[opendtv] =?utf-8?Q?Re:_[opendtv]_Re:_Thin_Is_In,_But_the_Juryâs_S? =?utf-8?Q?till_Out_|_Multichannel?Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2015 10:05:07 -0400
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
On Aug 13, 2015, at 9:11 PM, Manfredi, Albert E
<albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The definition is correct. When Dish offers Sling TV, it does so as an OTT
site. Not as an MVPD. It's as simple as that, Craig. You need to go back to
the top of the page and stay consistent with that long coming understanding.
You are playing games with acronyms Bert. We've been over this too many times.
If ANYONE sells a subscription to multiple linear streams from multiple content
owners they are a MVPD. PERIOD,
It does not matter how these streams are delivered.
So once again: the inclusion of ESPN is "skinny packages" came **after** the
decline in ESPN viewership began. Get it, Craig?
Yes Bert. ESPN is facing some challenges, and like the entire industry is
trying new business models.
The inclusion in skinny packages was an attempt to stem that tide.
Not working...
So it can hardly be the CAUSE of the slide. The slide started first, then
ESPN started taking action.
Skinny bundles are now here and are likely to proliferate. It is expected that
there will be shifts when a new technology fundamentally improves the way we
consume Tav content. And it is expected that consumers will push back when
monopolists constantly drive the price of their services upward faster than
inflation - ESPECIALLY in an economy where real wages are declining.
But MVPD services exist, and will continue to exist, because they offer content
people want. Not 500 channels of reruns, but original content that is offered
by a relatively small number of sources.
Take a look at this Variety article about the top cable networks in 2014. By
the way, ESPN was number 1.
http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/ratings-espn-tops-cable-for-year-own-hallmark-we-tv-among-few-gainers-1201391036/
*If* all those viewers, lost to ESPN from Craig's favorite "the bundle," had
all migrated to Sling TV, *then* we could conclude that indeed, ESPN going to
Sling TV had undermined "the bundle," and had cut into ESPN revenues. But
that's not the case. The case is, much more simply, that people are tired of
paying welfare checks to ESPN. In the new Internet TV era, ESPN has to
compete.
The case is that Sling did not help Dish OR ESPN grow. Both lost DISH
subscribers in the last quarter, as Sling did not offset the loss of
subscribers at Dish.
Yes people are tired of paying for stuff they don't watch. This is a major
reason that we are starting to see some real changes in the MVPD business. And
it is especially encouraging to see new Virtual MVPD services appear, as they
have lower subscriber acquisition costs and the incentive to offer better value
to attract subscribers.
I'll make a bet now that ESPN will not go direct to consumer in the
next five years, and if it does it will cost a bundle...
No problem. Even if they don't go direct, they will find their way to other
OTT sites, much like Sling TV. And going direct is hardly out of the
question, even as soon as next year. If the slide continues.
We already know that Apple will include ESPN in their VMVPD service. Maybe Sony
will manage to cut a deal as well. By the way, yesterday I saw a story that the
Apple service will not launch until 2016. The stated reasons were negotiations
with several Broadcast TV networks, and the need to build more infrastructure.
The story also stated that Apple will continue to work with CDNs to provide
edge caching, even as they build out new server farms to support the new
service, both here in the U.S and in Europe.
Regards
Craig
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- » [opendtv] =?utf-8?Q?Re:_[opendtv]_Re:_Thin_Is_In,_But_the_Juryâs_S? =?utf-8?Q?till_Out_|_Multichannel?Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2015 10:05:07 -0400 - Craig Birkmaier