Interesting look at Aereo and the Dyle and MyDTV apps could undercut the growth and adoption of Aereo.
Aereo plans to roll out to 22 cities soon but if you just need the Dyle and MyDTV apps to pick up the same channels - doesn't that greatly undercut the Aereo value proposition? Right now the apps are free but even if they were priced at just the cost of a single month of Aereo service - say $8 - then it still represents a great value.
My guess is that in the future cell carriers will put together packages with apps like Dyle and MyDTV coupled with an OTT service like Netflix or Amazon Prime. Think about a company like Verizon Wireless and what they could do with a couple apps like Dyle and MyDTV coupled with their new Redbox Instant service. An almost perfect combination.
Makes sense.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Sunday, January 13, 2013
The Future of Content
Many people keep talking about people like Apple, Google, Amazon or Intel changing the current dynamics of content distribution and affiliate rights but they always seem to overlook something that may have a much more immediate tangible effect of "must carry" channel packaging - Canada a la carte TV.
If a la carte works in Canada - there would be no argument about it being able to work in the US. What will be interesting to watch is what direction programmers take. I would expect ABC/Disney to charge more for an un-bundled ESPN (and maybe for ESPN2 - say $5 and $1 respectively) but would they increase pricing for the lesser channels? Would they charge more for ESPNU hoping college sports enthusiasts would pony up or would they discount it to try and rope in the casual sports fans?
And if un-bundled a la carte pricing came into being - then that's really where the billing and streaming capabilities of an Apple iTunes or an Amazon Prime could really shine. There are so many possibilities. Maybe cable rules don't apply to over the top streaming so even if cable has to un-bundle maybe ESPN makes a deal with Apple to have monthly subscriptions to all the ESPN channels for $10 a month. That deal would actually have more gross margin for ABC/Disney than their existing affiliate rights agreements.
Many naysayers predict consumers actually paying more for content if a la carte came into being. I don't see how that's possible. A la carte will lead to more competition among content producers and more options of content delivery for subscribers.
If a la carte works in Canada - there would be no argument about it being able to work in the US. What will be interesting to watch is what direction programmers take. I would expect ABC/Disney to charge more for an un-bundled ESPN (and maybe for ESPN2 - say $5 and $1 respectively) but would they increase pricing for the lesser channels? Would they charge more for ESPNU hoping college sports enthusiasts would pony up or would they discount it to try and rope in the casual sports fans?
And if un-bundled a la carte pricing came into being - then that's really where the billing and streaming capabilities of an Apple iTunes or an Amazon Prime could really shine. There are so many possibilities. Maybe cable rules don't apply to over the top streaming so even if cable has to un-bundle maybe ESPN makes a deal with Apple to have monthly subscriptions to all the ESPN channels for $10 a month. That deal would actually have more gross margin for ABC/Disney than their existing affiliate rights agreements.
Many naysayers predict consumers actually paying more for content if a la carte came into being. I don't see how that's possible. A la carte will lead to more competition among content producers and more options of content delivery for subscribers.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
The State of Netflix
Interesting look at where Netflix is today and how it got there.
I don't think there is any way the stock ever gets back to the $300 neighborhood it was in 2011 but I am bullish on the stock. I think the company can either get acquired or it can become the on-line equivalent of HBO.
HBO has a big advantage in original programming because of its long history and the subscribers expectations of quality from the HBO brand but Netflix's on-demand library beats HBO's channels showing the same movies over and over.
The article is worth the read.
I don't think there is any way the stock ever gets back to the $300 neighborhood it was in 2011 but I am bullish on the stock. I think the company can either get acquired or it can become the on-line equivalent of HBO.
HBO has a big advantage in original programming because of its long history and the subscribers expectations of quality from the HBO brand but Netflix's on-demand library beats HBO's channels showing the same movies over and over.
The article is worth the read.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Roku and Time Warner
Interesting to note that Roku will be able to make available 300 channels to Time Warner Cable subscribers. This means that Roku is becoming a defacto replacement for a normal TWC set top for TWC subscribers.
I have beaten this drum before - a move like this is good for all involved. TWC doesn't have the opex or headaches involved in supporting additional STB's. Actually expenses should reduce as some existing STB are replaced - plus there is no truck roll costs involved when a subscriber adds a Roku box. Roku gets a great revenue opportunity as they get to market to millions of TWC subscribers. For the customer - there are a number of advantages of owning a Roku box that they will now be able to take advantage of. A win-win-win situation.
I also firmly believe that Apple will eventually announce both a new Apple TV box and a relationship with larger operators like TWC. They won't let Roku have all the fun (or all the market)
I have beaten this drum before - a move like this is good for all involved. TWC doesn't have the opex or headaches involved in supporting additional STB's. Actually expenses should reduce as some existing STB are replaced - plus there is no truck roll costs involved when a subscriber adds a Roku box. Roku gets a great revenue opportunity as they get to market to millions of TWC subscribers. For the customer - there are a number of advantages of owning a Roku box that they will now be able to take advantage of. A win-win-win situation.
I also firmly believe that Apple will eventually announce both a new Apple TV box and a relationship with larger operators like TWC. They won't let Roku have all the fun (or all the market)
Friday, January 4, 2013
Tiered Cable Data Plans
Interesting look at possible tiered data plans for heavy data users. My initial reaction is "big deal".
Near the end of the article it is mentioned that Comcast has a data tier that allows for "300 gigabits per month - or about 130 hours of Netflix HD videos." Think about that for a minute. That's 4.33 hours of HD video a day. Good chance someone doing that is probably a cord cutter - and why should the cable company subsidize Netflix? Plus - as encoding algorithms advance less and less bandwidth will be needed for the same amount of video.
If in the future both cable and telcos will be the equivalent of dumb pipe providers - why shouldn't they get to charge for how much you drink from the pipe?
Near the end of the article it is mentioned that Comcast has a data tier that allows for "300 gigabits per month - or about 130 hours of Netflix HD videos." Think about that for a minute. That's 4.33 hours of HD video a day. Good chance someone doing that is probably a cord cutter - and why should the cable company subsidize Netflix? Plus - as encoding algorithms advance less and less bandwidth will be needed for the same amount of video.
If in the future both cable and telcos will be the equivalent of dumb pipe providers - why shouldn't they get to charge for how much you drink from the pipe?
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Happy Anniversary Apple
The fine folks at The Motley Fools remind us that Apple was incorporated on this day in 1977.
The article also reminds us of who Apple's original competitors were - the Altair 8800, the Radio Shack TRS-80, the Commodore 64 and IBM.
That reminded me that when IBM released their PC they blanketed the airwaves with commercials featuring the cast from M*A*S*H. Amazing to look back and realize that while Apple today is perhaps the most influential company in the world - IBM's are as influential today to PC's as the cast from M*A*S*H is to network primetime TV.
The article also reminds us of who Apple's original competitors were - the Altair 8800, the Radio Shack TRS-80, the Commodore 64 and IBM.
That reminded me that when IBM released their PC they blanketed the airwaves with commercials featuring the cast from M*A*S*H. Amazing to look back and realize that while Apple today is perhaps the most influential company in the world - IBM's are as influential today to PC's as the cast from M*A*S*H is to network primetime TV.
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