Various content-on-demand platforms have expressed concerns about how three of their big competitors – Apple, Amazon and Google – all also control devices, operating systems, stores and/or other channels that they rely on to sell their services.
Source: Spotify and Netflix both make moves to reduce payments to Apple
A year after Facebook Watch’s initial rollout, a survey found that 50% of U.S. adult Facebook users have never heard of the video service.
Source: ‘Facebook What?’ Half of Users Have Never Heard of Facebook’s Watch Video Service
Strategy Analytics has compiled some interesting figures, including subscriber growth rates for all the major virtual MVPDs.
Source: Hulu Live TV nears 1M subscribers as U.S. vMVPDs grew by 868,000 subscribers in Q2, analyst says
Twenty-two states and Washington, D.C., asked a federal court to block the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from repealing its 2015 net neutrality rules, arguing that the move would allow the agency to abdicate its responsibility to oversee internet service providers.
Source: Twenty-two states urge court to block net neutrality repeal
Businesses that operate in the traditional media ecosystem, including broadcast and cable TV networks, cable and satellite providers, and local TV stations, stand to lose as much as $30 billion in profits over the next five years, according to research from Boston Consulting Group.
Source: Digital News Daily: Traditional Media Players Could Lose As Much As $30B In Shift To OTT
Global TV, video subscription and advertising revenue will keep growing over the next few years and OTT will play a big role in that growth.
Source: Global TV and video revenue will hit $559B by 2022: report
Online streaming has crushed Blockbuster and its last store is a reminder of a not-so-distant past.
Source: ‘I run the last Blockbuster’
To lure TV shows to its platform, Netflix is offering lucrative contracts, then keeping more of the upside if a show takes off.
Streaming of virtual MPVD services accounted for about 10% of all OTT usage in the U.S. in April, according to a new report from comScore.
Source: Virtual MVPD Usage Now Accounts For 10% of All OTT Streaming, comScore Says
With virtual MVPDs continuing to take on new customers at a healthy clip, keeping customers in the pay TV ecosystem, cord cutting dropped significantly for the second straight quarter, according to Leichtman Research Group.
Source: Pay TV Subscriber Losses Dropped to About 415,000 in Q2 as vMVPDs Continue to Grow
Hulu’s losses in the second quarter of 2018 more than doubled as it continues to step up investment in content to acquire new customers.
Source: Hulu Losses Double in Q2 to $357 Million, as Disney Is Set to Take Control
Roku gained nearly $157 million in revenue in the second quarter of 2018, compared to the $141 million analysts predicted.
Source: Roku Exceeds Q2 Earnings Expectations, Puts Streaming Service On Web
Altice USA could be willing to team with a virtual MVPD to offer a smaller, less expensive channel bundle.
The company, which was owned by the Chernin Group and includes video and streaming offerings, was sold in a deal that values Otter at more than $1 billion.
Source: On Hunt for Content, AT&T Closes Deal for Chernin’s Otter Media
