Posts for 'Aggregators'

Comcast is launching a new subscription video-on-demand service called Xfinity Streampix that will be freely available to most of its higher-paying subscribers, while carrying a $4.99/mo charge for its lower-paying video subscribers. At launch the service will include past season episodes such as "30 Rock," "Grey's Anatomy," and "Married With Children" from NBC, ABC and Sony respectively, as well as movies from Warner Bros. and Universal, plus kids programming from Cookie Jar and Disney Channel. Streampix will be accessible both in and out-of-home and on multiple devices like the Xbox 360 and Android as the year progresses.

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Think the world has moved on entirely from renting DVDs to streaming? Think again. Coinstar reported strong Q4 earnings late yesterday, with its Redbox DVD kiosk unit showing 39.5% revenue growth for the quarter. Coinstar attributed Redbox's performance to new kiosks, popularity of new releases and the price increase that went into effect on Oct. 31st.

Coinstar management is also bullish for 2012, forecasting Q1 revenue of $530M-$555M, exceeding analysts' average expectations of $517M. And it's betting further on DVDs' continued strength, also announcing yesterday that it is acquiring NCR's 10,000 Blockbuster Express DVD kiosks for approximately $100M, which will help it build out its international business.

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Verizon and Redbox parent Coinstar announced their much-rumored joint venture this morning, promising a "new single-source, national multi-platform" service to be launched in the second half of 2012. The new service is squarely aimed at competing with Netflix. However, neither the press release nor a 5-minute press call revealed any substantive details about the service (e.g. content available, pricing, geographic availability, etc.). Verizon will own 65% of the JV, with Coinstar owning the remainder.

On the surface the alliance makes sense, marrying streaming and DVD rentals. Verizon brings its massive wireless footprint and tens of millions of subscriber relationships to the JV, a huge promotional platform. Also, via its FiOS roll-outs, it has relationships with key content providers. For its part, Redbox brings its 35,000+ rental kiosks along with its own Hollywood relationships. Theoretically, some combination of the two could yield a compelling offering.

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I'm pleased to be joined once again by Colin Dixon, senior partner at The Diffusion Group, for the 119th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for Feb. 3, 2012. In this week's podcast we discuss YouTube's original channels strategy.

As I wrote earlier this week, I think YouTube's approach is quite compelling, and although it's still very early, the disruptive potential is high. In a sense I see YouTube as trying to "out-cable cable," by introducing niche and micro-niche programming that leverage its low-cost, interactive distribution platform reaching a global audience of 800 million viewers each month. It's awfully tempting for incumbent broadcasters and cable networks to dismiss the efforts as lower quality and therefore not competitive, but history shows things that start modestly often have a way of improving dramatically (take ESPN's evolution as one great example).

Colin zeroes in on YouTube's interactive attributes and the favorable economics of online video delivery as being a key differentiators from today's TV landscape. As one who worked on so called interactive TV (or "ITV") efforts in its early days, Colin has a great perspective on this. He thinks YouTube's programming can be distinctive because, by definition, it can capitalize on its inherent connected Internet platform. That, combined with YouTube's native engaged user base, gives YouTube a whole new opportunity to change viewing experiences. Colin highlights a recent TDG survey of iPad users that revealed YouTube as the most used app (by 64% of users), which surpassed even iTunes (53% of users).

Listen in to learn more!

Note, this week YouTube head Salar Kamangar did a great on-stage interview with Peter Kafka at the D: Dive Into Media conference where he articulated YouTube's strategy. And for another perspective on YouTube's strength, see this fascinating article about RayWJ, a YouTube-only comedian who's reportedly pulling in $1 million a year from his channel.

Click here to listen to the podcast (21 minutes, 14 seconds)
 

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The Wall Street Journal has launched its WSJ Live YouTube channel this morning, debuting "Off Duty" a companion video series to the popular lifestyle section in the newspaper's Weekend Journal. The WSJ Live channel is the latest addition to YouTube's 100 original channels strategy. In addition to Off Duty, the WSJ Live channel features NewsHub, Digits and Mean Street, three other on-demand/live video series that are found on the main WSJ.com site and more recently the WSJ Live iPad app.

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There are many exciting things happening in the online video industry, but to my mind, none is more noteworthy than the radical transformation of YouTube. YouTube is shedding its scruffy adolescence and seeking to redefine what entertainment means in the online video era. In fact, with each passing day, it becomes more evident that YouTube is building a parallel universe to the traditional world of cable TV, targeting niches that have long been mined by a multitude of specialty channels. This theme will crystallize as 2012 unfolds.

YouTube's 100 new channels of original online-only content have begun rolling out and will continue to do so throughout the year. For a relatively modest $100 million (by Google's standards!) YouTube is getting first dibs on programming that is laser-targeted at valuable niches. Importantly, it is helping galvanize a community of content creators who have either not been a part of the traditional pay and broadcast TV ecosystem, or are seeking a new, less constrained environment to play in, or both.

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I'm pleased to be joined once again by Colin Dixon, senior partner at The Diffusion Group, for the 118th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for Jan. 27, 2012. In this week's podcast we discuss Netflix's Q4 '11 results, which were released this past Wed. afternoon.

The good news is that the results showed some glimmers of improvement in Netflix's business, but as I explained yesterday's post, net subscribers continued to be adversely affected by last summer's Qwikster and price increase decisions. The group showing the most attrition is the "hybrid" DVD/streaming U.S. subscribers who saw their rates increase by up to 60%. Colin and I dig into why this group is in fact still so vital to Netflix's success, and the risks posed by the company's strategy of pursuing streaming all out.

Colin also shares recent research TDG has done indicating that for those Netflix streaming subscribers retaining the service, satisfaction is running very high. That, combined with Netflix's own announcement that 2 billion hours of streaming content were consumed in Q4 '11, are encouraging indicators that the streaming service is resonating. Still, the big looming question for 2012 is how robust net U.S. subscriber growth will be. Listen in to learn more!

Click here to listen to the podcast (22 minutes, 31 seconds)



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The VideoNuze Report is available in iTunes...subscribe today!

If you're a Netflix follower (and these days, who in the industry isn't?) then this morning you're being greeted by many cheerful headlines regarding the company's Q4 '11 results, released late yesterday. A sampling includes: "Netflix shares surging after a blowout quarter," "Netflix wins over analysts by adding customers," "Netflix recovers subscribers" and "A turnaround at Netflix, as its mail sector shrinks." All of that is contributing to a run-up in Netflix's stock price, based on optimism that the company is back on track, and ready to surge again.

To be fair, given the negative sentiment shrouding Netflix for the last 6 months and dramatically reduced expectations, the results did show some glimmers of a turnaround. But, if you read past the headlines, look closely at the numbers and listen to management's discussion of the results, what emerges for me are the staggering ongoing consequences of last summer's Qwikster/price change fiasco, the continued pursuit of an unnecessary, hyper-aggressive phase-out of its core DVD-by-mail business, murkiness about its international prospects and near-certain intensifying competition in streaming. Given all that, I think it's still way too early to conclude Netflix is back on track, particularly in the U.S.

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Netflix will report its Q4 '11 earnings later today, but whereas I've taken stands in past quarters about subscriber acquisition results, this time around I can only say your guess is as good as mine. Subsequent to last summer's Qwikster and price increase fiascos, Netflix entered a zone of uncertainty about whether and how its subscriber growth in its critical domestic segment will restart.

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