Cordkillers 118 – Steam’s Stream Dream (w/ Jaime Ruiz-Avila)

Cordkillers / April 26th, 2016

How the FCC helped cablecos explain why they resist innovation, Apple might make its own original TV shows, HBO NOW FINALLY gets popular.

Download audio

Download video

CordKillers: Ep. 118 – Steam’s Stream Dream
Recorded: April 25 2016
Guest: Jaime Ruiz-Avila

Intro Video

Primary Target

  • Comcast will bring its Xfinity app to Roku and Samsung Smart TVs this year
    – Comcast announced its HTML5 Xfinity app is coming to Samsung Smart TVs
    – A custom app is coming to Roku.
    – Subscribers to Comcast’s Xfinity cable service can access the channel guide, cloud DVR, and live and on -demand TV.
    Comcast believes this shows the FCC does not need to mandate set-top box compatibility.
    – The FCC told the Verge the new app does not “integrate or search across Comcast content as well as other content consumers subscribe to.” 
  • Disney, CBS, Viacom worry FCC cable box proposal would do to TV what iTunes did to music
    – Several companies inl. Disney, CBS, Fox, A&E, Time Warner, Scripps and Viacom filed feedback to the FCC’s proposed rules to require MVNOs to support third-party cable boxes
    – Companies object that they would lose revenue if they can no longer control the order in which channels appear
    – particularly concerned that these new set-top boxes will offer up shows individually, instead of presenting entire channels as cable boxes
    – Worry about “commitments to secure and protect content”
    – Comcast made a separate filing
    – Added arguments are technical burdens to support the new boxes, might require more bandwidth
    – “In any event, at a minimum, the [FCC’s proposal] vastly understates the level of work, and associated costs, that would be necessary to implement its Set-Top Box Mandate,” it writes.

Signal Intelligence

  • Apple talking original content
    – Feature by Nicole Laporte on Fast Company
    – Apple held a private dinner at Sundance and heard pitches in LA in the weeks that followed.
    – Fast Company says it would be for an “exclusives” app on Apple TV
    – Two “lanes”
    – 1. Beats-driven programming meant to promote music
    – 2. Multiple original series.
    – Alibaba Pictures set up in Pasadena.
    – Run by Zhang Wei, former talk show host and Harvard MBA

Gear Up

Front Lines

Under Surveillance

Dispatches from the Front

Hey guys,

Just listened to last week’s show and was wondering if either of you have tried the Xbox One for its media options.

I am not sure how common this set up is for everybody but an Xbox with kinect, HDMI pass through for a cable box and a harmony remote let’s me easily access anything I want using the Xbox – One Guide.

The One Guide lays out suggestions for movies to rent or purchase, what is popular in most video apps like Netflix, Hulu, YouTube or if you chose to look at your cable provider’s channel guide will list categories such as live TV shows trending on Twitter.

What has really surprised me is that I recently realized how easy it is to be able to say “”””Xbox on”””” which will wake it up and turn on the TV and follow it with “”””watch ESPN”””” and it just finds the channel for me.  (No need to memorize #s) Or I can use a remote, a game pad or cell phone to control everything.

I know one of the features (that admittedly might bother some) is that the kinect will recognize when I’m sitting in front of the TV and have favorites/suggestions loaded based on my profile and the same based on my wife’s profile if she is watching TV.

If you guys have tried it out would love to hear your thoughts.

Cheers!
– Byron

 

 

Hi Brian, Tom, Bryce and guest,

I know they are several months away but I was thinking about how I was going to be able to watch this summer’s Olympics. Since I cut the cord I have found ways to get some of the live TV I was missing but sports has been the hardest to find. This will be the first Olympics since ditching cable TV so I was wondering if you know if NBC makes the Olympics available to those of us without a cable box.

Thank you for making my commute enjoyable and educational. I’m happy to say I am one of your bosses.

