Unique Content Key To Looming Video-Streaming Wars
As users switch from pay TV to online services, they’ll look for unique programming to decide where they subscribe, a new study suggests. And they don’t plan to subscribe to many services either. The streaming wars could get very rough very soon. ... Read More
Flixcopalypse Now! (And What You Should Be Looking For)
Netflix is losing two hit sitcoms from the 90s and 00s and you’d think the world as we know it was about to end. Well, the TV world anyway. For... Read More
Week In Review: Cable Goes Addressable, Locast Goes To California
1. Cable Goes Addressable Open AP, recently rebranded as Open AP 2.0, appears to be rapidly making its way back from its previous Left For Dead After The Departure Of... Read More
The Last Great American TV Manufacturer: Q&A With VIZIO’s William Wang
Last week, I sat down with William Wang, the Founder and CEO of VIZIO, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of television sets. Our conversation was wide ranging, everything from... Read More
“Netflix For Games” Services Creating A Gold Rush Too
The rush to create video game subscription services is as heated as the one for video subscription services. And it’s a bigger market. ... Read More
Week In Review: Ad Agencies Join Project OAR, AT&T To Make DirecTV Now Part Of WarnerFlix
1. Ad Agencies Join Project OAR Addressable advertising may be moving yet another step closer to real as all of the major ad agency groups: Publicis, Omnicom, GroupM, Magna, Dentsu,... Read More
We Hate to Quibi-le, But You Might Want to Bet Against Katzenberg This Time
When evaluating the prospects of a huge media project being helmed by a big name, it’s important to remember two things: -George Lucas made Star Wars -George Lucas made the... Read More
Week In Review: WarnerFlix Dumps The Three-Tier Plan, Quibi Dumps TV
1. WarnerFlix Dumps The Three-Tier Plan, I cringed when I heard about AT&T’s plan to implement a “three tier” plan for their new WarnerFlix product. It was as if they’d... Read More
Apple Appears Set To Move Beyond TVOD, The World Wide Web
At Apple’s WWDC, expect to see iTunes broken up, the end of TVOD, and the rise of an app-focused and integrated future for both mobile and desktop.... Read More
Week In Review: Are CBS and Viacom Getting Rehitched, Amazon Acquires Sizmek’s Ad Server
1. Are CBS and Viacom Getting Rehitched? The on-again/off-again romance between CBS and Viacom looks like it’s back on again. At least that’s what CNBC is saying (and they usually... Read More
Week In Review: Roku Shows Brands What (And Who) They’re Missing, Facebook Fucks Up Again
1. Roku Shows Brands What (And Who) They’re Missing Roku rolled out a new tool called “Activation Insights” that shows brands the incremental viewers they are missing by only advertising... Read More
“Game Of Thrones Spring” Shows The Power Of OG Weekly Release Schedules
Season 8 of Game of Thrones debuted on April 14, 2019, and for the next six weeks, HBO enjoyed what might easily be called “Game Of Thrones Spring.” As in... Read More
At Pay TV Show, Wait And See Is The Order Of The Day
If there was one moment that summed up the mood at this year’s excellent Pay TV Show, it was when moderator Kevin Gray asked analyst Colin Dixon for his thoughts... Read More
One Year On, Sports Networks Laying Bets On On-Screen Gambling Future
One year after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to legalize gambling, media companies Fox, Sinclair and ESPN are all betting that gambling will help their programming. ... Read More
Week In Review: Sinclair Thinks Fox’s RSNs Are The Bomb, Pluto’s Getting More Firepower From Viacom
1. Sinclair Thinks Fox’s RSNs Are The Bomb The last open question on the Fox/Disney deal was answered this week when Sinclair, the nation’s largest operator of independent broadcast stations,... Read More
Sinclair Bets Big On Local Sports Gambling With $10.6B RSN Deal
Sinclair’s $10.6 billion deal to buy 21 regional sports networks is a bet on betting itself, as sports gambling and new technologies enable new viewer experiences, and revenue opportunities. ... Read More
Hulu Needs to Get Bigger, Faster — As The Future of TV Advertising May Be at Stake
If you’ve bounced around the NewFronts at all this week, or just read anything in the ad trade press, it’s hard not to come away with three conclusions: TV advertising... Read More
Week In Review: No One Is Watching Linear Broadcast TV, Cheddar Got Bought By Altice
1. No One Is Watching Linear Broadcast TV Okay, maybe not no one, but the numbers are way down. As per Nielsen, broadcast C3 ratings in the first quarter dropped... Read More
TV Is An Art, Not A Science
One of the key points that gets lost in all the discussion about what is or is not going to be a “Netflix killer” (or whether there is such a... Read More
Week In Review: Disney’s Looking To Make Hulu Go All Mouse, Verizon Wants To Put YouTube TV In Every House
1. Disney’s Looking To Make Hulu Go All Mouse CNBC’s Alex Sherman broke a hot story this week with reports that negotiations were well under way for Disney to buy... Read More
An Easy Definition Of Cord Cutting
Every week it seems like there’s a new article or study out about “cord cutting” that relies on an incorrect use of the term. So to set things straight for... Read More