Buy The Print Issue, Get The Digital Issue Free

As a start, Time inc and Apple have agreed on one thing, print subscribers of popular print magazines can get a digital version for free. "Starting Monday, subscribers to Sports Illustrated, Time and Fortune magazines will be able to access the iPad editions via the apps, which will be able to authenticate them as subscribers." Will that move retain or even grow the print subscriber base, I hope so. It certainly brings an added value opportunity to the subscription and may work for a family that historically shared the print issue. And it could help lead to a next deal to sell iPad only subscriptions.

It seems that Apple wants to control the digital subscription sale and the customer information and won't share that data with the print publisher. "The standoff has left most magazines with only one way to sell titles on the iPad: one issue at a time, which publishers say is asking too much of readers, particularly of the weekly magazines that form the core of Time Inc.'s business." It seems a solution should be close at hand. A means to share the data and leverage a revenue model that is beneficial to both parties. Per the article, enabling iPad subscriptions to the print audience is a stepping stone to an all encompassing agreement.

Dish Finally Settles With Tivo

One lawsuit finally done, but others still around. "Dish Network Corp. and EchoStar Corp. will pay TiVo Inc. $500 million to settle a patent lawsuit over digital video recorder technology, the companies said Monday." In addition, Tivo remains on Dish boxes and they will work together to market Blockbuster.

So who is next to settle?

NBCU Chief, Steve Burke, Sees Synergy As A Symphony

A terrific article in today's Wall Street Journal highlights Steve Burke's plans to add more synergy to the company. And while synergy strikes some with a negative connotation, he uses words like "symphony" to describe his cross-marketing efforts. "While other media companies are breaking apart to streamline, Mr. Burke is fixated on strengthening ties between assets as diverse as theme parks and cable channels like CNBC to pump up interest in NBCU's franchises."

One of the hardest things for a corporate culture to do is work together. Individual businesses work very hard to protect their fiefdoms, sometimes at the expense of the other business lines. Sharing and collaborating when viewed by companies as a zero sum game means that one unit loses for another to win. Thus building synergy among different business units is often a struggle. It takes strong leadership at the top with teams tasked with developing cross-marketing tactics across units. For when different units collaborate and play well together, the result, as Burke notes, is like a symphony, and the result can be a whole that is actually greater than the sum of it's parts.

Simple to say but extremely difficult to implement. That Burke is pushing the process early on is admirable and seems to have yielded early positive results. They include The Golf Channel - NBC Sports tie in, the promotion of Universal Pictures "Hop" with NBC, and the marketing of NBC's new singing competition, "The Voice".

This synergy strategy is against the grain of what other media companies have done to date. In fact, a number have gone as far as divesting themselves. "Several conglomerates have even re-shaped their empires, abandoning sprawling corporate models. In 2006, Viacom Inc. split into two separate firms, CBS Corp. that covered broadcast TV, radio and book-publishing and Viacom that kept most cable TV and cinema assets. Time Warner Inc. followed suit, spinning off AOL Inc. and Time Warner Cable Inc. in 2009." In addition, Cablevision is spinning Rainbow Media Holdings (to be renamed AMC Networks) off into a separate company as well later this year. As these other companies have had difficult times building synergy across their business units, divesting may have been their only recourse. For NBCU and their parent Comcast, it will be a huge challenge to maintain a synergy approach, but if accomplished will present them with a wonderful "Symphony".

Time Warner Cable Prefers The Web

CEO Glenn Britt sees Time Warner Cable's future and it isn't the set top box. Growth in broadband and over the top competition appears to have TWC finally embracing the internet. "Combined with the idea that they could some day raise prices on those who use the most data, the company painted a picture of a business that would survive the transition from traditional cable video to the Internet. 'High-speed data is quickly becoming the anchor product in the eyes of our customers,' Chief Executive Glenn Britt told analysts Thursday." This awareness certainly is based on the trends of the business although it should have been acknowledged much earlier. While their broadband subscriptions rise, even greater than forecast, video subscriptions continue to drop each quarter.

That broadband data, whether e mail or video content, is what is driving the cable business. It is also what is pushing TWC and other cable operators to push their channel line-up out on the web to PCs and tablets. But to embrace IP is to move away from EBIF and set top boxes. "The company's engineers are focused on delivering more video over the Internet to an array of devices include Apple Inc.'s iPad, developing technology that could eventually make cable set-top boxes unnecessary, Britt said." And necessary for a TV Everywhere experience.

This announcement might also be a blow to set top makers like Motorolla and Cisco (Scientific Atlantic), as well as companies building EBIF tools for the set top - Canoe Ventures, Ensequence, and others. TWC is a partner of Canoe and Britt's remarks about the obsolescence of the set top seriously undermines these companies' business models. It is the web and cloud computing that is the future of TV - network DVRs, interactivity, mobile content, and not a set top box in sight.

For Time Warner Cable, the numbers aren't lying. The challenge is how fast TWC and other cable operators can turn their ships to take more advantage of the web before other over the top competitors take too many subscribers away.

Comcast Adds More Broadcast On Demand Shows

With competition for eyeballs growing, Comcast knows that its on demand serve must be the biggest and the best. Combined with its Fancast streaming platform, Comcast can push its subscription value to its consumers. But to stay competitive and valued, the supply must continue to grow. Thus the latest deal to add more shows to its library of on demand.