– Jennifer, Stuck in traffic on the Mass Pike

 

 

 

Hey gentlemen got to say something……. YOU JJEERRRRKKKKKSSSSS. You guys just had to say Animaniacs was on Netflix didn’t ya. I was dumb enough to watch the first episode AND NOW I CANT GET THE DAM ANIMANIACS THEME OUT OF MY HEAD AND WANT TO BINGE ON EVERY EPISODE phffft 😛 Jerks 😉 . Even after all these years I remembered the theme word for word, I missed that show. Keep up the awesome work

– Robert E from Oklahoma  

The love affair is over. The sling streaming beta blacked out the blues Blackhawks game. I had to prove where I lived to get the channel. Sling is saying they are subject to the same blackout rules as everyone else. This is a lie since local dish and cable subscribers can watch. I got to watch the game earlier this week on Fox sports Midwest without issue. Maybe Playstation view is right for me. 

– Sean

 

Bryce asked about netflix country availability:

http://moreflicks.com

That will do more than what you want, but it will do what you were talking about.

– Kurt

Links
www.patreon.com/cordkillers

2016 Summer Movie Draft

Hatting The System

Tootz the Unicorn

Cordkillers 116 – The Moose in the Room (w/ Chris Mancini and Fraser Cain)

Cordkillers / April 11th, 2016

Canada cuts the cord because its cable is cheaper, NFL comes to Twitter, and is Tom Waits a stunt casting? With special guests Chris Mancini and Fraser Cain.

Download audio

Download video

CordKillers: Ep. 116 – The Moose in the Room
Recorded:  April 11 2016
Guests: Fraser Cain, Chris Mancini

Intro Video

Primary Target

  • Cord-cutting soars in Canada
    – Convergence Consulting Group report
    – 190,000 Canadians dropped traditional TV in 2015 +80% yoy
    – Cable subs last grew in Canada in 2012
    – Canada decline 1.5% bigger than 1% decline in US
    – Majority HH still subscribe ti TV (11 mm)
    – Netflix subs in Canada rose 58% from 2013-2015 (4.9 mm)
    – Canadians pay less on average for cable but more for Internet than US

Signal Intelligence

  • Twitter reportedly wins streaming rights for NFL’s Thursday Night Football
    – Twitter will stream 10 Thursday Night Football games “to a global audience” in 2016 for free without authentication.
    – Paid around $10 million acc. Bloomberg’s source (beating out Verizon, Yahoo, Amazon)
    – NFL evp media said didn’t take highest bidder.
    – Twitter gets a small portion of ad inventory
    – CBS and NBC paid $225mm for 5 Thursday games each — Verizon has rights to stream to wireless phones
    – Twitter video will be embeddable. Include pregame Periscope streams from players and teams
    – Available on Xbox app and possibly partnered w/ Google and Yahoo
    – Twitter CFO Anthony Noto (formerly of the NFL) told Bloomberg wants to do other sports, politics and entertainment.
    – Twitter claims 800mm audience when counting non0logged-in people
    – Thursday night games attracted 17 million viewers last season.
    – NFL’s biggest broadcast contracts end in 2021
    – Yahoo streamed Oct. 25 game from London (paid $20mm)

Gear Up

  • Roku’s new $50 stick fits a quad-core CPU in a smaller frame
    – Roku introduced an updated $50 Streaming Stick.
    – Quad-core CPU, dual-band MIMO antenna, and the ability to stream audio over Wi-Fi to a smartphone.
    – Does not support 4k video only 1080p.
    – The stick is available for purchase and will ship near the end of the month.
    – Roku is also rolling out OS 7.1 today available on all devices within 6 to 8 weeks. 

