Podcasts

I’m pleased to present the 536th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.  

Smart TVs have been a big beneficiary of the pandemic-driven viewership shifts as Conviva’s Q3 State of Streaming report showed this week. Colin and I explore what’s driving smart TVs and connected TVs and what’s ahead.

NBCUniversal announced continued growth for its Peacock streaming service this week, now with 22 million signups. We’re both impressed and in the wake of Quibi’s demise, are reminded how important free is for attracting initial users.

Finally T-Mobile announced its TVision pay-TV service this week. Colin is skeptical and summarizes all the reasons why.
 
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I’m pleased to present the 535th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.  

By far the biggest story of the week was Quibi’s quick demise. On today’s podcast Colin and I discuss where Quibi went wrong in its pricing, content and audience strategies and what it might have done differently. It’s far from clear if these steps would have made a difference to Quibi’s ultimate outcome, but we both think they would have improved its odds of success.

We also ponder the question, with the list of failures growing, is it possible to succeed with a pure play mobile video startup?
 
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I’m pleased to present the 534th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.  

This week Colin and I discuss a number of data points that have hit our radar this week highlighting the growth of online video and live streaming. Among the sources we cite are Limelight, Akamai, FreeWheel, Disney and Ring Digital. Online video continues to supplant traditional TV viewing and this will be on display in ’21 with a series of marquee sporting events that will have huge streaming viewership. Listen in to learn more!
 
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I’m pleased to present the 533rd edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.  

Are AVOD and SVOD services in competition with each other for time and attention, or is there more of a continuum between them? For now at least, with viewership of both exploding, it seems like more of a continuum according to data Colin shares this week.

However, AVOD/SVOD viewership is coming at the expense of linear TV/pay-TV. This was substantiated again this week by Roku and The Harris Poll’s Consumer Holiday Shopping Report, which found a 19% YOY increase in streaming and a 13% YOY decline in pay-TV viewing. We discuss the details.

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I’m pleased to present the 532nd edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.  

This week we dive into some of the key data from NBCUniversal’s new Cross-Platform Consumption Report, which revealed that for its entertainment programming, 76% of viewing by 18-34 year olds is now done on-demand. For 35-49 year olds it’s 69% and even for 50 year-olds it’s 50%.

The report points out that connected TVs have become the fastest growing device for consuming on-demand content. Colin and I see this only accelerating and we also discuss new CTVs that have been unveiled in the past week by Amazon, Roku and Google (Chromecast). The consumer experience keeps getting better and for $50 there are multiple solid choices.
 
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I’m pleased to present the 529th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.  

This week Colin and I try to scope out whether Disney’s recent PVOD release of Mulan on Disney+ was successful. Disney was looking to both generate PVOD revenues and new Disney+ subscribers. Though it’s hard to discern from available sources exactly what the results were, it seems reasonable to conclude that Mulan wasn’t a home run. But it still seems like the right strategy for Disney to have pursued.

What does this mean for Disney’s next move in PVOD and PVOD in general as Covid limitations continue? Listen in to learn more.

 
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I’m pleased to present the 527th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. We hope all our listeners are staying well.

On today’s podcast Colin and discuss recent research from Conviva about smart TV and connected TV device penetration and usage. Although smart TVs are growing much faster, the CTV devices (or “SSB” streaming sticks and boxes as Colin calls them) account for a much higher percentage of viewing time. We dig into all the reasons for this.

The device ecosystem remains very complicated for SVOD and AVOD providers to fully keep pace with, which leads to inconsistent user experiences and device obsolescence.

Reminder: We’ll be doing a deep dive into CTV and smart TV monetization at our CTV Ad Summit - Virtual Event on September 21 and 22, afternoons. Complimentary sign up now and win a chance for a Roku TV living room makeover.

Listen in to learn more!
 
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I’m pleased to present the 526th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. We hope all our listeners are staying well.

Disney reported its Q3 ’20 results this week, swinging to a $5 billion loss as the pandemic hit multiple parts of the company. The sole bright spot was direct-to-consumer streaming where Disney now has over 100 million subscribers between Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. Disney emphasized how critical DTC is to its future and plans to launch Star as an international SVOD brand while Hulu will remain a domestic brand.

