Those of a certain age will recall American Express’ famous advertising campaign that touted the value of “membership.” You’re not a customer. You’re a “member” and part of an elite Illuminati with access to travel discounts and a personal concierge you’ll never use but like having on call just in case. Of course, membership doesn’t …
It’s no secret that sports TV rights are slowly melting into the streaming universe as well-funded companies like Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet’s Google bid for everything from NFL’s Thursday Night Football to much larger prizes like the NFL Sunday Ticket package. But this week’s college football deal around the Big Ten illustrates why any migration …
Comcast’s Q2 earnings report lays bare why well-diversified media companies tend to weather economic storms and business challenges better than others over the long term. Yes, Comcast’s stock ended Thursday down more than 9% and continued to decline into Friday morning. Yes, the company lost 497,000 video subs in the quarter, far worse than the …
We’re probably only about two months (or less) away from Warner Bros. Discovery finally combining HBO Max and discovery+ into one hulking streaming service. WBD’s streaming chief JB Perrette has promised a seamless transition, which is why it has been taking a while to figure it out. But it’s not just a technology and UI …
Sometimes it’s fun to mash together data from different sources just to see whether any correlations exist. And while we acknowledge the ancient wisdom that one shouldn’t assume causation when comparing said values, Whip Media’s “Streaming Satisfaction Report” released this week gave us a little bit of pause. Over the last several years, Netflix, Amazon, …
This week, Sinclair launched its long-awaited regional sports streaming service Bally Sports Plus, adding it to a long list of direct-to-consumer services that RSNs, leagues, and teams are cooking up to further monetize America’s insatiable sports appetite. But while sports fans may revel in their newfound viewing flexibility, every new DTC sports option is a …
As the industry takes a new look at ad-supported streaming amid slowing SVOD growth, we decided to check out AdExchanger’s Programmatic I/O conference in Las Vegas this week. It was a wonky place where panel topics ranged from “clean rooms” where buyers and sellers can safely reconcile data to the coming “Cookiepocalypse” in which tracking …
The recent streaming turmoil raises big questions about where the direct-to-consumer business sits relative to a legacy TV business that remains a cashflow cow, despite persistent cord cutting, rising inflation, and a looming recession. With Wall Street’s Netflix freakout infecting the entire sector in recent weeks, the benefits of the legacy video business become more …
“I know I’ve been here for more than 20 years and have been through a couple of these. And yes, they don’t feel great in the moment. But man, it feels great to come out on the other side of it… and we’ll come out the other side of it.”– Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos Netflix’s …
The full rebranding by year-end of Altice USA’s Suddenlink systems to the core Optimum brand it inherited from Cablevision in 2016 offers a window into how much the broadband world has changed in the last few years. It’s not that Altice wouldn’t have eventually consolidated branding across the company. The move makes sense no matter …
