better experiences. Even more important, as Ephraim explains, this can actually be a surprisingly good thing for cable operators which ready to adapt to these new realities. Read on to learn more.
Guess What? This Cord Cutter Family Story Has a Happy Ending for The Cable Company
by Ephraim Cohen
Sure, my home is a virtual consumer electronics lab - all the major game consoles on one main TV, two Rokus, Android and iOS devices and other gadgets. But other than me, we are, tech-wise, a normal family with three youngsters. So cutting the cord had to work for everyone, not just me.
And everyone is happy, mainly due to a well-designed system by our main OTT platforms, Roku and the Playstation 3, and viewing habits built around video-on-demand. Even our three year-old knows how to find her show using the Roku remote to watch the same Garfield over and over and over and over.
Categories: Cable TV Operators, Devices
Topics: Cablevision, The Fortex Group
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Forget Cord-Cutting, Greed May Destroy the Cable Industry
For all the ink that's been spilled over the past year about consumer-driven cord-cutting leading to the demise of the cable industry, could it instead end up that greed will cause the industry's own destruction? Maybe so. With the fracas over Time Warner's iPad app reaching ridiculous new levels each week, the industry is experiencing its own version of the old adage "We have met the enemy and he is us."
Yesterday's turn of events - Time Warner Cable seeking a declaratory judgment from the U.S. District Court that it has the contractual rights to stream cable programming to its iPad app inside subscribers' homes, and Viacom responding with its own suit against Time Warner Cable - represent a dangerous breakdown in key industry relationships at a time when competitive forces loom larger than ever.
Categories: Cable Networks, Cable TV Operators, Devices
Topics: Discovery, iPad, Scripps, Time Warner Cable, Viacom
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Time Warner Cable iPad App Disrupting the Cable Industry
It's been less than 2 weeks since Time Warner Cable announced its iPad app, but the fur has been flying ever since. In the WSJ's latest coverage today, it details how TWC is continuing to insist that its contracts with cable networks give it the right to stream their linear channels to iPads in subscribers' homes. Conversely, multiple network groups, including Scripps, Viacom and Discovery have disagreed, leading to an increasingly public internecine industry fight.
Categories: Cable Networks, Cable TV Operators, Devices
Topics: Discovery, iPad, Scripps, Time Warner Cable, Viacom
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Adobe Pass Boosts Cable Networks' TV Everywhere Role
Adobe is announcing a new service this morning called Adobe Pass, which is intended to streamline how pay-TV subscribers gain access to authenticated premium content online. While Adobe Pass offers a key benefit to users in the ability to have "single sign-on" across multiple devices and web sites, a more critical upside is that with Adobe Pass, cable networks gain far greater control over their relationships with viewers as TV Everywhere efforts ramp up. In this respect Adobe Pass is a potentially significant building block in helping make TV Everywhere a reality. Todd Greenbaum, senior product manager at Adobe, briefed me earlier this week.
First, from a technical perspective, Adobe Pass looks like a pretty elegant solution that positions it well to be the glue that hold TV Everywhere authentication together. The idea is that when a user visits a content provider's web site they'll still see freely available content, but they'll now also see some that is for paying subscribers only (see TNT example below). If the site has added the Adobe Pass software, then when the user clicks on the authenticated content, a selection of pay-TV operators who have integrated the Adobe Pass API will appear (currently Comcast, Cox, DISH and Verizon are all on board). The user selects their pay-TV provider and is then asked for the user name and password they use with their pay-TV operator.
Categories: Cable Networks, Cable TV Operators, Technology
Topics: Adobe, Time Warner Cable
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Will Cable TV Networks Kill Their Golden Goose?
I've been dismayed, though not entirely surprised, by reactions from cable TV networks over the launch of Time Warner Cable's new iPad app earlier this week. A pair of articles, in Adweek and the WSJ summarize various networks' protestations about the new iPad app, namely that it is an unauthorized use of their content by Time Warner Cable, per their interpretations of their affiliation agreements with TWC.
