Craig Birkmaier posted:
http://www.multichannel.com/thin-jury-s-still-out/392864
So Craig, a few take-aways for you:
1. "Sling TV is technically an OTT service"
I have never seen anything published that says otherwise.
2. "Dish chairman and CEO Charlie Ergen said skinny bundles make more sense
with OTT services than traditional pay TV, mainly because of lower subscriber
acquisition costs (SAC)."
Then although Rutledge says about bundles:
3. “'That’s not the way the world works,' he said, adding that he doesn’t
expect things to change anytime soon. 'My sense is that it isn’t all about to
fall apart and that we’ll be having this conversation three years from now,
because I think there is nothing to incent anyone to pull it apart.'”
The incentive is,
4. "The Wall Street Journal had reported that ESPN was in a major cost-cutting
mode after shedding about 3.2 million subscribers in a little more than 12
months, citing Nielsen figures. It partly attributed those losses to ESPN’s
inclusion in skinny packages and an overall pay TV decline."
The fact are, ESPN started losing customers BEFORE any Sling TV idea came to
fruition. If people were dropping ESPN from traditional MVPD subscriptions, and
flocking to Sling TV en masse, you would see that reflected in Sling TV
subscriptions.
Skipper said some time ago that he would have to take action if subscriptions
dropped, and he is doing so.
5. "Iger said last month that for ESPN, going direct-to-consumer like HBO Now
and others was probably 'inevitable,' but wouldn’t happen for at least five
years."
Well, going to an OTT site is the first step. Whether the second step takes
five years is to be seen. These things have been happening a whole lot faster
that the CEOs ever initially claimed.
Bert
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