"The largest U.S. cable-television company will include TV series from Walt Disney Co. (DIS)’s ABC and News Corp.’s Fox for the first time, including “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Glee,” the Philadelphia-based company said in a statement. Comcast will offer the four most recent episodes of each series on demand beginning tomorrow. Comcast is competing against other cable and satellite providers and online sites including Google Inc. (GOOG)’s YouTube and Netflix Inc. for viewers and advertisers. With the show additions, Comcast said it becomes the first pay-TV provider to offer original series from NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox on demand." Ahhhh, here those key differentiation words, first and original. Clearly, Comcast is feeling the pressure from these over the top providers as well as from telcos like Fios who will announce their own extended deals as well.

The on demand space isn't perfect. Some agreements will limit trick features like fast forward, a win for advertisers. For viewers that don't mind, it means more flexibility to watch on your terms and not on a schedule. And for those that know how to use their DVR, a non-issue. The day will come where every show is on demand and that could make DVRs unnecessary. Until then, Comcast and others will continue to push to increase their on demand library.

TV Everywhere - From Many Not Just One Source

In a wired world, the cost of maintaining and growing the platform, as well as the laws and regulations surrounding a wire, has led to a high barrier to entry and a monopoly of sorts. In the cable industry, you have the choice of only a few - cable company, telco provider, or satellite - to receive your cable signals. Otherwise, it is a digital antenna to receive TV programs. In a digital streaming world, your choices are infinitely wider.

As a consumer, you are not reliant on your cable company to watch shows. With digital streaming, barriers have dropped and multiple video providers have moved in to stream shows to you; not just tethered to your wired TV, but available everywhere and anywhere. Programs can be viewed on your smart phone, your tablet, your laptop, and yes, even on your TV. TV manufacturers have developed connected TVs that bypass the cable wire to enable streaming media to be enjoyed in a big screen experience. They have bypassed the cable operators to work directly with streaming media.

This upheaval in the entertainment landscape has challenged cable to push out streaming apps of its channels on tablets to compete with Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Google and scores of others. Want to watch Austin Powers, you can price shop - buy the DVD, watch on demand from cable, rent from Netflix, download from iTunes. And decide which service gives you the movie where you prefer to watch it - big screen HDTV, laptop, iPad, or iPhone.

It is this new world of TV Everywhere from many sources verse just one that will impact the cable industry. With many players competing for the viewers' attention, each service will compete on price, original content, speed and mobility. And it is that last factor that can hurt cable. HBO is helping cable with its Go product, but one network support is not enough. Dish Network has found its work around with Slingbox. Until then, Netflix and others will forge ahead with more content deals to become more valuable to its growing subscriber base. They are doing deals with many consumer electronic manufacturers and content creators to fill and distribute their pipeline of programming. And that means cord shaving, or worse, cord cutting, of cable subscriptions.

The Tablet Concept Developed By the Newspaper Industry

In 1994, Knight Ridder had already imagined a Tablet computer. I guess the fear of losing their print business may have stopped them from making this leap. Still a fun video to watch, especially that is was created over 17 years ago.

Can Netflix Keep Growing?

Netflix has successfully transitioned itself from DVD rental to streaming media giant. And consumers have flocked to join the service. "At the end of the first quarter, Netflix had 22.8 million subscribers in the United States, giving it as big a footprint as the biggest American cable operator, Comcast, which reported 22.8 million subscribers at the end of last year." At the same time, Netflix has recognized that content is king and is pushing into original content. So will this bubble burst?

Netflix faces a couple of challenges as well as opportunities. The challenges include a platform with low barriers to entry. Cable companies, Apple, Amazon, Dish/Blockbuster and others make it a very crowded space. Competition also pushes up the price of content. It follows a very simple supply and demand economic pricing model. And lastly, the product is only as good as the broadband path that enables it.

But Netflix also has opportunities. Its large customer base is ripe for an advertising model that would add another revenue stream to their bottom line. And as a leader, they continue to remain innovative and forward-thinking. As they learned from DVDs, the business is ever evolving. And lastly, Netflix might also want to consider new partnerships to compete. As Comcast is owning content networks, Netflix might need to do the same. Vertical models are forming and Netflix may need its own to remain ahead.

DVRs Are Helping TV Shows and Ad Revenues Are Improving

The NYT reports that DVRs are saving TV shows by demonstrating that the audiences are watching. "Instead the playback device is offering some shows a lifeline — so much so that network programmers now factor in ratings a full week after a show’s scheduled appearance." And in today's WSJ, Ad Revenues are improving. "For the second consecutive year, marketers are poised to spend more money in advance on commercials for the coming TV season than they did a year earlier, driven in part by unusually high prices for last-minute commercials this spring, according to both buyers and sellers of TV advertising." Put the two articles together, and DVRs are bringing in larger audiences and advertisers are paying for them. Certainly opposite from the thought that DVRs would hurt the TV ad model.

Truth be told, households still watch ads, even on DVRs. Especially when the content of the ads break through the clutter to resonate with the audience watching. Catch them quickly with a hook and hands don't reach for the remote to fast forward through them. In addition, Tivo is working with advertisers to provide better data to improve ad performance. With its latest legal victory, Tivo has also been in the news. Should more cable companies consider including Tivo in their own DVR, viewers would actually appreciate a better search as well as viewing experience. DVRs are in the news and it seems TV has nothing to fear.