That may well be the case, and TWC may well be pushing the edge of the envelope in this implementation of its larger TV Everywhere goals. However, in my opinion the bigger question that cable network heads should be asking themselves is whether, by resisting initiatives such as these, they want to risk contributing to killing their golden goose, or whether they want to do their part in helping usher in the future? What they decide to do is at the heart of what role the pay-TV industry will play in the online video era.
Categories: Cable Networks, Cable TV Operators, Devices
Topics: iPad, Time Warner Cable
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Two New NDS Products Aim To Turbocharge Content and Apps for Pay-TV Operators
Pay-TV technology provider NDS is introducing two products this morning that aim to turbocharge new content and applications offerings from pay-TV
operators. The moves are further evidence of how the line between traditional TV and over-the-top content/apps continues to blur. Last week, NDS's SVP of Advanced Products and Markets Yoni Hashkes and VP/Chief Marketing Officer Nigel Smith walked me through the two new NDS products.
The first, dubbed "Infinite TV Exchange" creates a marketplace for content creators/curators to interact with pay-TV operators who want to add specialized channels to their linear and VOD line-up. With Infinite TV Exchange, professional content providers can upload individual videos, which either they, or third-parties, can then curate into cohesive, branded programming packages or "channels." NDS has initial commitments from National Geographic, Revision 3, SPEED channel, Watch Mojo, Red Bull Media and others, totaling up to about 100,000 hours of content to be uploaded to the market.
Categories: Cable TV Operators, Technology
Topics: NDS
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With Next New Networks Deal, YouTube Evokes Cable's Early Days
With Monday's announcement that YouTube is acquiring independent video producer Next New Networks, plenty of people have concluded that Google
and YouTube have officially become content providers themselves - something the companies swore they'd never become. While it's tempting to conclude this, my take is that YouTube is actually lifting a page from the cable industry's evolution - seeking to act less as content creator, and more as a "strategic catalyst" for the online video era. Let me explain.
Back in the early days of cable, its primary value proposition was purely improved reception. Many of the earliest cable systems were built in communities where over-the air broadcast signals were poor. Once those initial systems were built and then subsequently upgraded to have expanded capacity, the industry recognized that it needed to hang its hat on more than just the proposition of "better picture quality." Thus began a frenzied process of creating new specialty channels to appeal to specific audience segments. Initially these channels offered re-runs and other inexpensive shows they could get their hands on (who remembers that ESPN's early days featured ping-pong?). Eventually however, these channels would become original programming powerhouses in their own right.
Categories: Aggregators, Cable Networks, Cable TV Operators, Deals & Financings, Indie Video
Topics: Liberty Media, Next New Networks, TCI, YouTube
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VideoNuze Report Podcast #90 - Mar. 4, 2011
I'm pleased to present the 90th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for March 4, 2011.
In this week's podcast, Daisy Whitney and I first discuss Tremor Media's new video ad buying platform, which I wrote about on Tuesday. Then we transition to a quick chat about Comcast CEO Brian Roberts' comment this week in the WSJ that "What used to be called 'reruns' on television is now called Netflix." It was a little bit of unexpected trash talk and Daisy and I sort through what might have motivated it.
Click here to listen to the podcast (11 minutes, 48 seconds)
Click here for previous podcasts
The VideoNuze Report is available in iTunes...subscribe today!Categories: Advertising, Cable TV Operators, Podcasts
Topics: Comcast, Podcast, Tremor Media
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Rovi Unveils TotalGuide xD Guide for Mobile Devices
Rovi is unveiling TotalGuide xD this morning, a white label solution for cable operators to deliver interactive program guides to mobile devices. I got a demo of the new service last week from Sharon Metz, Rovi's VP of Vertical Markets and Chris Lee, TotalGuide xD's product manager.
