The most remarkable aspect of the NFL’s new, 10-year media rights arrangement is how unremarkable it turned out to be. True, some games will end up on Peacock, Paramount+ and Tubi. And there was language in press releases about streaming video extras like “premiere VOD,” highlight compilations, condensed games and a special “NFL experience” on …
The new National Hockey League TV rights reshuffle shines the spotlight on two influences that weren’t in play the last time the league negotiated its on-screen future: Namely, ESPN+ and Hulu. It also raises questions about the future role of league-owned SVOD services. Disney’s ESPN+ and Hulu will divvy up exclusive rights to 75 NHL …
In a shifting screen-entertainment category, there’s a standout candidate for comeback player of the year: TVOD. Over recent years, the category of transactional video on demand had seemed destined for a Hollywood-style fadeout. In 2019, for example. video-on-demand lost ground, with the amount consumers spent renting movies and TV shows on a title-by-title basis sinking …
The latest STREAMTRAKTM report from One Touch Intelligence reveals that Discovery Inc.’s new direct-to-consumer streaming service stacks up well against category leaders by virtue of a deep on-demand content reservoir, a solid base of originals, and a novel approach to presenting curated channels built around signature series. Download a complimentary copy of our latest STREAMTRAKTM …
A subscription to Disney+ costs $6.99/mo., a new Hulu SVOD account costs $5.99, and ESPN+ clocks in at $5.99 . But according to new metrics released by Disney during its Q3 earnings report, the amount of monthly revenue tied to the three services is different: $4.52, $12.59, and $4.54, respectively, per subscriber. So what gives? …
Quibi’s demise reflects the tenuousness of a streaming video category that’s sometimes thought of as a can’t-miss hotbed for next-generation media industry growth. It’s a lesson others before it have learned, too. The news that the seven-month old SVOD service will call it quits represents one of the colossal failures – but not the only …
The possibility that AT&T might sell the DirecTV satellite-TV service evokes questions not just about the identity of a buyer, but a deeper curiosity about what a new owner might expect to gain by operating a degrading, and arguably obsolete, video distribution platform. A New York Post report earlier this month said AT&T has invited …
Among the five largest U.S. companies, only one lacks a direct-to-consumer video service. That could change, and soon. Press reports naming Microsoft as a lead candidate to buy TikTok’s U.S. operations, possibly in a partnership with Walmart Inc., signal that Microsoft perceives it’s missing an important piece of the consumer business portfolio. Although Microsoft Corp.’s …
A strong contender for the quote-of-the-month award goes to Andrew McCollum, the CEO of streaming video service Philo. McCollum recently talked to Variety about the rising influence of connected TV platforms that bridge the Internet and living-room TV sets. “Direct-to-consumer,” said McCollum, “is a bit of a myth.” That’s a perceptive read of a phenomenon …
Comcast’s recent arrangement to make Sling TV available over Comcast’s Flex platform dovetails with a widening embrace of over-the-top video among multiple U.S. telecommunications providers. The willingness to light up the Sling TV app over Flex, a streaming video platform targeted to Internet subscribers, is the latest and most meaningful example of the migration among …
