Will Time Warner Inc Change Its Name To Warner Bros?

The big magazine news is the plan by Time Warner Inc. to sell off the majority of its magazine brands to Meredith.  "The deal under consideration is one of several options Time Warner is exploring to reduce its troubled publishing unit. As part of the agreement, existing shareholders in Time Warner and Meredith would receive stakes in the new venture."  Titles that would stay with Time Warner include its flagship brand Time, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated.

It certainly indicates that Time Warner no longer sees any synergy between its magazine group and its television team.  Despite the need for magazine brands to become more interactive and add video to its online components, the transition of print to digital has been a difficult one for revenue monetization.  Those that can hang through it will indeed find future revenue growth from digital subscriptions and ad revenue.  Where Time Warner is shedding these titles, Meredith still has faith that their is opportunity ahead.

So without a powerful Time, Inc. in the businesses of Time Warner, is it time to rename the corporation to reflect a larger reliance on film and television.  Is it time for them to once again raise up their Warner Bros. business to be the official corporate name of the company?  With this spin off of Time Inc, it might just be the time.

Streaming Wars, Part III, Amazon CBS Expand Deal

No surprises here.  The race is on for content to stream and Netflix and Amazon are racing to expand their inventory.  As CBS is not an owner of Hulu, they have gone out to the marketplace for their streaming syndication deals and have found a partner with Amazon.  "CBS and Showtime series coming to Prime for the first time include America's Next Top Model, Everybody Loves Raymond, Jericho, The L Word, Undercover Boss and United States of Tara, among others."  Syndication has found new opportunities outside local affiliate and cable deals.  In the streaming rental business, viewers can now subscribe to Amazon Prime to view their favorite CBS series on demand online.  Earlier this month, Amazon also got the streaming rights to the hit PBS series, "Downton Abbey".

The race is on for exclusive new content as well as exclusive windows of streaming syndicated content.  And at the end of the day, consumers may find value in subscribing to more than one streaming service.  That can spell good news to all the competitors in the marketplace, provided that they have their own share of exclusive and original content to offer.  It is why in the premium cable space (HBO, Showtime, Starz, etc), consumers buy more than one pay TV service.

Streaming Wars Part II, Netflix Responds

How do you build a subscription base?  It's all about the content and Netflix is following the strategy of cable TV in building out original exclusive content.  And while the cost of acquisition must certainly be great, it is the content that acts as bait to attract new consumers.  So how best to attract an audience, recognize the different demographics that need to be reached.  And what is more powerful than families, and more specifically, those with young children.  That leads to their latest content deal with Dreamworks Animation.

"The series, "Turbo: F.A.S.T.," is based on DWA's movie "Turbo," which is scheduled to open in theaters this summer. "Turbo: F.A.S.T." will debut exclusively on Netflix in the U.S. and 40 other countries." Prior to this deal, Dreamworks Animation has done content deals with Nickelodean and Cartoon Network.

For Netflix families, access to quality children programming makes them that much more essential to the home.  And as an alternative to cable, Netflix brings a cheaper alternative for content into the home.  In addition, Netflix brings another benefit to families. "Parents like Netflix's easy way to find family friendly movies and shows on-demand and ad-free."  For parents concerned about their kids exposure to tempting commercials, an ad-free model should have enormous appeal.

Can Netflix afford all these programming costs for original and exclusive programming?  Kids bring parents and parents will have their own shows with ads.  Add to that a constant and growing subscription model and Netflix may be the streaming brand to beat.  If Netflix can add an e-commerce revenue stream to the ad and subscriber models, then they will indeed become a triple threat.

Streaming Wars

Consumers have been able to enjoy a number of "marketing wars" over the years with the hopeful outcome that the consumer ends up enjoying a better value for products and services offered.  Yet in most cases, the battle is never about price but about other competitive differences.  We've enjoyed Coke vs Pepsi, Hertz vs Avis, HBO vs Showtime, and today in the streaming marketplace, Netflix vs Amazon.  Sure there are other competitors in each of these battles; still, the main warfare is between the number one and number two brand.

