Inside The Stream

In this week’s round-the-horn edition, we discuss Diamond Sports’ bankruptcy, why Discovery is giving HBO Max subs more content for the same price, YouTube’s March Madness multiview, and the FAST content arms race.

Pay-TV providers continued losing millions of subscribers in Q4 2022. Is there a bottom? And what does pay-TV’s free fall mean for sports teams’ valuations and players’ salaries?

At this past Tuesday’s VideoNuze Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW: 2023 virtual, 22 speakers in 5 sessions provided critical insights about the industry and its future direction. We discuss our key takeaways.

This week we go on a “field trip” to India, where a battle between billionaires - at the intersection of streaming, sports, mobile, commerce, and FASTs - provides a glimpse of the future. Pack your bags and listen on!

How should a TV provider leverage the FAST market? BBC Studios, GM of FAST channels, talks content strategy, differences from traditional TV, optimizing experience, and much more.

In Disney’s fiscal 2023 first quarter report this week, DTC subscriber gains were weak, and ARPU was down. Moreover, Disney plans to slash content spending this year by $3 billion. After Disney+’s fast start, the company’s DTC future seems murky.

Today we boldly introduce a new acronym to the industry. Free ad-supported TV (“FAST) is currently all the rage. But an unintended consequence of FASTs’ growth may be accelerated SVOD Losses On the Way (“SLOW”).

Between cord-cutting’s acceleration and Big Tech bidding up rights to stream sports, ESPN is getting squeezed from all sides. What should Bob Iger do about ESPN’s future?

This week: a deep dive interview with FuboTV CEO David Gandler. We dig into escalating and fragmenting sports rights, the role of FAST channels and RSNs for vMVPDs, shuttering FuboTV’s nascent sportsbook, and much more.

In France, WB Discovery is launching a streaming bundle on Amazon Prime Channels dubbed “Warner Pass.” What are the opportunities and risks? How might it impact strategy in the  US?