Peter Ilberg’s Post

BINGE. BAIL. BOUNCE. 10+ year old Projection/Words and FreeCast Mission to Overturn with New Platform. "More than 29 Million - about a quarter of domestic paying streaming subscribers - have canceled 3 or more services over the last two years" #nextgenstreaming #freecast #streamingwars #nomoreappdiving https://lnkd.in/eD_-5PM6

Americans are increasingly likely to cancel their streaming services, with nearly a quarter of subscribers having canceled three or more services over the last two years. These "serial churners" have significant implications for the major media companies, leading to reduced investments in shows and higher prices for streaming services. One option for slowing the churn is to package streaming services together, replicating the traditional cable bundle and making consumers less likely to cancel their subscriptions. Learn more about this trend and its impact on the industry in this article in The New York Times:

What drives choice in viewers' minds? As media consumers, we’ve never had more choice. With so much happening, how can media brands get a handle on new behavioural patterns, and predict where the industry is heading next? I’m very pleased to announce that I have joined research consultancy Trinity McQueen as Head of Media Research. In my first article for them, I explore the future of TV and media, and how brands can hope to understand the changing mind of the viewer.  Have a read over on their website now. #insight #research #TV #media #streaming https://lnkd.in/e3qJq56X

The recent, somewhat negative, B2B narrative regarding the economics of the FAST business has been perplexing. Adoption and real engagement with CTV overall is still emerging and FAST/AVOD is understandably overshadowed for now by the more buzzy, high budget content reatured on the largest SVODs. That said, this is a pretty encouraging statement - “The study, The State of Modern TV Viewership, conducted by Vevo and Publicis Media, found that more than 50% of millennial and Gen X viewers watch free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels monthly, with 89% of viewers saying they think FAST delivers great value.” No single study is conclusive and the sample size is small here, but let’s just keep working to elevate the quality of the content, the consumer promotion, and the user experience (AI is our friend) and I believe the tide of viewing will keep rising (FAST). #FASTisgood #giveFASTachance #growingpainshappen

When decision fatigue (streaming) gives way to... yet more decision fatigue as audiences grapple navigating through 1,500 FAST channels, the result is channel compression (referred to gingerly as "optimization"). Seems like the unbridled expansion of FAST channels may be peaking, even as total viewership/usage remains strong. According the Nielsen's The Gauge, Tubi represented 1.4% of all viewership during December, more than Peacock (1.3%), Max (1.2%) and P+ (.9%) while Tubi, Pluto and Roku accounted for 3.1% in aggregate, just shy of Amazon Prime Video's 3.3%. (https://lnkd.in/gSmAKfeq)

Macro vs Micro on #television trends We often talk about things in a macro perspective in the #tvindustry for example #fastchannels and #avod taking off, when in reality, its big impact has been in the USA. We often forget to look at things in more granularity, even categorising things homogenously in a place as heterogenous as Europe - sometimes trends can be pan-European, other times, not at all! We talk the rise of #streaming and think of linear as an afterthought, whose decline is inevitable. However, that's not the case, on European level, and least of all in Spain: "The majority of Spaniards (78.4 per cent) prefer to watch linear FTA TV over pay-TV or streaming. A report made by Dos30′ using Kantar Media and Comscore data further reveals that the country’s traditional linear TV operators -Atresmedia, Mediaset, RTVE, Regional channels – provide the most-watched TV channels." "Including thematic DTT channels, the number of people watching linear TV amounts to 84.2 per cent versus 15.8 per cent for streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max, Atresplayer and Mitele, and 5.8 per cent from pay-TV, according to the report citing audience ratings from February." That somewhat flies in the face of conventional wisdom. That's because in Europe there's an extremely strong #fta environment, and that free TV isn't the novelty here in Europe as it is in the USA. Is Spain an outlier? Possibly, but it's a big enough market to make one reconsider what conventional wisdom on things is. It defied my own expectations where, while I have no doubt in the continuing strength of free TV in Europe, I did expect consumption to transition to digital and less viewing of traditional linear. "Only traditional linear TV is able to draw large audiences in the million. None of the streaming services like YouTube or even new media models like Twitch have, to date, attracted more than 300,000 simultaneous viewers." #livetv #livesports and #livenews are undoubtably the bedrock of linear, and the stats bear this out. "As for content, football is king with over 3.17 million viewers." With the #costoflivingcrisis impacting TV, we talk about shifts and assume this will mean #avod and FAST, and that's a part of it, but I do think we're neglecting one of the big traditional giants in TV, #fta linear. Especially in the current circumstances, it could secure more market share of consumption as people turn away from paid services. The only hitch here is with the decline of advertising revenues for traditional linear. If this leads to a deterioration in content lineups, more repeats, it could push people to move away. However, in the current climate affecting everyone, I think that's a low risk. #spain #espana #streamingmedia #streamingplatforms

