This week I discuss the technical issues that YouTube TV, Apple TV and Netflix all had in the past 30-days with a live event/stream on their platform. I also break down all the key numbers from Disney’s earnings including the 3.8 million sequential decline of Disney+ Hotstar subs, their comments that the price increase for Disney+ without ads had no meaningful negative impact on churn, and the latest non-news on ESPN going DTC. Also highlighted are comments from FOX’s CEO on why they don’t have a D2C sports offering and Netflix’s announcement that their ad-supported plan has nearly 5M monthly active users globally.

Companies and services mentioned: Netflix, Disney, ESPN, Hulu, Peacock, NFL, IPL, FOX, Apple TV, YouTube TV, MLS Season Pass.

Questions or feedback? Contact: [email protected]

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week we highlight the Q1 earnings news from Brightcove (will lay off 10% of company), Vimeo (CEO could get $800,000 bonus), Paramount (+  added 4.1M subs), Comcast (Peacock subs up 2M), Warner Bros. Discovery (expects DTC business to be profitable this year) and the latest cord cutting numbers with over 1M pay TV losses in Q1.

We also discuss problems we are seeing with many resumes and LinkedIn pages by those looking for new jobs in the industry. We share feedback on what you should be doing if you are looking for a new job and how you should be setting yourself up for success.

Questions or feedback? Contact: [email protected]

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week we highlight some of the news from the NAB Show and detail the technologies and business models we heard talked about the most. We also discuss the trends we saw at the show, vendor messaging, specific data shared from speakers and what impressed us. We also cover some numbers you need to know on cord cutting, P&L and ARRU from earnings related to Roku, Comcast (Peacock), Amazon, Verizon, Meta, Netflix and others.

Companies and services mentioned: Roku, Netflix, Amazon, Verizon, Peacock, HBO Max, Comcast, Brightcove, Harmonic, Haivision, Amagi, IMAX, Bitmovin.

Questions or feedback? Contact: [email protected]

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week we breakdown the number from Viacom18 of 16 million concurrent streams for the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Jio Cinema, highlighting that the bitrate was around 1Mbps, making comparisons to other events difficult. We also discuss potential new DTC streaming strategies the WWE and UFC could take since their rights deals with ESPN, FOX and NBC Universal all expire by 2026. We recap some industry news that Apple has acquired Wave One, a startup specializing in AI-based video compression with a method for analyzing video files and learning the best way to compress them. And the news from AMD of a new media acceleration solution, that’s targeting video streaming applications that are highly personalized and interactive by nature, demanding low to ultra-low latency.

Companies and services mentioned: Viacom18, Jio Cinema, Endeavor, UFC, WWE, NBC Universal, Peacock, FOX, Disney, MLB, WWE, CBS, Pac-12, Roku, Apple TV, Netflix, Wave One, Apple, AMD, IMAX.

Questions or feedback? Contact: [email protected]

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week we discuss the recent price increase at YouTube TV which will now start at $73 a month, which in some cases, is only a few dollars cheaper than cable TV in a triple-play bundle. We also highlight some recent news from Apple including rumors they may be partnering with studios to put more titles in theaters; Paramount+ announcing it will offer mobile-only plans in Brazil and Mexico; a detailed report on the challenges Twitch is facing; and a notice of proposed rulemaking from the FTC it dubs “click to cancel,” requiring companies to make ending a subscription equivalently simple to signing up for one.

Companies and services mentioned: Apple TV+, Paramount+, YouTube TV, Twitch, Netflix, Microsoft, MLB, Fire TV, MLB, FTC.

Questions or feedback? Contact: [email protected]

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

Eric Black, who for more than 20 years, was a leader for NBC Universal’s media technology strategy across a host of digital properties during pivotal moments in the evolution of live streaming, joins me for a discussion about  the sports streaming market. We discuss licensing costs, bundling and packaging of sports content, user personalization, the impact of low/ultra-low latency streaming, and discuss the focus of his new job, as CTO and GM of Media for Edgio.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week we review Netflix’s success with their first live event from both a video quality and user interface standpoint and discuss what live streaming means to Netflix’s business since most consumers are not going to regularly tune into Netflix on a scheduled time. We also highlight a lot of interesting comments made by Disney’s CEO around the pricing and bundling of Disney+, how they are "very carefully” studying the streaming business to decide what to do with Hulu and his thoughts on what growth for Disney’s DTC business looks like going forward.

Companies and services mentioned: Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, ESPN, HBO Max, Warner Bros. Discovery, TikTok.

Questions or feedback? Contact: [email protected]

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week we detail the numbers you need to know from the Q4/full-year earnings of Warner Bros. Discovery, Vimeo, fuboTV, Vizio, Brightcove, DISH and Altice. We highlight revenue growth, free cash flow, pay TV subs lost, streaming subs gained and ARPU. We also cover some of the news around sports streaming and OTT services from MSG+, RSN licensing, NFL Sunday Ticket and Indian Premier League cricket.

Companies and services mentioned: Netflix, HBO Max, fuboTV, Warner Bros. Discovery, MSG+, Brightcove, Vimeo, DISH, Altice, YouTube TV, Tubi, Tubular Labs and Chartbeat.

Questions or feedback? Contact: [email protected]

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week we breakdown the problems Netflix’s is having in Canada with their new account sharing rules that are confusing, incomplete and conflicting. We also discuss the latency of the Super Bowl stream and why lower latency doesn’t equal more viewers, longer viewing times, or more ads delivered. Also detailed are all the numbers you need to know from Paramount, Roku, Akamai and Fastly’s earnings including sub growth, year-over-year revenue growth and profit and loss.

Companies and services mentioned: Netflix, FOX Sports, Roku, NBC Sports, FanDuel, NFL, Paramount, Nielsen, Amazon Fire TV, Disney, YouTube, DIRECTV, Akamai, Fastly.

Questions or feedback? Contact: [email protected]

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

Gil Rudge, SVP, Video Products and Solutions at Harmonic joins me for a discussion about some of the latest deployment trends for cloud-based video workflows. We discuss the lack of adoption of 4K; the complexity of live sporting events; the trade-off between on-prem versus the cloud; and the success Harmonic has shown in diversifying the company’s revenue from hardware to the cloud.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media