Consolidated Communications is the first ISP to add virtual MVPD Philo, the telco said Wednesday.
Disney should continue investing in Hulu when it takes majority control of the streaming service since Hulu can be the bridge to Disney's direct-to-consumer future, nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon blogged Monday. Hulu can help direct consumers to Disney's coming DTC offerings, such as by offering ESPN+ as a Hulu premium add-on when that service launches in 2019, he said. But keeping Hulu going won't be easy, since minority owner Comcast may come to see Disney as a competitor rather than a partner and a big challenge for Disney will be keeping the MVPD and other content providers from pulling their programming from Hulu, he said. Disney didn't comment Tuesday.
PGA of America and SiriusXM announced a five-year rights extension to their broadcasting agreement and will launch a weekly talk show, PGA of America Radio, Aug. 8. SiriusXM will continue to deliver live audio broadcasts of PGA of America events, including the PGA Championship and the 2020 Ryder Cup, they said. The channel is available on SiriusXM radios, on smartphones and tablets via the SiriusXM mobile app and on streaming devices, they said.
The Streaming Video Alliance said there are many considerations for implementing forensic watermarking as a route to preventing piracy of online video. A document outlines techniques.
Forty-one percent of streaming media player owners use the devices daily or “almost daily,” compared with 34 percent of smart TV or smart DVR owners, Parks Associates said Tuesday. Owners of smart TVs spend 9.8 hours per week watching pay-TV content, and streaming media player owners view content from online services 10.4 hours per week, it reported. Nearly half of U.S. broadband households own a gaming console, but only 37 percent connect that device to the internet, Parks said, while 44 percent of smart TV owners connect their TVs to the internet. More than 34 percent of streaming media player owners own an Amazon Fire TV, up from 28 percent in Q1 2017, it said.
Cord cutters are expected to climb 33 percent this year to 33 million, and U.S. adults watching traditional pay TV are expected to decline 3.8 percent to 186.7 million, eMarketer said Tuesday. It said with a number of operators having integrated Netflix into their channel lineups, more such pay-TV/over-the-top partnerships are expected and they -- plus other strategies -- could help slow the pay-TV losses though they won't stop them. Kagan said virtual MVPD revenue should hit $2.82 billion this year and top $7.77 billion by 2022. It said virtual MVPD revenue per subscriber is about a third of traditional cable services but is growing and expected to top $37 a month this year, up 19 percent from 2017.
The FCC is soliciting comments on the state of competition in the audio service industry, including broadcast stations, DBS and audio streaming, said a public notice Monday in docket 18-227. The input is to be used for the communications market report required by the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services (Ray Baum's) Act, it said. The agency said it's looking for information on major audio market participants, industry trends and the extent of competition. The notice said comments would be due 30 days after appearing in the Federal Register, replies 15 days later.
Walmart declined to comment if its Vudu video streaming service is coming to market with an $8-per-month plan and a free ad-supported offering. The reported price would undercut Amazon’s $8.99-per-month for Amazon Prime Video and meet Netflix’s entry-level plan for one view and standard-definition video. Netflix tops out at $14-per-month for 4K video streams for up to four users. Vudu offers videos for rental or purchase.
Thirty percent of Netflix subscribers were in the premium tier earlier this year -- viewing on up to four screens with access to Ultra HD content -- up from 21 percent in late 2017, said Parks Associates Thursday. Subscriptions to Netflix’s basic tier, limited to one screen of viewing and standard-definition quality, dropped from 35 percent to 27 percent, reflecting an industry shift, said the researcher. Many over-the-top-subscribing households “have multiple people who want to watch similar content at the same time,” said Parks' Brett Sappington. “Rather than competing for access, consumers are willing to pay extra for the convenience of multiple streams.” Demand for Ultra HD content is “small, but increasing," the analyst added. Netflix said Monday it "over-forecasted" net subscribers for Q2 (see 1807170002).
Netflix revamped its user experience design to make it easier for subscribers to find content, blogged Stephen Garcia, director-product innovation. “Sometimes our members need a little bit of help figuring out where to start,” Garcia said, saying Netflix tested how to make it easier to find titles for TV viewers restricted to a few buttons on a remote control. It’s easier to start browsing with a series or a movie, research showed: Users may not be sure of the exact title they want to watch, but they have a sense of whether they are in the mood for a quick series episode or a longer movie experience, he said. The streaming service also made it easier to access titles members saved for later viewing in the My List section. The update began rolling out Wednesday. The TV search additions are part of a "long line of incremental improvements" designed to enhance Netflix customers' viewing experiences, said Chief Product Officer Greg Peters during the company's quarterly earnings interview Monday (see 1807170002). Peters also referenced improvements Netflix made in its mobile user interface and smart downloads.