This week we detail the language in the new terms announced by the WGA in their deal with the studios (AMPTA) that have come as a result of the writers strike. The new deal provides no real transparency into viewership numbers outside of total hours streamed and only for self-produced high budget streaming programs. We also discuss Amazon's news that starting in early 2024 Prime Video shows and movies will include limited advertisements. Finally, we provide some details on the recent ruling from a German court that Netflix is infringing on Broadcom's video patent related to HEVC.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week I break down the economic and financial factors that are directly impacting the growth and restraints in the streaming media industry. Learn why companies are doing more with less, reducing and consolidating their spending on services like storage and delivery, and the market factors that are influencing their decisions. From banking interest rates for new money, tighter budgets, and lengthier sales processes, this new way of doing business is now the new norm.

I also cover some recent comments from ESPN’s chairman discussing the importance of linear to US sports broadcasters, the triggers that would make ESPN go DTC faster, and why he says ESPN doesn’t necessarily feel any urgency. His overall takeaway is that professional sports leagues say that they prioritize linear because of the exposure and the reach and yet, the same spots leagues are taking big money from Amazon, Apple, and Google while giving them some games as a streaming exclusive.

Also mentioned: Amazon and Nielsen’s Thursday Night Football stats; Warner Bros. Discovery’s new sports tier for Max; and SK Telecom and Netflix’s new partnership that has ended their dispute over network traffic costs.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week I recap the opening weekend of the NFL season reviewing the streaming services across YouTube (NFL Sunday Ticket), ESPN (Monday Night Football), Amazon, (Thursday Night Football), and Peacock (Sunday Night Football). I document why YouTube came out on top, the problems Amazon and Peacock had, and the complete outages that took place on Xfinity and Shaw.

I also discuss the patent suit that Sling TV and DISH Technologies filed against fuboTV alleging infringement on eight patents related to multi-bitrate streaming, with the oldest patent dating back to Move Networks technology. And I briefly cover news from Apple that the new A17 Pro chip will support AV1 video via a dedicated AV1 decoder in the new iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week we detail how the current model of licensing broadcast networks to pay TV distributors is completely broken. With a recent blackout on Spectrum due to a licensing dispute with Disney and a current blackout on DISH due to their dispute with Hearst, the methodology of how content is valued needs to change. We discuss what consumers want from streaming services, how they want to aggregate them, the business models that work best, and the ridiculous fragmentation fans have when watching sports-related content. 

We also highlight the recently announced layoffs from Roku, Nielsen and the new financial numbers that Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix and others have put out tied to revenue and free cash flow, due to the impact of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

Dan Robbins, VP of Ad Marketing and Partner Solutions at Roku joins me for a discussion about the latest challenges and opportunities with advertising across  SVOD and FAST services. We discuss the measurement side of advertising, the powerful role of big data and integrated platforms in delivering accurate and consistent results and what brands are demanding for targeting. Dan also details Roku's vision for TV advertising, new creative ad formats and why Roku decided to build Roku branded TV's with a third-party manufacturer. Learn the complexities of the rapidly evolving advertising market and the multitude of opportunities waiting to be seized.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week we expose the flawed comparisons of bundled streaming services to pay TV, with Nielsen improperly comparing linear TV to YouTube, but excluding vMVPD services like Sling TV and Hulu + Live TV in their ratings. We also break down the new NFL Sunday Ticket bundle with Max, new student pricing, and multi-view combinations, and speculate on the future potential for platform customization and interactive features available on mobile and TV.  Wrapping up our discussion, we discuss the potential of streaming services to reach profitability and the possible future where pay TV operators stop making profits from pay TV services.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week we break down Disney's recent financials and news from their earnings including their DTC revenue and losses; subscriber churn, the announcement of higher pricing for their ad-free tiers, ESPN+ and Hulu + Live TV, as well as their plans to crack down on password sharing next year. We also detail the numbers from other earnings including Paramount’s addition of 700,000 Paramount + subs, Sling TV’s loss of 97,000 subs, and Vizio’s AVOD revenue of $142.3M, which was up 28% from the previous year.
 
Also discussed is the latest sports streaming news across the industry including the report that Warner Bros. Discovery plans to simulcast live MLB playoffs on cable TV and Max streaming in October, as the debut of a new sports tier, called Bleacher Report, and plans to charge users more if they want to watch sports on Max. We also detail the latest from the NFL, which is raising the monthly prices of their NFL+ plans and for the first time will allow NFL Network and NFL RedZone to be viewed on a TV and PC.

Finally, we touch on funding news by Visionular, Akamai's impressive Q2 earnings and Everpass Media's distribution deal with NBCUniversal. 

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week we break down all the important numbers you need to know regarding Q2 earnings from OTT platforms and streaming vendors. Hear about profitability/loss and subscriber gains/losses for Warner Bros. Discovery (Max), Comcast (Peacock), Fubo, Roku, Brightcove, Vimeo, Verizon, Charter, Kaltura, Fastly and Cloudflare. We also pose tough questions about New Relic's valuation following its acquisition and the implications for other vendors in the industry.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week we deliver fresh insights on Netflix's password sharing crackdown, analyzing the effects of the introduction of the ad-supported tier, the adjustment of pricing and plans, and how consumer behavior and engagement metrics are driving their decisions. We also discuss the news around Disney's intention to pull back spending and content creation for the Star Wars and Marvel franchises along with Bob Igor’s comments that linear TV channels like ESPN and ABC “may not be core" to their business. Learn how these industry powerhouses are strategically working to bundle, package, and license content while keeping their audiences engaged.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This episode offers a deep dive into the murky waters of ad fraud detailing the allegations against YouTube. Dr. Fou, an expert in ad fraud joins me as we head straight into the eye of the storm, exploring the latest report alleging Google's TrueView ads appear muted and on autoplay on third-party websites. Discover how these misrepresentations are impacting advertisers' trust, why YouTube's reply to the allegations ignored the issues, and what this could mean for YouTube's revenue.

We also detail challenges in the overall video advertising industry when it comes to detecting ad fraud, why advertisers don’t have much incentive to fix it, the lack of clear measurement, methodology, and transparency in reporting and the impact of AI on the market.

If you're interested in understanding the complexities of ad fraud in the online video advertising market and the challenges and trust issues that plague the industry, or if you're an advertiser wanting to ensure your campaigns are not misrepresented, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

Research report and data from Adalytics: https://adalytics.io/blog/invalid-google-video-partner-trueview-ads

Google's reply to the data: https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/transparency-and-brand-safety-on-google-video-partners/

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media