Is the pay TV mountain about to crumble, why MLB paying NHL is revolutionary for cord-cutters, and Xbox One gets a DVR.
CordKillers: 83 – The Last Stage of Denial
Recorded: August 10, 2015
Guest: None
Intro Video
Primary Target
- Chart Shows Pay TV Subscribers Shrinking
- Cord-Cutting Weighs on Pay TV
- Sanford C. Bernstein report confirms TV networks are increasing ad stuffing
- Cablevision stems subscriber loss at a cost
- No cord-cutting landslide yet according to Cablevision CEO
– 1. If you want more Interent choices Pay TV has to see you as worth pursuing
– 2. To see you as worth pursuing the traditional Pay TV subscriber business has to be seen as no longer 100% secure
– Last week investors sold off big media companies erasing $50 billion in value
– A chart from MoffettNathanson shows the decline of subscriber growth in pay TV dramatically. No positive growth since Q3 2012
– PAY TV companies can no longer count on steadily rising subscriber fees
– For June through mid-July, the top 30 cable networks were down more than 10% in viewers in prime time and 20% among adults 18-49 compared with the same period a year ago (although ad loads have risen as much as 10% yoy)
– Networks (Disney, Turner, Discovery) all denying this will affect them and projecting no problems in subscriber fee growth. Sound familiar?
– Content producers (CBS, Warner Bros. Disney) have MORE outlets paying them to make shows with the rise of Netflix, Amazon, Hulu so they’re prefeectly happy
Signal Intelligence
- MLBAM gets NHL deal
-MLBAM will PAY the NHL $100 million for a six-year deal with rights to digital subscription products and cable TV property
– First time MLBAM pays to run a service. Will sell ads against games.
– Pending board approval this week, will engage bankers at Evercore and Goldman Sachs to market MLBAM to investors with the intention of spinning out by end of year under name BAM Tech
Gear Up
- Xbox One DVR doesn’t work without external hard drive
- Xbox will get a DVR feature next year
-XBox One will get a DVR feature in a future update in 2016
– Schedule recordings from OneGuide
– Schedule recordings from mobile, download shows and play them on Windows 10 devices
– Need digital TV tuner and an external hard drive to take advantage
Front Lines
- Netflix’s newest original series is a dystopian thriller in Brazil
-Netflix ordered a new series called 3% Produced by Brazilian studio Boutique Filmes and directed by Cesar Charlone (City of God). Everyone has one chance to jump from poverty to decadence but only 3% of applicants succeed. It’s Netflix’s first entirely Brazilian series. - Ultra HD Blu-ray will have 4K discs here in time for the holidays
–The Blu-ray Disc Association announced it will start licensing Ultra HD Blu-ray technology in time for the 2015 holiday season. The standard is 4K with support for 3840 x 2160 video as well as HDR and HFR and a ‘digital bridge’ feature to allow digital copies to be stored on authorized drives. - HBO NOW Adds Support For Google’s Chromecast
-HBO Now added support for Chromecast to its Android and iOS devices. The Travel Channel, Food Newtwork and Pokemon TV apps also added Chromecast support. - Sky News livestream of Republican debate shut down by Fox News copyright claim
–Fox News held and broadcast debates among selected Republican US Presidential candidates last week. Fox News streamed the debate online but only if you logged in with your cable credentials. Sky News which is a UK network owned by the same company that owns Fox News, was streaming the debate worldwide without requiring a login. At least they were until a content ID claim appeared against Sky News’s stream originating from Fox News blocking it. Sky News started a new stream at a new URL and that one stayed up. - Samsung kills Boxee’s secret tablet remote project, lays off staff
-RIP Boxee. Samsung, which bought Boxee two years ago, canceled the group’s next generation remote control project and has laid off much of the team. The project called PX, for perfect experience, would have been a guide to all programming available on a tablet-like device. - PlayStation’s streaming TV service rolls out to Dallas and Miami
–And two quick notes. The PlayStation Vue TV service is now available in the Dallas and Miami areas and Netflix will launch in Japan September 2nd.
Under Surveillance
- Watch HBO’s chilling teaser for the 2016 sci-fi western ‘Westworld’
-HBO released a teaser for the Westworld series coming in 2016. The TV series will the same story as the 1973 film, but from the point of view of the robots. Written and Driected by Jonathan Nolan. - Netflix is reviving Mr. Peabody and Sherman for a new series this October
-Netflix will have the New Mr. Peabody and Sherman Show with Chris Parnell as the voice of Mr. Peabody hosting a latenight comedy show broadcast . 13 episodes Coming October 9. - Sony Dropped a Ton of News About Dark Tower, Spider-Man, Jumanji, More
-Sony announced: The Dark Tower movie is coming January 13, 2017. The new Jumanji arrives December 25, 2016. New live-action Spider-man July 28, 2017, Animated Spider-man July 20, 2018. New Ghostbusters moved yup to July 15. - Brian: Star Wars (despecialized 5 and 6), Star Wars Rebels (6 episodes), Sneaky Pete, Wet Hot American Summer (2 eps), The Shield 701, Mr Robot 4/5, Hot Girls Wanted (netflix), Rick and Morty 203
- Tom: BoJack Horseman (210-212), Mr. Robot (6), Clone Wars, Sneaky Pete, Wet Hot American Summer (Ep. 1) The Shield (701), Mission Impossible, True Detective, Rick and Morty (203)
- Bryce: Difficult People. Wednesdays to Hulu
Dispatches from the Front
Hey Tom and Bryan! My 7 year old daughter is obsessed with YouTube. I trust her well enough to watch videos on my YouTube account because the YouTube kids seems to be geared for too young of an audience for her. … My question is, why does my 7 year old see Budwiser and other adult themed ads in front of these videos? Is it because YouTube assumes I am watching the video because I am logged in? This seems like of short cited of YouTube with all their data they should be able to recognize that those videos are geared for kids and should only show kid appropriate ads. I wish Google would supply more customization for letting children use YouTube other than “kids” which seems for very young children, or all out using your adult account with adult ads.
– Kyle from Jacksonville
Hello Tom, Brian and Bryce –
Its been great to listen to the talk about whether or not to buy physical media or invest in digital media and some of the comments from other cordkillers.
Last year my brother made some terrible, stupid life choices and had to tighten his budget. One of the first bills to go was his internet and TV. Since he had heavily invested in digital content like Steam games and TV/Movies from Amazon, all of that was now of no use to him. …Yes, he could have downloaded the Amazon files and saved them or put Steam in offline mode, but that would only work for so long.
Watching this happen has made me stick with physical media in all aspects. You never know what’s going to happen in your life and I want to be sure that if I make some dumb choices I’m not stuck watching the only a single channel that comes in on my antenna.
Thanks for the great show!
– Dominic
Quick money saving tip if you pay for Showtime and/or HBO through Apple. We buy $100 gift cards at Costco or Sam’s Club for $80 on sale. Load those up into iTunes Store and save 20%. Over a year if you subscribe to both you’d save about $60. Enough to buy some other shows or support Cordkillers on Patreon!
– Rob
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