Front Lines

  • It’s going to cost you more to ‘Netflix and Chill’ from next month
    – Netflix will raise all subscribers prices to $9.99. Netflix guaranteed the original pricing plan for customers in May 2014. Netflix users in the UK will begin to see an increase of 50p later this month, with prices going up to £7.49.
  • Starz launches $8.99 per month streaming service
    – Starz is making an app for iOS and Android and selling access for $8.99 a month. The same app will be accessible to existing subscribers. Users can get “virtually unlimited” downloads of shows and movies. The premiere of Outlander will come on the app April 7 two days before the premiere. 
  • Hulu is now a channel on Optimum cable boxes
    – Cablevision’s Optimum TV service has added Hulu to channel 605. Customers can subscribe through Hulu or Cablevision. 
  • Layer3 TV’s Crazy Plan to Take on Comcast and Reinvent Cable
    – A company called Layer3 plans to compete with cable companies by offering traditional cable but with better tech. The company will deliver a better picture by using fiber and HEVC (H.265) video, and one hour appointment windows. It’s set-top box will be simple to install and include Internet options like Amazon and Netflix. The channel guide prioritizes channels based on your interests not channel numbers. Level3 is coming to Chicago first in the next few months for $80-$150.
  • Verizon Buys More Mobile Video by Investing in DreamWorks’ AwesomenessTV
    – Verizon has purchased a 24.5% stake in Awesomeness TV, which is majority owned by Dreamworks. Hearst also owns 24.5%. It looks like Verizon will use Awesomeness content for its G090 mobile video service in a new subscription tier. AwesomenessTV runs YouTube channels for itself, Dreamworks and Seventeen magazine, and produces a sketch comedy series on Nickelodeon. Parents ask your kids. 
  • Plex on the web gets smarter with media searches
    – Plex updated its Web interface. Search finds everything across multiple categories as you type. Improved navigation includes more prominent discovery features and better mouse and touch controls.
  • HDR is TV’s next big format war, and Samsung and Sony could find themselves on the losing side
    – CNET has a great explainer up on the latest video format war. This time its two implentation of High Dynamic Range or HDR video in 4K.  Here’s the short version. There are two HDR implementations, HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Samsung and Sony support HDR10. LG and Vizio support both. Amazon and Netflix stream in both. 

Under Surveillance

Dispatches from the Front

HighTechBill tweeted us about this excellent Cord-cutting guide from ChannelMaster!
 

 

Before Star Wars Episode VII came out to own, I decided I would just buy it digitally until the new box set comes out after episode 9. There wasn’t a need to have a physical DVD when I could own it through Amazon or Google. However, I recently replaced my laptop and iPad with a Surface Pro 4. I love to watch movies on the plane when traveling. However, what I found is that neither Amazon nor Google will let me download a movie I own onto my Surface, because it is a computer and they don’t have apps like they do for the iPad where they can control the content. This being said, I opted to buy the physical DVD + Blue Ray + Digital HD version of the movie. I wanted to share this story because this was a rare occasion for me where the physical DVD was the better option for me and fortunately it comes with a digital copy. I am getting to watch what I want, where I want, and sort of on the device I want – but it’s not completely there yet. Would love to hear of any better suggestions for this scenario or any similar frustrations!

Love listening to the show every week!

-Kristen

 

 

Hi,
I have the feeling that I emailed you about this before but possibly not for this podcast.
Anytime people talk about users agents, bots or digital butlers automatically doing useful things for you, I am reminded about Hyperland an early 90s TV show written and presented by the late great Douglas Adams.
It is a bit too pre-internet and there’s too much “CD-Roms will fix everything!” which makes it feel out of date. However Douglas Adams makes some interesting predictions especially about how you will be able to get additional information about shows and skip between interesting things.
He is joined in the show by a digital assistant played by Tom Baker. They previously worked together when Douglas Adams wrote for the classic series of Doctor Who (the Douglas Adams co-written story, City of Death is a wonderful intro to classic series).

You can find Hyperland on YouTube (Tom’s wife works for YouTube) and while you are there look up the South Bank Show profile of Douglas Adams from 1992 and feel sad.

– Tim

 

 

re: redbox: Think you guys might have missed the point about them going digital. If they bring the same price wars to digital as they did against brick and mortar it could shake things up quite a bit.
Brian seems to think that the reason redbox customers use them is for the physical content. I use them for the incredible price point. Why spend 5$ on Google play when redbox costs a buck? I recently spent 5$ on a YouTube rental for Spotlight because the vending machine only has so many titles. I’m guessing digital could erase that problem as well.
Thanks for the show!!

– Erick

 

Links

www.patreon.com/cordkillers

2016 Summer Movie Draft

Cordkillers 115 – Strike While the Corpse is Hot (w/ Christina Warren)

Cordkillers / April 5th, 2016

Buying tickets to your couch, streaming fatigue, TiVo complains when their own ads get skipped. With special guest Christina Warren.

