The Week In Review: The Sky, It’s Still Not Falling

1. Pay-TV Actually Gained 170K Subscribers In Q4

Much to the surprise of the tech press, who have been planning the television industry’s funeral for close to ten years now, the six largest MVPDs showed a net gain of 170,000 subscribers in Q4 2015, giving them a net gain of 37,000 subscribers for 2015 overall.Given that pay-TV has roughly 100 million subscribers (something like 85-90% of all U.S. households) those numbers add up to less than half a percent of the total number of subscribers.  As do all the losses that were trumpeted as “proof” of the industry’s demise over the years. (“Comcast loses 0.375% of subscriber base. Sell the stock! TV is dying! If this keeps up they’ll be bankrupt by 2325!”)The fact is that pay-TV is pretty firmly entrenched in the U.S. There are myriad reasons for that, the primary one being it’s still a good deal. Hundreds, even thousands of channels, full-house DVR and VOD, and, coming soon, fully functioning TV Everywhere.As many cord-cutters (or potential cord-cutters) have learned, the alternative is still not pretty. Lots of switching of inputs. Lots of individual subscriptions that add up quickly. And a delivery system that, while it’s a lot better than it was 10 years ago, is nowhere near the quality of traditional wired cable, something millions of people who’ll try and stream the Super Bowl this weekend are going to find out the hard way.So why the persistence of this narrative?Because the continued success of pay-TV really does seem counterintuitive. People watch about a dozen or so of the 1200 channels they’re paying for. Fees, which often top $100/month, keep rising. And the user experience, on most systems, seems like it was designed by a cabal of mad scientists intent on torturing the American public.And yet it keeps on going.There’s been much talk of the ascendency of the “skinny bundle” but Comcast, which had a record fourth quarter, claims most new subscribers took their high-end packages.Which brings up the not-all-that-shocking possibility that for most people, the current pay-TV system is a pretty good deal, warts and all. And that reports of its death have, once again, proven to be premature.Why It MattersWhile disruption in other media-related industries seemed to happen very quickly, television is proving much harder to disrupt. We’re seeing an evolution, not a revolution and many of the current players are going to wind up in a good place in the new world order.What You Need To Do About ItKeep on innovating. We are not out of the woods yet. The worst thing you can do is decide that this bit of positive news means victory, that you can go back to your old ways and stop innovating. Evolutions are harder to track than revolutions because they happen so slowly. That’s why it’s so important to stay on top of things. (By reading TVREV, for instance.)

2. Snapchat And The Super Bowl

Snapchat, this year’s golden child, has a deal with the NFL to show a Super Bowl Brand Story on Sunday. Marriott, Budweiser, Pepsi and Amazon are all signed on as sponsors, with video ads appearing in the feed. Fees are allegedly in the low 7 figures.Ka-ching!Snapchat is just the latest example of how the “second screen” is not dead and how social platforms, running brand (or in this case, league) provided content can provide additional value, creating deeper engagement for both advertisers and the league, not to mention fans.If nothing else, it’s going to be an easy way for everyone over the age of 24 to see what “this Snapchat thing” is all about and understand its value, given the near-universal appeal of the Super BowlWhy It MattersSnapchat is having a moment and Big Brands + Super Bowl only reinforces that notion. Plus the Super Bowl is actually a great way to show off the Stories function.What You Need To Do About ItSpend some time with the Super Bowl Story as part of your overall Snapchat exploration. Get your social media averse coworkers and clients to check it out. Pay attention to how many views the Super Bowl Story gets and whether that seemed to have an impact on other social media, Twitter and Facebook in particular. If you’re intrigued, talk to our friends at Delmondo, who are bona fide Snapchat experts.