SVOD Boom Means Challenges for Networks, Analyst Says

The success Netflix had with You, picked up from Lifetime, points to big challenges cable and broadcast networks will face over the next couple of years from the growing number of streaming services with little or no ads, TVRev analyst Alan Wolk blogged Wednesday. Those traditional networks also will struggle with that, "for many of them, viewers have no idea what they stand for, what type of programming they can expect to find there, and so they never even make it into the consideration set," he said. Small cable networks especially will be challenged to capture viewers' attention, he said. Those competitive pressures will mean the subscription VOD services will face a lot of churn as they run a lot of ads and promotions. Lifetime parent A+E didn't comment Thursday.