For Amazon and Netflix, much learning comes from the content battles before it, most notably in the cable universe.  While breadth of content is an important piece of the puzzle, the need for original content matters just as much.  So, the fight is on with these two heavyweights, as well as the other competitors in the content space to become the outright streaming leader.  Netflix has been pushing ahead with original series like House of Cards and exclusive new content from Arrested Development.  And Amazon has partnered with CBS "for a unique distribution deal for a 13-episode TV series “Under the Dome” based on a popular 2009 Stephen King novel of the same name."  Yes, this series will first air on the broadcast network this summer and "will be freely available for online streaming for three days afterwards on the network’s website, CBS.com."  But then it will move to Amazon. 

Consumers, for the most part, have a short attention span.  Once consumed, they will be looking for more content to satisfy their appetite.  And it is this desire that will make competition in the streaming world a feeding frenzy.  Good for Amazon and Netflix, but also good news for the other streaming competitors, Hulu, Redbox, and Blockbuster to name a few.  And what of Apple?  For those that want to own the content, Amazon provides a service that Netflix doesn't.  And it is in the download space that Apple competes head on.  Should Apple decide to enter the rental market, either through acquisition or growth, then these streaming wars will no doubt take another interesting turn. 

iPhones Off The Table, I'm Wearing My Phone

I cannot tell you how many people I see at restaurants who put their smartphone out on the table so as to not miss any important call or text.  And while it seems to have become the norm, I am sure Miss Manners would have a few choice words to say about the behavior.  I also find that a smartphone in a pocket or purse can make it difficult at times to hear the ring or feel the buzz of the phone.  Well a solution is at hand, or more accurately, on the wrist.  Word has it that "Apple is experimenting with wristwatch-like devices made of curved glass, according to people familiar with the company’s explorations, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because they are not allowed to publicly discuss unreleased products."

Functional, no doubt; but let's hope that Apple partners with a fashion designer to that the product looks good too.  We have been hearing rumblings of an iWatch before.  What I hope is that the device is an extension of the iPhone and not intended to replace it completely.  Let it notify the wearer that a call is coming in and who it is from; let it share the latest iMessage, and let it remind us when an upcoming calendar appointment is due.  Would access to Siri be a win, it just might; but, let's get the ergonomics right first.  "Down the road, some people believe that "wearable computers" can replace smartphones as the next big thing."  For now, let it be a part of the iPhone infrastructure.

The Future Of Digital Content Is Exclusivity?

At the LA Innovation Forum on Tuesday, the experts in digital content spoke about the future of the industry.  At the panel Hulu's Jason "Kilar noted that the future of sites like Hulu will be with exclusive content, 'something you can't get somewhere else.'" And while I did not personally attend, I wonder if anyone challenged this notion.  Certainly not that it isn't true; rather, that it is the case for all content.

How did print content survive for so long, exclusive content.  In fact, their challenge is not just exclusive, but that the value of the content is minimized by other content that mimics it, only for less.  Print has been challenged because consumers are being asked to pay when other similar content is available for free.  Think generic drugs verse labeled prescriptions, or generic liquor verse premium liquor.  Once we believe that the premium or exclusive stuff is a better value, we as consumers will migrate back to it.  Hence, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal and other print are seeing digital subscriptions rise.

Distribution platforms that own content have a better means to protect it.  The New York Times has contracts with writers.  But except for Comcast, cable operators don't own their TV networks.  In fact, they make a business of selling content in different "windows" to try to keep content exclusive over periods of time.  Movie studios have made their business selling content across different windows, theatrical, premium, and broadcast TV.

