This week, we did a mini-review of the NAB Show Streaming Summit and some topics we heard discussed around the difficulty in scaling streaming services for low latency and QoE. We also cover Netflix’s Q1 earnings and excellent user growth, adding 9.3 million subs, which was tempered by the news that they will stop reporting quarterly membership numbers and ARM a year from now. We highlight the latest rumors about Paramount Global, with it being reported that Sony Pictures Entertainment and Ap...

This week, we discuss the latest news around Disney, including their plans to crack down on password sharing in June in a "few" countries and markets, with a "full" rollout in September. We detail how complex ESPN’s DTC offering is becoming, with Disney announcing that its new ESPN streaming service will launch in the fall of 2025 and will be offered as part of the Disney+ bundle, which will give Disney three separate ESPN sports streaming services in the market. We also detail sports news...

Step up to the plate with us this week as we tackle the complex maze of baseball streaming. We cover the latest baseball streaming news with Fubo adding RSNs, Hulu+ Live TV adding the MLB Network, and discuss the terrible fan experience with some MLB teams requiring fans to access five different networks to stream games. We also highlight other sports news, including Peacock's exclusive streaming deal for the NFL’s first-ever regular-season game in Brazil and Amazon's sublicensing deal with...

This week, we detail WBD's planned international expansion of Max, which will make the OTT service available in 25 countries in Europe and 65 countries and territories worldwide. We also highlight comments made by the NFL's Chief Business Officer regarding the newly announced WBD, FOX and Disney sports JV, which is missing over half of all NFL games. We discussed the latest rumors regarding a potential sale of Paramount Global, with Skydance still conducting due diligence and having yet to...

This special podcast takes you inside the NAB Show Streaming Summit with a preview of all the content, speakers and expert strategies you’ll learn at the event. Hear what the keynote fireside chats will cover with Paramount Global, Prime Video and NBCU. We also give an overview of the new AI Demo Track and break down all the sessions tied to sports, content bundling, churn and retention, and streamlining video workflow strategies. Finally, we highlight case studies from NFL, SiriusXM, Disney+...

This week, we detail how SeaChange, which once dominated the cable TV operator market and had over $216 million in revenue, will have its assets acquired for $30 million. We break down the numbers you need to know from Fubo's full-year 2023 earnings, ending with 1.61M subscribers and reaffirming their expectation to reach positive cash flow and adjusted EBITDA in 2025. We also detail Paramount's full-year 2023 earnings, ending with 67.5M subscribers and DTC losses of $1.6B, forecasting...

This week, we break down all the numbers from Warner Bros. Discovery's full year 2023 earnings, including DTC profitability in 2023, exclusive NBA negotiations, international expansion of Max, and their disciplined approach to investing in subscriber growth, mindful of lifetime value to subscriber acquisition cost ratios. We also highlight why Fubo is suing Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery over their recently announced JV deal to offer a sports streaming service and the overlapping...

This week, we cover infrastructure news and Q4 and full-year earnings from Akamai, Fastly, and Broadpeak, highlighting overall CDN industry revenue growth, pricing trends, and Akamai's continued dominance of the content delivery market. We also discuss the Super Bowl stream on Paramount+, my 8.5 million AMA viewership number, and reported news that Amazon secured an exclusive NFL playoff game for Prime Video in 2025.  We detail why Roku's stock is getting hammered, even with the company...

This week, we discuss the key numbers from Disney's latest earnings, including subs, ARPU and D2C profitability projections. We detail what the ESPN brand could look like with their comments that they will bring its ESPN DTC app to the market in the fall or late August of 2025, including integrated fantasy betting. We debate what their newly announced plans to offer a joint sports streaming service with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery means for the streaming and pay TV industry and why they...

This week, we discuss the key takeaways from Q4 earnings across OTT platforms and streaming vendors, including Apple seeing a "huge opportunity" with AI, YouTube's ad revenue growth of 15% and AWS closing out 2023 with $90.8 billion in cloud revenue. We discuss new numbers released by Amazon, which spent $18.9 billion on content in 2023, of which "approximately $7 billion" was spent on Amazon originals and live sports.   We also highlight the latest pay TV losses from Charter, nearly 1...

The Netflix episode "Woooooo!" This week, we discuss Netflix’s record Q4 earnings, their free cash flow of $6.9 billion for 2023, their growing AVOD business and their off-the-top rope deal with the WWE as they continue to dominate the industry. We discuss how the WWE deal with "scripted entertainment” differs from sports content, how it will expand Netflix’s advertising business, and what it might mean for a more significant content deal with the WWE when Peacock’s domestic WWE Network deal...

This week, we discuss the use cases for Apple Vision Pro and why it will not become the future of video viewing for consumers at scale. We also break down the Diamond Sports Group complex proposed restructuring plan, Amazon's commitment to make a minority investment, and the potential repercussions for Prime Video customers who will be able to purchase DTC access to stream local Diamond channels at a still-to-be-announced price. Finally, we highlight the deal between Qwilt and Cirion...

This week, we break down all the latest sports viewership numbers from ESPN, FOX Sports, CBS Sports, and NBC Sports. We also highlight the new joint venture by YES Network and MSG Networks, the launch of an Innovation Lab by Major League Soccer and details around the Super Bowl stream, which will not stream in 4K on Paramount+ and will be in 1080P60 HDR.  We detail the latest APRU numbers across the primary OTT services and why, with all the OTT price increases in 2023 and the recent launch...