On today’s podcast Colin and I discuss the remarkable pivot Disney has made toward DTC in just the past couple of years, and what’s ahead. We’re enthusiastic about the premium opportunities Disney has, starting with the “Mulan” PVOD option coming soon, as Disney+ begins to look more like a membership with various exclusive offers.

Listen in to learn more!
 
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I’m pleased to present the 525th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. As always we wish our listeners all the best and hope everyone is staying well.

This week Colin and I discuss Comcast’s Q2 ’20 earnings, which underscored how critical broadband is becoming to the company, with video further receding. Comcast has stated its broadband focus for a while now, but the pandemic is accelerating the impact on the company’s financials. In Q2 broadband subscriber gains were at a record high, as cord-cutting took a toll on video subscribers and NBCUniversal. The percentage of subscribers to a single Comcast service (broadband) are up significantly.

Comcast’s broadband focus means that both Peacock and Flex, its streaming media player, are critical pieces for leveraging broadband subscribers into OTT services, advertising and devices. This is prompting Comcast to offer 3rd party video services, like Sling TV, for the first time. Comcast’s transformation is part of larger changes in the industry toward OTT and CTV that every company is now pursuing.

(Separate, Colin also describes an interesting webinar series he’ll be hosting starting August 10th, “The Psychology of the Subscriber” which will probe the consumer’s decision-making process when signing up for SVOD services. Registration is free.)

Listen in to learn more!
 
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I’m pleased to present the 524th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. As always we wish our listeners all the best and hope everyone is staying well.

With the pandemic accelerating a shift from linear TV, sports and pay-TV, AVOD is poised for significant growth in both viewership and ad revenues. Earlier this week, MoffettNathanson forecast AVOD growing from $3 billion in 2019 to $14 billion in 2024, compensating for most of the $14 billion decline in traditional TV ad revenues expected over that same time period.

On this week’s podcast Colin and I dig into all the factors behind AVOD’s rise and these coming changes.

Listen in to learn more!
 
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I’m pleased to present the 523rd edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. As always we wish our listeners all the best and hope everyone is staying well.

Peacock launched nationally this week and Colin and I are both impressed. The user experience and value proposition to advertisers are both strong. As more library and original content is added, it’s only going to get better. However, Peacock’s distribution is currently limited without deals with Amazon Fire TV and Roku, which is why Comcast’s own Flex device is critical. Peacock is also entering a highly competitive SVOD/AVOD market; it is poised to play a lot of different roles for NBCU and Comcast.

Listen in to learn more!
 
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I’m pleased to present the 522nd edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. For all our listeners especially in states seeing a spike in Covid, we hope you’re staying safe.

There were several examples this week of how linear TV is continuing to adapt in the OTT/CTV era which Colin and I discuss. Top on the list is Comcast’s decision to offer the Sling TV app for its Xfinity Flex broadband-only users. Comcast has been adding broadband subscribers and losing video subscribers for a while and the move seems to signal Comcast wants to enhance the competitiveness of Flex, giving cord-cutters an inexpensive option to rejoin the pay-TV world.

The bar for Flex is getting higher partly due to Fire TV which this week unveiled content discovery integrations with YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV and Sling TV. The integrations make accessing linear TV seamless within one UI, and will drive virtual pay-TV subscriptions within the Fire TV base.

Listen in to learn more about how linear and “virtual linear” TV are adapting to find viewers!
 
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I’m pleased to present the 521st edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. Colin and I wish all of our listeners a safe and healthy July 4th weekend.

YouTube TV raised its price 30% this week, from $50 per month to $65 per month. On today’s podcast Colin and I explore what’s behind the increase and what its likely impact will be.

From my standpoint, the increase says a lot about how bullish Google now is about using YouTube itself to reach coveted TV ad buyers. That’s due not only to YouTube’s improving content quality but to the adoption of connected TVs as a primary way to consume YouTube content. This dynamic makes YouTube TV less strategic for Google, and therefore diminishes its willingness to subsidize monthly losses.

