Netflix is in for another quarter of “modest subscriber growth” when it reports Q2 results July 20, Canaccord Genuity wrote investors Wednesday. Net subscriber additions slowed due to the “strong pull-forward” of subscription VOD adoption during 2020's first half, when the company added 26 million new accounts, it said. “Investors likely will be focused on how much this metric can rebound during 2H21 as consumer behavior normalizes and the release schedule strengthens,” after months in which COVID-19 halted content production, the analyst firm said: “We expect the return of numerous popular original series and a slew of new titles across genres and formats to drive a notable uptick in subscriber acquisition.” Netflix's April 20 projection expected 1 million paid net adds for Q2, compared with 15.77 million in the 2020 quarter, when most of the world went into lockdown.

HITN-TV reached an agreement giving Roku users access to its Edye educational entertainment programming in the U.S. and 11 Latin American countries, said the media company Friday. HITN bills Edye as the first Spanish-language premium VOD subscription service for preschoolers and their parents. Users can download the Edye app through the Roku Channel store for viewing more than 70 animated series, it said.

Ad-supported VOD platforms are “fast gaining ground and disrupting the [over-the-top video] market," said a Monday Piplsay report. Some 63% of Americans subscribe to AVOD services, either paid or free, and 60% have switched from ad-free to paid or free ad-supported services in the past year, it said. Nearly half are “very satisfied” with the content offered on AVOD services, 41% somewhat satisfied. More than 82% of consumers have watched content on a streaming platform: 31% used a mix of premium and free services; 19% used ad-free; 18% paid, ad-supported; and 14% free, ad-supported. Twenty-eight percent switched completely from ad-free to ad-supported, it said. Peacock is the most-preferred AVOD service at 23%, followed by The Roku Channel (17%), Pluto (12%) and Tubi and IMDb (11%). Crackle and Vudu were under 1%. Among SVOD services, Hulu is most preferred (34%), followed by HBO Max (26%), Discovery+ (11%), Peacock (10%) and Paramount+ (under 1%). More than half of respondents planned to switch to or resubscribe to an ad-free service: 26% in the next two-three months, 17% in four-six months and 11% after six months, it said.

The Funimation anime app will be available “soon” live and on-demand on Vizio’s SmartCast platform, said the TV maker Wednesday. Funimation, available in over 50 countries, is $5.99 monthly for the standard subscription, $7.99 for premium. Content includes over 13,000 hours of anime episodes, movies, extras, and trending shows from Japan, it said.

Netflix continues to lead living room TV viewing, Cowen wrote investors Thursday, citing a proprietary survey showing 28% of respondents named it as the best way to view video content, “well ahead of other streaming and linear services.” YouTube was second at 15%, followed by basic cable at 10%, Amazon Prime Video at 9% and Hulu, HBO Max and Disney+ all below 7%. Nearly 13% selected “other” in the increasingly crowded over-the-top video space. Cowen analyst John Blackledge expects net paid subscriber additions of 1.2 million, which is above Netflix’s guidance of 1 million, when it reports Q2 earnings July 20. Shares are down 3% since Q1 results in April and 2% for the year, after a pandemic-fueled 67% surge last year when Netflix added 37 million subscribers. Netflix is “working through the pull forward of sub adds from the pandemic” and expects a “robust” second-half content slate, said Blackledge. Netflix's broad and growing content catalog, covering various genres, is a competitive advantage, he said.

A Maine video franchise bill died after the legislature failed to override a veto by Gov. Janet Mills (D). The bill would have applied fees to IPTV operators to fund public, educational and governmental channels (see 2106180038). The House failed to meet the two-thirds threshold when it voted 78-66 Wednesday on LD-920. “I am deeply concerned that if this bill were to become law, it could make digital streaming services more costly and reduce service options for Mainers,” Mills wrote in a June 25 veto letter.

Apple TV+ has a tab on Roku remote controls, reported the New York Post Wednesday, saying it’s the first time Apple has put its branding on a competitor’s hardware. It showed a photo from Roku’s landing page with Apple TV+, Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu direct-access tabs on the remote included with the Roku Ultra player. Other remotes on Roku’s website showed Sling instead of Apple, and still others had all buttons blacked out. A Roku Express 4K remote at Bestbuy.com Wednesday also showed buttons for Netflix, Disney+, AppleTV+ and Hulu. A Roku spokesperson said Wednesday the company doesn’t comment on partnership activities. Apple didn’t respond to questions.

Netflix’s venture into consumer products, announced several weeks ago, along with reports it may be expanding its game offerings, indicate the company is “looking to build a new profit pool or two a la Disney,” MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson wrote investors Tuesday. But consumer products or gaming won’t be enough “to change the narrative,” said the analyst, suggesting Netflix instead should add a live sports tier or advertising-based VOD offering to reach new customer segments and markets, especially in emerging regions with low average revenue per user. Since the start of 2018, Netflix has underperformed the S&P 500, rising 34% vs. 57% for the broader market, Nathanson said, saying a maturing U.S. subscriber base and an intensifying competitive environment among streaming services contributed to limited stock performance. He questioned how much growth is left in Netflix’s subscription VOD business, while “the success of AVOD businesses has been especially notable this year, and Netflix seemingly would have pole position to capture that market.” He noted Netflix “has a fundamental opposition to advertising,” but he said emerging pressure to find growth “as well as a more developed AVOD ecosystem may make Netflix more amenable to advertising on the service.” Netflix benefited from the COVID-19 pandemic with record subscribership last year, but subscriber growth slowed to below guidance in Q1 at 4 million subscription adds. The analyst expects an acceleration in signups in the second half as more content is available, but “as economies further reopen, we believe people will spend more time engaging through in-person activities rather than streaming content at home.” Netflix didn’t comment Tuesday.

Nearly half of U.S. TV viewers are already cordless, and 44% of cable subscribers “anticipate pulling back or cutting service in the coming year,” The Trade Desk reported Tuesday. The analytics company hired YouGov to canvass a nationally representative sample of 4,000 U.S. adults April 27-May 5, finding only 19% of TV viewers “are returning to their pre-pandemic sports viewing habits,” it said. Nearly half, 44%, who watch sports “are choosing a primary viewing source outside of linear TV,” it said. That number increases to 65% among adult sports viewers 34 and younger. The study found more U.S. TV viewers report watching streaming content with ads (44%) than without ads (33%). Nearly two-thirds are unwilling to spend more than $30 a month on streaming services, “making free or lower-cost ad-supported services more attractive,” it said.

BBC iPlayer is now available on ScreenHits TV in the U.K., Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, said the streaming platform Friday. On-demand programs and live channels from the BBC will appear in the ScreenHits TV interface, and selecting one of the BBC’s programs will take viewers through to watch on BBC iPlayer, it said. ScreenHits TV customers can access the service via desktop PCs, tablets, the iOS app and Amazon Fire TV sticks, it said.