This week, we review what's behind all the industry layoffs as companies reset the cost bar on CAPEX and OPEX expenses. With full-year 2023 financials in the book, some companies didn't hit the revenue, efficiency, and cost savings goals they had expected, prompting layoffs to start the year. We also detail how some vendors are restructuring their debt with Fubo, the most recent example, which will pay a higher interest rate in exchange for pushing debt out by three years and getting to...

This week, I reviewed Peacock's exclusive NFL game stream with some users having a poor quality video experience and detailed why I think Peacock's strategy failed with their ad-free fourth quarter. I also break down the viewership numbers reported by NBC Sports and highlight how sports is a costly and unproven part of Peacock's subscriber acquisition strategy, with no ability to scale sports content globally. I discuss, with numbers, why the rumors of Warner Bros. Discovery buying Paramount...

This week we discuss, how in a blow to Amazon and DAZN, pay TV broadcaster Sky won broadcast rights to show a record number of Premier League matches in a new four-year deal. We also break down Paramount’s balance sheet to refute the reports they are nearing bankruptcy and highlight Peacock’s latest data of 30 million paying subscribers, their $10 ARPU, and their two upcoming exclusive NFL games. We detail Twilio’s announced layoffs and the shutting down of their Programmable Video product, a...

This week we discuss some of the latest news and rumors around bundling and aggregation of streaming services, the impact that wholesale rates have on DTC profitability, and the lack of data in the market to prove that bundling reduces churn. We also cover the viewership numbers from Prime Video's first NFL Black Friday game, Amazon's new licensing deal with NASCAR, and Charter's recently launched mobile broadband service that limits video streaming quality to 480p. Podcast produced by...

Avi Saxena, CTO and Tyler Whitworth, CPO at Warner Bros. Discovery, join me for a detailed conversation about the technical video stack at Max. Learn how they approach the user experience when it comes to their apps, latency, adding live sports and news to the platform, device support, 4K, advertising, personalization, and how they measure QoE. We also discuss what’s ahead for the service, the technical challenges in ad delivery, expanding into LATAM, and the skills they are looking for when...

Larry Allen, VP/GM, of Data and Addressable Enablement at Comcast Advertising joins me for a detailed discussion on how the shift in viewing habits to all screens is making it difficult to provide cohesive cross-media measurement. We discuss the impact of the loss of third-party cookies, the challenges and opportunities that exist with measurement at scale, including with FAST services, and the potential role of AI tech to fill in measurement gaps. Finally, we highlight why the industry needs...

This week we cover all the latest news in the world of sports streaming tied to Apple, Amazon, ESPN, Disney+ Hotstar, Fubo, Max, Peacock, and YouTube TV. We also discuss content licensing and viewership stats across the NFL, NBA, Formula 1, and MLS. Some highlights include: Apple reported that they had more than a million viewers to watch the biggest MLS games this season and the rumors that Apple is eyeing Formula 1 as its next big sports investmentThe latest in the NBA media negotiations...

This week, we examine the Q3 financial results of OTT industry heavyweights Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, DISH, and Vizio, along with streaming providers Akamai, Brightcove, Kaltura, Comscore and Vimeo. We go over some of the most important conclusions, such as Disney+ having 5 million AVOD customers and ESPN+ making $33 million in profit. We go into detail on how WBD paid off an astounding $12 billion in debt this year and anticipates producing at least $5 billion in free cash flow. The...

This week we detail the Q3 earnings numbers you need to know tied to Paramount+, Peacock, Fubo, AMC+, Roku and Brightcove including subscriber counts and DTC profit and loss. We also draw attention to the roughly one million new Comcast, Verizon, Charter, and Altice pay TV customers who have cut the cords. We talk about the announcement from Netflix that their ad tier now boasts 15 million monthly active users worldwide; Harmonic's strategic review of their video division; Bitmovin revealing...

This week we break down the numbers from Netflix’s Q3 earnings, their content spend for 2024, what their ad business looks like today and the reasons why many are undervaluing Netflix's prospects for AVOD in the coming years. We also talk about YouTube's statement indicating that they most likely won't participate in the upcoming round of bidding for NBA broadcast rights and we highlight ESPN's newly released revenue figures. In conclusion, we discuss Lumen's departure from the CDN sector and...

This week we discuss the rumors that Apple is weighing an annual bid of $2 billion for Formula 1 racing, with the opportunity to purchase global rights after five years. We also detail how Candle Media's earnings are predicted to be between $140 and $170 million, which is less than the $330 million initial expectation. According to reports, Candle Media spent $900 million for Hello Sunshine and $3 billion for Moonbug Entertainment. Finally, we detail how Taylor Swift has already sold more...

Diane Strutner, CEO of Datazoom, joins me for a detailed discussion on the current state of advertising data and the complex road ahead as inventory moves to digital and CTV. We discuss the seismic industry shift from siloed to a converged currency models, and the ensuing challenges in valuing digital and streaming ad impressions. Learn the crucial distinctions between accreditation and certification, particularly in relation to how they relate to audience measurement, and the impact on...