Download audio

Download video

CordKillers: Ep. 115 – Strike While the Corpse is Hot
Recorded: April 4 2016
Guest: Christina Warren

Intro Video

Primary Target

  • Flix Premiere tries to apply theatre distribution model to streaming  service
    – Curated movies (good indie films that haven’t found an audience)
    – Only platform exclusives
    – Promote movies online, trailers, interviews, behind-the-scenes to release date
    – 8 titles each week
    – pay a couple bucks for the “ticket”
    – Can still see what was playing in previous weeks. 12-month exclusive on all films
    -ios and Android more to follow
    – US and UK now in testing, end of May after Cannes Film Festival expand to Australia, Canada, France, Germany and Spain. 

Signal Intelligence

Gear Up

Front Lines

Under Surveillance

Dispatches from the Front

 

You were ruminating on Redbox creating a digital rental service and speculating on whether they would be able to maintain their price advantage over iTunes/Amazon et al rentals with that move; it made me wonder if either of you had heard of or used the service VidAngel. (vidangel.com). They have an interesting ‘purchase-and-return’ loophole scheme going on that allows you to ‘rent’ movies digitally for $1-2 (SD/HD). Pretty wild, but as far as I can tell, completely legit… I’ve heard them advertise on nationally syndicated radio shows, so I don’t think they’re trying to fly under the radar. They’re also interesting because they support filtering objectionable content in the video for families, and they rent some HBO/Netflix shows as well (Game of Thrones, House of Cards). They even have filters for Jar-Jar Binks scenes and ‘new edits’ in Star Wars… so they have a sense of humor about it. And they have apps on all the devices you’d want… If you haven’t checked them out, you might want to.

Anyway, great show guys! 

– Gabriel

 

 

 

Check this one out. They are offering me cable for 10 bucks a month!  Last one was for 30 bucks with HBO and Showtime. The next one will probably be for free. They won’t get me!  Gladly, my wife Teresa agrees.

Thanks,

– Steven
Cedar Park, Texas

 

 

 

Dear Cordkillers,
 
As one of your bosses, I wanted to point out some interesting numbers that recently came out about TV viewing.
 
“1,004 hours were spent watching live TV, up from 936 hours a year ago, and time spent watching programs on DVRs up to 15 days after they originally aired rose to 356 hours from 332 hours.”
 
“Among millennials, time spent viewing live TV has been eclipsed by use of desktop computers and phones. Live TV still accounts for 47% of time spent.”
 
 …comScore/Rentrak use electronic devices to register TV viewing in all their markets not just the top 50 or so…. Rentrak uses equipment like cable boxes and other electronic means to get the their numbers. 

 
– Jay

KEY POINTS from report

– comScore also says that the largest digital media properties can reach as big an audience as the Big 4 broadcasters in primetime. Google websites reach 247 million people per month, compared to 228 million for the top broadcast network.

– The TV landscape continued its shifting of time and space, with more delayed, on-demand and digital viewing of TV programming than ever before.

– Digital media usage continued to grow at a fast rate, driven by smartphone app usage which is inching closer and closer to 50 percent of all digital media time spent.”

  • 2016 U.S. Cross-Platform Future in Focus
  • Nielesen getting access to Dish Set-top box data
    – “The competitive pressure on Nielsen also got ratcheted up when two of its competitors in the measurement space—Rentrak and comScore—merged in a $770 million deal that was announced last year and closed in February. Rentrak already has deals with a number of cable and satellite companies like Dish to get data from their set-top boxes, and comScore specializes in online measurement.”

 

 

I think that there are many ways to kill the cord and it seams your show dismisses physical media and TV antenna viewing when you should be embracing both “”old”” technologies as another way to kill the cord (unless you consider the cord from my antenna to my TV and the cord to my Blu-Ray player to be the enemy also).

Thank you and keep fighting the good fight.

Sincerely,

– Richard

 

Links

www.patreon.com/cordkillers

2016 Summer Movie Draft