With TotalGuide xD, Rovi recognizes that cable operators will need to offer guidance to their wealth of programming choices on mobile devices that consumers increasingly rely upon to manage their busy lives. TotalGuide xD allows users to search for programs or browse a grid directory, discover programs using recommendations from a "six-degrees" feature reminiscent of sites like IMDb, share and receive recommendations from friends via Facebook, Twitter and email, schedule DVR recordings and manage their user profiles across devices.
Categories: Cable TV Operators, Video Search
Topics: Comcast, Rovi, Xfinity
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Comcast's Roberts: "What used to be called 'reruns' on television is now called Netflix."
An interview with Comcast's CEO Brian Roberts in today's WSJ has an instantly classic quote that will no doubt be making the rounds. In response
to the interview question, "Do you feel pressure from the growing number of deals Netflix Inc. is striking with content owners, including, recently, CBS?" Roberts responded, "What used to be called 'reruns' on television is now called Netflix." Ouch!
Of course, Roberts, and other pay-TV executives, have taken great pains to assert that new over-the-top services aren't competing with their core video subscription services. Those assertions came under fire last year as the pay-TV industry lost subscribers for the 2nd and 3rd quarters, leading to wildly over-hyped predictions of cord-cutting, which have abated as 4th quarter subscriber losses improved. Still, there's no denying that Netflix, which added almost 8 million subscribers in 2010 to surpass 20 million, has a lot of momentum and eventually could be viewed as part of pay-TV substitute package. Come early April, when Q1 '11 results are released and Netflix almost certainly edges out Comcast to be the largest video subscription service in the U.S., the Netflix luster will only grow further.
Categories: Aggregators, Broadband ISPs, Cable TV Operators
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Disney Has Religion on Digital, ESPN Is At the Core
Disney held its annual investor day yesterday, and as usual, technology, and the opportunities it creates for the company, was at center stage. Disney
introduced a new initiative called "Disney Studio All Access" providing a central location for consumers to securely access the company's range of content. Though details were sketchy, key to the plan is more flexible consumer ownership and multi-device playback. For paid, downloadable video, that remains the holy grail.
Aside from the company's digital initiatives on the entertainment side of its house, the most important asset that Disney is trying to re-imagine digitally is ESPN. Just yesterday, the company announced a new distribution deal with Verizon, which emphasizes live online streaming of ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN Buzzer Beater. The deal is similar to one inked last September with Time Warner Cable, the country's 2nd-largest cable operator. No doubt others will follow.
Categories: Cable Networks, Cable TV Operators, Sports, Telcos
Topics: Disney, ESPN, Time Warner Cable, Verizon
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Comcast's Q4 Subscriber Gains Dampen Cord-Cutting Chatter
Comcast reported a strong Q4 '10 this week, and in particular, by cutting its basic subscriber loss to 135K, from 199K a year ago, bolstered the argument that cord-cutting has been over-hyped. Lost in some of the coverage is thefact that Q1 is a traditionally strong quarter for the pay-TV industry and so some reversal of the last few quarters' losses was fully expected. In Comcast's and other pay-TV operators' favor was the improving economy. which Comcast and other operators have pointed to as the main driver of subscriber losses, not emerging over-the-top options.
Categories: Cable TV Operators
Topics: Comcast
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Time Warner Cable-LA Lakers Deal Is More Bad News For Pay-TV's Non-Sports Fans
If you live in the Los Angeles area and are not a sports fan, or you are a casual one, Time Warner Cable's new 20-year deal with the LA Lakers is more bad news. That's because, as I explained last week in "Not a Sports Fan? Then You're Getting Sacked For At Least $2 Billion Per Year," virtually all digital pay-TV subscribers in the LA area - sports fans or not - are going to be footing the bill for this massive deal.
