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We’re pleased to be joined once again by Antenna’s co-founder and CEO Jonathan Carson, who discusses highlights of the firm’s Q2 ’25 State of Subscriptions report “Adds and Ads.” Fully 71% of new SVOD subscribers in the past 2 years are on an ad tier, speaking to the outsized impact that advertising has had on the streaming industry.
Another finding that’s remarkable is that the demographics...
This week Comcast announced its decision to spin out all of its cable networks except Bravo into an independent company. For years cable networks were the financial jewel in the TV industry, driven by both carriage fees pay-TV operators paid to carry them, plus advertising revenues. The shift from analog to digital opened up vast new shelf space which enabled even more cable networks to be...
This week we interview Jeff Weber, CEO of Zone TV, which was just acquired by Block Communications. Zone TV has been operating for 22 years, and has recently been focused on streaming and FASTs. Jeff explains his motivation for the deal, the evolving market for FASTs and what’s next.
Listen to the podcast to learn more (30 minutes, 54 seconds)
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On today’s podcast, Colin and I discuss last Friday’s decision by U.S. District Court Judge Margaret Garnett, ruling in favor of Fubo by issuing a preliminary injunction preventing the launch of Venu Sports. Venu is a joint venture of Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery that includes 14 of the companies’ linear TV sports networks, plus on-demand content, for $43 per month. The companies...
Earlier this week Comcast took the wraps off StreamSaver, its new streaming bundle available for Xfinity subscribers. For $15 per month, StreamSaver bundles Peacock Premium, Netflix Standard with ads and Apple TV+. If subscribed to separately the combined total would be $25 per month, as of July 1st when Peacock Premium’s price will rise to $8 per month. That means StreamSaver provides a...
This week we discuss the logic of Amazon shutting down Freevee, which Adweek reported, and Amazon denied. We see a number of pros and cons to the move. Meanwhile Nielsen said that YouTube was once again the number one streaming service used on CTVs, ahead of Netflix and everyone else. This was the twelfth month in row for YouTube and we explore the reasons behind it.
Finally the rumor mill...
FASTs are everywhere these days, and this week we discuss several new announcements/launches that caught our eye, from providers including TCL, Fire TV Channels, Google TV and Cox Media Group (with “Neighborhood TV”). We discuss the prospects for each of them, and why the trend toward more FAST launches is unlikely to slow down anytime soon.
Listen to the podcast to learn more (28 minutes,...
Netflix has begun rolling out its account sharing limitations in the U.S.. The rollout effectively puts an end to one of the most-loved features of Netflix subscriptions - the ability to share log-in credentials with family members and others. For years Netflix “looked the other way” on this activity as it sought to bake Netflix usage into as many viewers’ lives as possible.
But all good...
This week we discuss the new ESPN direct-to-consumer app, which was announced this week. Colin thinks that at $30 per month it’s too expensive relative to other streaming services, yet given the breadth of content and features, I think the price seems fair or maybe even low.
A big question is how wide the adoption will be as most hardcore sports fans still have a pay-TV subscription. That...
Disney’s fiscal Q4 results confirmed a broader industry trend that ad-supported subscribers are driving growth for streaming services. Disney’s CEO Bob Iger said 60% of new DTC subscribers are on the ad tier, with 37% and 30% of US and international subscribers, respectively, now on the ad tier.
Related, Netflix said earlier this week that 70 million monthly users are reached via its ad-...