Apple Has Lots To Say At WWDC, But Nothing About TV+, Its Most Expensive ‘Hobby’
Apple continues to say little at big presentations about its TV+ “hobby,” while competitors are preparing the kind of intensive programming that attracts and keeps subscribers around. Read More
Week In Review: Ad-Supported HBO Max Is Here, CNN+ To Launch Too
The one where we look at why ad-supported HBO Max may be a better deal for many viewers and why CNN+ really needs to have the CNN live feed. Read More
Does Roku Need To Invest In More Shows To Justify Sky-High Share Prices?
Roku’s shares are up almost a third in less than two weeks. How to keep them there? We have an idea. Read More
What Next For Roku After Record Week And Quibi Deal?
Roku set all kinds of records in January’s first week, and made its first original-content deal. Where does it go from here? Read More
How Did Streaming Video Services Fare In TV[R]EV’s 2020 Report Card?
In a year when seven big subscription video services launched, Netflix ruled. How did all the competition grade out in TVRev’s report card? Read More
Netflix Looking Strong For Long Haul, But May Face Short-Term Bump, Analysts Say
Thanks to Netflix’s embrace of movies while Hollywood studios stick with a shuttered exhibition business, the streamer is looking strong, one analyst says. But another says this quarter could have a short-term surprise. Read More
Q&A: Frost Prioleau, CEO Of Simpli.Fi Demand-Side Ad Platform
Connected TV advertising has taken off during the pandemic, says Frost Prioleau, CEO of the long-time digital advertising platform Simpli.Fi. TVRev talked trends, who’s winning, and what the future holds for CTV advertising. Read More
Amid Sale Talk, Crunchyroll Shows How Niche Services Can Take Care Of Best Fans
Anime streaming service Crunchyroll may be on the sale block, but its latest strategy shows exactly how niche streamers should take care of their best fans. Read More
Apple, Disney Take Baby Steps Toward The Great Rebundling
Apple announced a bundle with Showtime and CBS All Access, and Verizon will add Hulu and ESPN+ to its free Disney+ offering. Let the Great Re-Bundling commence! Well, at least a little bit. Read More
Disney, NBCU, Warner, ViacomCBS Pivot Into Whole New (Streaming) World
Four big Hollywood media companies signaled this week that they’re steering hard into their streaming-video future, with reorganizations, write-offs, a new global focus and more. It’s bad news for theaters, cable TV operators and old ways of doing business. Read More
The Quarterly Report Card: How Did The Big SVOD Streaming Services Do?
TV[R]EV analysts David Bloom and Alan Wolk take a look at how the major SVOD services (aka “Flixes”) did during the pandemic. Read More
Today All Day, WeatherSpy, Quincy Newell Service Join Streaming Gold Rush
Three new streaming services were announced just ahead of the launch of NBCU’s Peacock, and two will be on there too. But they’ll need to find ways to appeal to tightly defined audiences to be heard. Read More
Subscription Video Services Hitting The Churn Zone At Crucial Time
Subscription-video churn rates jumped in the first quarter as locked-down consumers tried new services and cancelled others, a Parks Associates study found. For newcomer services, it’ll be a big challenge to attract and retain customers. Read More
Apple Still Loves Its TV+ Streaming Service, We Think
Apple’s WWDC mostly focused on “historic” shift to its own chips for Mac computers, but still found time to talk about a sci-fi show coming on TV+. That’s good news. Read More
The REVisionists: Paket Media’s Raffi Bagdasarian on Simplifying Streaming Video’s Sign-In Chaos
Entertainment executive Raffi Bagdasarian talks about how Paket Media aims to solve the emerging headaches of streaming video: finding, signing into, and paying for our proliferating portfolio of subscription channels. Read More
Apple Reportedly Buying Up Shows To Flesh Out Anorexic TV+ Lineup
Apple is reportedly looking for more library content to beef up the underfed group of shows its TV+ subscription-video service offers. Hollywood may be in for another big change. Read More
Grading The Streaming Services Amid Pandemic’s Transformed Market
Hollywood is facing epochal change, and streaming services are set to take advantage. But which ones have done best in an extraordinary time. Our mid-term grades on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, et al. Read More
BMW’s Expands Esports Involvement With Five Team Deals
BMW is roaring into sports in a bigger way, significantly expanding its sponsorships with five deals involving esports teams in five countries. Read More
Disney+ Continues Hot Streak Overseas, Passes 50M Subscribers
Disney had welcome good news to crow about: its new streaming service Disney+ passed 50 million subscribers in just five months. Read More
The REVisionists: Brent Weinstein, UTA’s Chief Innovation Officer, On Hollywood In The Pandemic
A Q&A with Brent Weinstein is Chief Innovation Officer for UTA, one of Hollywood’s biggest talent agencies, about how the entertainment industry is being reshaped amid COVID-19. Read More
FuboTV Banks On Facebank Merger Amid Skinny Bundle Challenges
Skinny bundle video service FuboTV merges with tech developer Facebank Group, and plans to go public as soon as possible, even as its live sports programming is hobbled by COVID-19 impacts. Read More