Time spent watching #TV is relatively flat. It's they way that we consume #content and the type of content that we're consuming that's changing. Especially as the number of streaming services continue to rise. https://lnkd.in/gtGPfcyq Nielsen Gracenote #streaming #streamingmedia #streamingtv #streamingvideo #streamingwars #streamingservices

Check out “The Show Must Go Off”, a new special report from Luminate and Variety Intelligence Platform. While it’s now easier than ever for axed shows to find new homes on another platform or be resurrected by popular demand, the promise of the streaming era as a new age of creative freedom and permanent availability has given way to yanking shows from platforms, revoking second-season orders and, in one case, dumping a completed freshman series before it even aired. Meanwhile, the original disruptor, Netflix, has seen its public image shift from that of a renegade TV resurrector to an ax-wielding slasher, ready to cancel viewers’ favorite shows at the drop of a hat. But does Netflix, or any one streamer, really cancel shows more often than the rest? The report analyzes the TV content released by the eight largest U.S.-based subscription video on demand (SVOD) services — Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Prime Video & Amazon Studios, Max, Apple TV+, Paramount+ and Peacock — along with the major broadcast and cable networks, between January 2020 and August 2023. Luminate provided extensive data on the networks’ content output, including premiere dates, season counts, genres and renewal status, which was then put into context by VIP+. Results show that Netflix’s reputation as a show killer is largely undeserved, with the streamer falling squarely in the middle of the pack when cancellation rates are viewed proportionally. Instead, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max surges ahead of the other SVODs, largely as a consequence of the company’s great streaming catalog purge last year. Read to report to dive into: 🎬 The rates of streaming and linear TV series cancellations between 2020 and 2023 🍿 How long shows typically last on streaming versus broadcast and cable 🎞️ Which networks have axed the most shows recently - and, more important, why Thanks Andrew Wallenstein, Mark Hoebich and the teams at VIP+ and Luminate

Are you keeping up with the latest media trends? Free ad-supported streaming television, or FAST, is quickly becoming a popular choice for media planners. In fact, by 2027, nearly one-third of the US population is expected to be FAST viewers, totaling a staggering 114.5 million people. This is according to a September 2023 forecast by Insider Intelligence. With the rise of new players and an abundance of ad inventory, FASTs are becoming an increasingly appealing option for those looking to expand their media mix. Stay ahead of the game and learn more about what media planners need to know about FASTs by checking out the link below! #FAST #mediaplanning #streamingTV #premion #ctvaggregator

Another day, another article about how the future of media companies are in doubt: "If television is a battlefield, broadcast and cable seem to be losing the long war. Broadcast networks are bleeding viewership totals. To trim their budgets, they are making fewer pilots and filling their prime-time slots with game shows and reality competitions. The outlook is almost as depressing for cable. Millions of pay-TV subscribers are cutting the cord every year. Instead of offering as many new shows as they used to, cable networks are filling their schedules with mini-binges of old favorites, whether it’s “Law & Order: SVU” on USA or “Parks and Recreation” on Comedy Central." "Still, Netflix, Disney+ and the rest of the streaming gang have their own problems. After being hailed for revolutionizing television and pumping out content as if there was no tomorrow, streaming sites also are losing subscribers and being pressured by Wall Street to turn a profit as soon as possible, not somewhere down the road. Major players are cracking down on password sharing, laying off employees, slowing their spending sprees and offering lower-cost subscriptions that come with ads — the same old-timey model that over-the-airwaves broadcast TV uses." The bottom line is that there is too much content trying to compete for the attention of audiences. The revenue models of traditional media outlets, and even newer media outlets, assume a level of content scarcity that simply doesn't exist anymore. How do you cut through? What if the solution isn't about content at all? What if the way to cut through isn't with content, but with connection? Media companies need to spend less time pumping out content, and more time focusing on building community. https://lnkd.in/gXWt2_F2