If Your Product Starts With An "i", Does That Make It An Apple

Apple seems to be the king of the little "i" as most of its products start with this letter.  There is iMac, iPod, iPad, iPhone, iMovie, iTunes, and more.  So whenever we guess the name of the next product to come from Apple, like iWatch, we assume that it too will start with the little "i".  And so we now expect that Apple will announce next week a new streaming radio service to augment the iTunes brand with the name iRadio.  "Apple is said to have broader ambitions for iRadio than existing streaming radio services, including the ability to purchase a song from the iTunes download store after listening to it and software that predicts what tracks listeners will enjoy based on their existing iTunes collections."

Will iRadio indeed become the name for this new service?   We should know on June 10 at its developer conference.  Of course it may still depend on how many music deals are finalized.  With Pandora and others already serving this marketplace, Apple may need more differentiation to attract these current users to try their new service.  And Apple's marketing hardly ever disappoints. 

Could Apple iWatch Beat Google Glasses?

In the classic game, Who'd you rather, comes the question regarding wearable devices.  Would you rather wear glasses or a watch?  Google Glasses is a real product while the Apple iWatch is a term not yet coined officially by Apple.  And until it is official, we can only speculate about what it can offer.  The folks at Business Insider have an idea.  And they see 95 reasons consumers would use an iWatch.  Their bottom line, "An iWatch will be very useful – and useful things sell by the boatload."

So would you rather wear glasses or a watch or can the answer be both?

Are We Facing Video Gluttony?

At time, I am struck by how often history repeats itself.  And how change, when you notice it at a macro level, follows some very similar behaviors.  Classic marketing has taught us about cycles of segmentation and fragmentation, and we are forever seeking new ways to behave that ultimately makes our lives easier and perhaps simpler.  It could also be said that we sometimes overindulge when faced with too much of a good thing. 

That is how I see what we seem to be facing in the world of video content.  Choosing what to watch and when to watch it gets harder and harder.  When there were fewer outlets for viewing, others (notably the broadcast networks), programmed the best of the best for us to watch.  Choice was much more limited but ultimately we were only seeing the best shows.  The rise of cable meant more outlets for viewing and more choice.  And now the rise of online has led to not only user generated content but now more choices for professionally produced content.  A feast of video content that for some has resulted in binge viewing.  In an attempt to catch up and watch entire series of programs, we sit for many many hours in a row.  Thus the reference to gluttony.

But is it starting to be too much?  As classic marketing cycles suggest, we seem to be in a period of intense fragmentation of video content, both long and short form.  And not that the highest quality still exists among this infinite increase in supply, only that it is now so much harder to find it and enough hours to consume it.  A day is still only 24 hours long and we sleep through about a third of it. 

Despite this path toward gluttony, we now have more control over what we watch, when we watch and where we watch it.  And that approach, TV Everywhere, continues to expand.  Over time, this fragmented marketplace will indeed consolidate again and bring forth a more segmented content platform.  Cable has seen it as networks are owned by large media conglomerates, many with broadcasters themselves.  And this segmentation should happen in the online world as well at least until the next disruptive change comes along.

So enjoy the video feast but perhaps be wary of what you choose to consume and view.  I'd hate to find it leading to such disenchantment of video in general that we move from gluttony to starvation. 

Dish Network Pushing Hard For Wireless

Two interesting articles in the news.  The first article from Reuters was that Dish Network has raised their bid for Clearwire while simultaneously trying to buy Sprint as well.  The second article, in the business section of The Wall Street Journal, talks about cord cutters not only dropping their cable subscription, but their wired internet subscription as well.  "Hundreds of thousands of Americans canceled their home Internet service last year, surveys suggest, taking advantage of the proliferation of Wi-Fi hot spots and fast new wireless networks that have made Web connections on smartphones and tablets ubiquitous."

Does Dish Network see the same trend?  Along with a satellite business, Dish must certainly believe as well that owning a wireless universe could make them a stronger competitive threat to cable.  And as long as the Wi-Fi cost to the subscriber is seen as a good value,  a likely disruptor to the wired world. 

For light users of video streaming, a Wi-Fi solution is seen as far cheaper than a cable and wired broadband subscription.  But wireless providers may not be willing to support the heavy streaming user with an "all you can stream" solution at one low monthly price.   Those users may indeed find more value staying with their cable and broadband provider.  That is until a company can build out a scalable solution of wireless that can be offered at a lower cost and with higher connectivity speeds.  And that is likely the direction Dish may seek to take in buying up companies like Sprint, Clearwire, and Lightsquared. 

A Drought of New Product Releases At Apple

The Business Insider points out in today's article that "there is also evidence to suggest that something big has gone wrong at Apple over the past year. And that something, we would guess, is likely problems with the launch of a major new product category--namely, Apple's television set."  Certainly the rumor mill has gone on for some time that an Apple TV set was in the works but it has yet to materialize.  And neither has any other new product release.  And according to their chart, "Apple is in the midst of an unprecedented drought in terms of new product launches."

So while that article presses on the problems at Apple, today's Bloomberg article from an All Things Digital interview with CEO Tim Cook is meant to let us know that a little patience will produce great results.  "He singled out television and wearable computing as areas of interest."  When and what those new products will be remains to be seen.  But if you have faith in Apple, they will deliver.  