In the movie industry, the exclusivity is threatened when content is moved in front of the pay wall and made available, sometimes illegally, to the masses.  Today's news of Disney classic animation movies not being protected on You Tube is but one example.  For cable operators, the threat is that the networks that they pay a monthly license fee for content is offering the same content to consumers on other mobile platforms.  It eliminates their exclusivity and has these cable operators literally offering broadband service to circumvent their own cable service.  Consumers who don't want to pay for cable can still get their TV shows through Hulu and other websites. 

Of course exclusivity is not the only means to gain consumer share of market.  A better transaction experience, easier download, quality of the stream of content, quantity and variety of product, and other factors affect the buying decision.  And as consumers we are willing to buy digital content once we believe it delivers to us a value proposition that works.

Char Beales To Leave CTAM

For those in the cable industry, CTAM has been the industry group for marketers.  Once representing just cable television, the  group expanded its reach when its initials were renamed to represent the Cable AND Telecommunications Association for Marketing.  I was fortunate enough to have been both a member of the organization as well as a part of the local New York Chapter, involved on a number of committees, including the Blue Ribbon Breakfast, and on the local board as Membership Director and as Vice President.  It was a great experience.

But the role of CTAM has changed a great deal in the last decade.  Controlled by the cable operators, CTAM pushed out alternative distribution providers from becoming members.  In 2011, the CTAM board voted to close all the local US chapters.  For me, it was the nail in the coffin for CTAM as the local chapters created multiple in market events and represented a cable community for its members.  Whether it was an educational panel or a holiday party, local members came together to learn, talk, and share.  And it enabled real relationships to form and grow. Without the chapters, CTAM lost its real connection for me.

So it is with a sad heart to read that CTAM's  president and CEO, Char Beales, will be leaving the helm of the ship she has guided.  For me, she is CTAM.  Whether it is her own decision or one that has been decided by the cable operators who manage the board of directors, Char probably knew that the best days of the organization were behind her.  The last straw for her may just have been seeing the end of the CTAM Summit.

The industry has changed greatly and there are far fewer cable operators to oversee.  The loss of local chapters and the Summit and other conferences makes the role of president much less impactful.  Perhaps the board felt that a "less expensive" salaried president was necessary too.  While Char will help find the next president, the future of CTAM seems to me to be a short one and I predict that it will close for good in a couple of years.

Is Charter Cable For Sale?

Is Charter Cable preparing itself for sale?  "Word has it that Charter just froze all budgets including hiring at its new headquarters in Stamford, CT. "  Speculation is that the tires are being kicked by Time Warner Cable although Cox Communication may also be in the hunt.  At the same time, TWC also announced higher  fourth quarter earnings.  We will just have to stay tuned...

Postal Service Declines The Result of Digital

We all have seen the decline of the US Postal Service as, like any government organization, has high costs and lack of innovation.  And despite their motto to deliver through all types of bad weather, it is in fact the technology environment that has taken the biggest toll.

The quantity of mail flowing through the system keeps declining with the rise of online connectivity and consumer acceptance with the web.  We don't write letters to our family and friends, we send e-mails.  We don't mail our checks to the credit card companies, we pay online.  We don't send as many birthday or anniversary or get well cards because of the speed and ease of social media.  In fact, why send a birthday card when Facebook tells me who's birthday it is today and offers me a quick link to send them some birthday wishes.  I write less checks, I send less cards, I write less letters, I buy less postage stamps.  The world around the post office has changed while the institution stays the same.

So it should come as no surprise that  the Postal Service has decided to lower its costs and adapt to less quantity of mail by reducing its workload.  "The U.S. Postal Service plans to stop delivering letters and other first-class mail on Saturdays beginning Aug. 1, although packages will continue to be delivered."  I am confident that this change will go over with barely a whisper.  Most important mail is delivered digitally.  Packages of any importance don't have to rely on the US Post Office when Fed Ex and UPS are also on the job.  It is a big change for an institution that "started Saturday delivery in 1863."  But as much as we may want to weep nostalgic, change is the only constant/