Meanwhile Colin sees YouTube TV falling into the “big bundle” trap of adding more networks and continually raising rates, that has led to record cord-cutting among traditional providers.

Listen in to learn more!

(As a side note, Colin is participating in an interesting webinar next week on pay-TV providers can help SVOD and AVOD services to succeed. Free registration)
 
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I’m pleased to present the 520th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. With the pandemic currently surging in multiple states, we hope all of our listeners are staying safe and healthy.

This week was the IAB NewFronts and I watched some or all of about a dozen of the presentations which are directed toward ad buyers. As usual, I was impressed with how well the presenting companies told their stories, through remarks by executives, talent, creators, partners and others. Presenters highlighted compelling usage data, ad formats and effectiveness, often juxtaposed against traditional TV.

On this week’s podcast we discuss key takeaways and common themes. The migration from linear TV to OTT video was already well underway, but the pandemic has accelerated the shift, making NewFronts presentations even more important, especially for advertisers trying to reach cord-cutters and cord-nevers.

Listen in to learn more!

 
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I’m pleased to present the 519th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. We hope all of our listeners are staying safe and healthy.

The IAB NewFronts are next week and over two dozen different companies will be presenting. There is a ton of market momentum going into the NewFronts, with the pandemic having shifted viewership to both SVOD and AVOD services. Advertisers are taking note and per a new IAB survey, 59% of ad buyers are planning to increase connected TV ad spending in the second half of 2020, by 25% or more.

Colin and I discuss this and other recent data supporting why OTT and CTV advertising are poised to benefit going forward.

Listen in to learn more!

 
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I’m pleased to present the 518th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. We hope all of our listeners are staying safe and healthy.

This week Colin and I dig into a range of different data and forecasts about changing SVOD viewership patterns as the pandemic continues. These include data about co-viewing from Nielsen and average viewing minutes for major SVOD services from 7Park.

We also highlight new survey data from Magid how sports fans may shift from SVOD when sports returns. Finally we touch on a new forecast from MoffettNathanson that U.S. pay-TV subscribers will drop by 22 million by 2024, with SVOD benefiting.

Listen in to learn more!

 
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I’m pleased to present the 517th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. As always, we hope our listeners are staying well.

This week Colin and I discuss how new “virtual linear” channels will translate into more viewer engagement and advertising in connected TV. We start the discussion reviewing new data from Innovid and Pixalate showing healthy gains in both CTV ad impressions and programmatic spending.

Adding to the momentum will be virtual channels, which are essentially on-demand playlists of themed programming. Many CTV platforms are adding these free, ad-supported channels. Colin points out a new partnership between Endemol Shine and Vizio for four unscripted virtual channels. Roku was also in the news this week, launching 40 virtual channels with various programming partners. Virtual channels are also a key feature for Peacock. Colin and I expect the trend to gain momentum. 

Listen in to learn more!

 
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I’m pleased to present the 516th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. As always, we hope our listeners are staying well.

After much anticipation HBO Max has launched and we share our initial observations on the app and content. Colin is especially impressed with the recommendation feature, which reportedly mixes algorithms and human curation. Even with its massive content library, HBO Max at $15 per month is at the high end of the market which should slightly limit its appeal.

A far bigger limiter is that neither Roku nor Amazon Fire TV are supporting HBO Max. Colin and I dig into what’s behind the conflict. Colin believes all the companies are seeking control over the user experience and the accompanying revenue and usage insights. In particular Amazon has around 5 million HBO Now subscribers through its Channels program that it is reluctant to see transition to HBO Max directly.

Listen in to learn more!

 
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I’m pleased to present the 515th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. As always, we hope our listeners are staying well.

This week Colin shares some of his thoughts about recent viewership data from Alphonso, which he believes might suggest OTT services’ lack of new original content may be leading to a decline in viewing, following the initial March surge. Colin also observes that local TV viewership appears unchanged which is likely due to the ongoing strength of local news.

Finally, we discuss YouTube Select, which is YouTube’s new initiative to gain a bigger share of TV ad dollars by expanding its range of brand safe curated content viewed on TVs.

Listen in to learn more!

 
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