The TWC-Lakers deal is just the latest example of how ever-higher monthly fees pay-TV distributors must fork over to carry sports networks help drive up subscription rates. In this case, TWC, the 2nd largest pay-TV operator, is
positioning itself to also be a major sports network owner, just as Comcast has with Comcast SportsNet. TWC's deal will help create an even bigger inequity for non-sports fans and casual fans than already existed. For this group of subscribers, who are primarily entertainment-oriented, and likely more on-demand focused in their viewership than ever, higher subscription rates - tied to a small cluster of very expensive sports networks - are inevitably going to drive them to drop their pay-TV service.
Categories: Cable Networks, Cable TV Operators, Sports
Topics: Hulu Plus, LA Lakers, Netflix, Time Warner Cable
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Cisco Feels Pain of Shifting Set-Top Box Landscape
This week technology giant Cisco reported its fiscal Q2 earnings and once again sales of its set-top boxes to big pay-TV operators were a glaring weak spot. This business has practically gone off a cliff, falling 29% from last year's
similar quarter, a loss which followed a 40% decline in North America set-top sales for the prior quarter. While Cisco tried to put a positive spin on things by pointing to stronger sales of its IP-enabled set-tops and international results, the problems reflect a significant shift in how pay-TV operators view set-top boxes in a larger IP-related context, trends which are likely to only accelerate going forward.
Categories: Cable TV Operators, Devices
Topics: Cisco, Comcast, Samsung, Sony, Time Warner Cable
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Cable Industry Skirmishes With FCC Over Set-top Boxes
Speaking of set-top boxes, the cable industry, through its NCTA lobbying arm, was skirmishing this week on yet another regulatory front, the FCC's ongoing "AllVid" inquiry, which would possibly crack open the customer premise
equipment (CPE) by establishing an IP-based standard. Google, Sony and other CE companies are lobbying for AllVid as a way of streamlining delivery of over-the-top content into living rooms. Cable operators are arguing that such a move would compromise existing network licensing models. A more overarching concern is that a regulatory mandated approach would significantly level the playing field for new entrants to compete for consumers' attention.
Categories: Cable TV Operators, Devices, Regulation
Topics: AllVid, FCC, Google, NCTA, Sony
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VideoNuze Report Podcast #87 - Feb. 11, 2011
Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 87th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for February 11, 2011.
In this podcast, Daisy and I do a deep dive into the role of sports in pay-TV packaging, based on my post from Monday, "Not A Sports Fan? Then You're Getting Sacked For At Least $2 Billion Per Year." I think this is a fascinating topic and something that has been under-reported even though it has huge implications for pay-TV subscription rates as over-the-top services gain awareness.
The basic premise of my post was that since a relatively small cluster of sports-oriented channels (e.g. ESPN, TNT, Regional Sports Networks and others) collectively cost pay-TV operators $10 per month, then the charges being incurred by non-fans and casual who fans who rarely, if ever watch these channels, could amount to at least $2 billion per year. Since writing the post and gaining feedback from various sources, it's actually quite possible that the annual charges incurred in exchange for little-to-no value could exceed $3 billion. Whatever the number is, it's very large, and effectively represents a massive subsidy that non-fans and casual fans pay each year because of escalating sports TV rights deals and astronomical player compensation.
Click here to listen to the podcast (17 minutes, 8 seconds)
Click here for previous podcasts
The VideoNuze Report is available in iTunes...subscribe today!
Categories: Cable Networks, Cable TV Operators, Podcasts, Satellite, Sports, Telcos
Topics: Comcast SportsNet, ESPN, Hulu, NESN, Netflix, Podcast, RSN, TNT
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Comcast's iPad Streaming is a Milestone for Pay-TV
This week Comcast began streaming certain shows to their Xfinity TV iPad app. I've watched a few shows already and played around a bit. My reaction is mostly positive; the app is fast (though there's a slight blank screen delay before playback begins) and browsing is straightforward. The biggest issue, as others have noted this week, is minimal content selection. True, when compared to Netflix, for example, Xfinity TV still looks thin, despite the 3,000+ hours Comcast says is there.
Categories: Cable TV Operators, Devices
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