Well, quite naturally, people steeped in the legacy MVPD model see this
phenomenon of many different "free trial periods" as the anomaly. In fact, the
anomaly was the previous monopoly of service.
Just go to your average food store. You will find any number of items on, say,
a two-for-one sale. Go to competing food store. Same thing, for different
items. This is normal. What's not normal was that people before were compelled
to shop only at the one food store, so to speak. That's the anomaly. What's
normal is to be able to go readily, to different food stores. What's not normal
is to have to wait for weeks, or more, and for inconvenient house calls, before
being allowed to shop at a different food store. And even then, you have merely
gone from one choice to one other, single choice. That was the legacy MVPD model
Also what's not normal is that the current FCC Chairman hasn't figured this
out, or perhaps has figured it out, and is in bed with a tiny number of special
interests, against the interests of the vast majority. The current Chairman is
encouraging the abnormal, monopoly market, to become re-created for Internet
broadband service too. This is the "Internet freedom" he talks about. He really
needs to go.
Bert
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http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/platforms/ces-2018-offer-surfing-ott-tv-services-growing-concern/170979
Jan 09, 2018 01:37 PM ET
CES 2018: ‘Offer Surfing’ of OTT TV Services a Growing Concern
Free promo periods enable consumers to hop from one virtual MVPD to another
By Jeff Baumgartner
Las Vegas -- The rise of virtual MVPDs are giving programmers new ways to reach
audiences, but they are also creating some concerns as their various free trial
periods enable consumers to quickly switch from one provider to another.
That phenomenon, sometimes termed “offer surfing, is creating a “tension there
that needs to get solved over time,” Sherry Brennan, senior vice president,
distribution at Fox Networks, said here Monday (Jan. 8) at a session titled The
Disruption of Internet TV: Programming Everywhere.
She said those offers could condition consumers that they don’t need to pay the
freight for premium, high-end content.
The phenomenon isn’t entirely new, as it was also present when the market was
home only to traditional MVPDs that required longer-term contracts, but it
occurred in two-year increments, noted Mitch Weinraub, director of advanced
video products for Dish Network, a role that includes the development and
introduction of Dish’s AirTV OTT/OTA combo products for cord-cutters that is
capable of integrating Dish’s Sling TV service.
“But it’s happening more quickly now,” he acknowledged, noting that OTT TV
providers let new customers sign up for free for a few days and offer services
that can be cancelled at any time.
Weinraub doesn’t view that as a bad or overly troubling scenario.
“What we’re enabling is consumers to find a product that’s right for them…and
customers are going to find the right [service],” he said, adding that there
are ways to attract customers to OTT TV services without giving away too much.
Philo, the recently launched sports-free virtual MVPD, hasn’t seen that
phenomenon taking place in the early days of its service, Andrew McCollum,
Philo’s CEO, said, arguing that it’s up to the service provider to create a
service that won’t be exposed to high levels of churn.
“If you’re creating a great experience, people will want to stick around,”
McCollum said, while offering this contrarian view: “People don’t want to keep
switching…It’s work.”
Creating a simplified experience does work so long as it doesn’t likewise
involve removing important features and functionality, Weinraub said.
With Philo, “We tried to lead with the product, lead with the experience,”
McCollum said
Still, any issues with free previews for OTT-delivered TV services are expected
to become more pronounced as more and more players enter the fold, and expand
on a list that now includes packages and services from Philo, Sling TV, DirecTV
Now, CenturyLink Stream, YouTube TV, Hulu, fuboTV and PlayStation Vue.
Brennan estimated that more than 50 companies with aspirations for standing up
national OTT TV services have reached out to Fox about distribution, some more
credible than others.
“The future is uncertain” with respect to TV, Saul J. Berman, chief strategist,
VP and partner at IBM Global Business Services, said earlier in the panel. “A
lot of the value is going to shift,” he added, noting that it all ties back to
a “digital reinvention” of the industry that will determine who gets (and
doesn’t get) the money.
And that trend is also helping out a growing group of SVOD services, including
Turner’s FilmStruck, that don’t focus on multichannel service, but on new and
catalog content in genres that are of specific interest to the consumer that
can be delivered OTT to a wide range of mobile and TV-connected devices.
“The future for branded content owners is fantastic,” Soumya Sriraman,
president, North America of BritBox, an SVOD service focused on British
television, said. “You now know it’s possible to get content to the people who
want it.”
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