Aereo TV Reviewed On Cape Cod

Aereo TV is expanding despite lawsuits and threats to turn broadcasters into cablecasters.  In a review in today's "capecodtoday", the review deemed the service as worth it.  And for $8 a month, Aereo offered a cheaper alternative to cable for access to about 20 channels of content.  The stream is accessible on computers and mobile devices as well as through a Roku box for access on a TV screen.  In fact, the service reminds me of the early days of cable when cable boxes only got about 36 channels of content for an affordable low price.  But of course those days are gone.

So here is the most interesting part of the review for me.  "For the geeks in the audience, our testing was done on a Comcast home network connection that read 25 MBPS down and 11 MBPS up. We tested on a Wireless G, Wireless N and wired Ethernet connection."  That's right, you still need to buy broadband access, either from your cable provider or if available a telco provider.  And while the overall cost may be cheaper for the consumer, the cable/telco company is still getting a monthly subscription fee for their service.

So what should it say to the broadband side of the company?  You can win back those cord cutters to Aereo if you offer a competitive low cost package.  Tout the lower bundled cost of cable and broadband and enable authenticated streaming of cable content.  Rather than fight the battle in the courtroom, market your superior service and easier access.  Enable third party boxes like Roku, TiVo and others to work with your infrastructure and build the better mousetrap.  Till then, this is the message that the consumer is hearing.  "Aereo is a service that works well and is available right now. It does what the company promises and at a highly affordable price. Aereo provides a rich channel selection and a free virtual DVR service – far more than “basic cable” offers."

Aereo TV is here because you left the door open for them.  But you may still have time to shut it and offer different sizes for different customer needs.

Hulu Has Many Buyers

There are at least 7 buyers interested in Hulu, the streaming video service.  Along with a few equity companies, bids came from DirecTv, Time Warner Cable, and most recently Yahoo.  No Apple, no Amazon, or any other cable or broadcast network or operator.  "The Los Angeles-based Hulu board began seeking the latest round of bidding in March. Now the question is whether Disney, News Corp, and Comcast will look for an exit and take their content with them, then license it back to Hulu for bigger fees but no exclusivity. If so, then what in the world are bidders actually buying?"  A good question and I also wonder why these current owners don't see the value their platform has built for them.  Perhaps they rather offer streaming content through their own sites without seeing the incremental value an aggregator like Hulu can offer. Perhaps they fear the disruptive nature of streaming to their current cable license fee model.  They may fear this change but they can't stop it.

Without ABC, NBC, and News Corp as owners, the financial model will indeed change.  Unless quite long term content deals can be locked up, Hulu may lose both the exclusivity and the breadth of content that enables them to compete effectively and charge subscription and advertising fees.  And that could potentially make the purchase of Hulu a less than ideal business venture. 

Hulu Next Steps

The owners of Hulu, Disney, NBC, and Fox, may have created a monster.  While it provides a new revenue stream from online subscription and advertising, it also appeals to cord-cutters, those consumers that have dropped their cable subscription for online content only.  For the parents of these owners, ABC, Comcast, and News Corp, that means the loss of monthly cable license fees and TV dollars.  And no doubt, the new revenue stream won't cover the loss of the old revenue stream for quite some time.  So what to do?

Some owners want to sell Hulu and there are a number of possible buyers kicking the tires, including Time Warner Cable and DirecTv.  But once sold, would the former owners continue to license their content to the venture.  Other ideas include converting Hulu into a TV Everywhere platform for authenticated cable subscribers.  But what about those current subscribers that are not cable customers?  Dropping them would mean a loss of subscriber revenue and hurt the growth of the venture.

The truth is that the genie is already out of the bottle.  If Hulu doesn't want to reach cord cutters, others will and have already.  In fact, Netflix and You Tube rank as the top two sites in online video consumption.  Hulu owners should actually look at this platform as actually recapturing lost cable customers.  And Hulu is already trying to gain more revenue with a heavier load of advertising content. 

The simple fact is that the cost of cable for consumers has risen so fast and gotten so expensive that some folks can no longer afford it.  Broadband has become more crucial to their home than cable and the content online can be enough to satisfy.  Hulu becomes that next platform that at $7.99 a month is much easier to afford.  And online video, whether offered by Hulu or someone else, will not go away.  Cord cutting will increase but the decline in cable subscription will be gradual.  Hulu owners need to embrace this evolutionary change in viewing as it is inevitable and growing quickly.

If the current Hulu owners can get along and agree, they would find that maintaining their current approach while exploring more TV Everywhere approaches is the way to go.  If they can't agree, then it is indeed time to sell and let others with the passion for innovation  take the reins. 

Waiting For The Next Apple Innovation - Keep Waiting

While tweaks to the operating system are always meant to keep current product lines from becoming obsolete, Apple seems to be spending more time fighting tax code questions and less on new product innovation.  Since the release of the iPad three plus years ago, fans of Apple have waiting patiently for the next new product release.  Is it the death of Steve Jobs, is it loss of talent, did the product R&D group take a holiday? Despite rumors of smart TVs and watches, we are left waiting.

And it appears we may have to wait longer.  "Consumers awaiting Apple's rumored wearable, watch-like device might need to wait until next year before the gadget sees the light of day."  While the buzz is about wearable technology and Google is already pushing the Google Glass design, Apple appears not ready to announce or release its own wearable technology. 

And if not an iWatch, then what can we expect in 2013?  Will Apple finalize its deal with Sony and announce a streaming music service to compete with Pandora?  Will Apple pursue a rental video or subscription video service?  Will it be an iTV or more innovation of the Apple TV box?  Or are we just left with the next release of an iPhone and iPad?   And so, the Apple consumer continues to wait.