ABC Family Rebrands With No Clear Shape

If you have children in the house, they probably know where to find ABC Family on their cable box.  Between 25 Days of Christmas and X Days of Halloween and Y Days of Summer, ABC Family has created event programming to help package its shows and movies.  And with all the Harry Potter Films and Pretty Little Liars and other movies and shows, it is an easy channel to watch.  That is if you can handle all the commercials.  Heck, one Harry Potter Movie could take 4 hours to watch.

But not satisfied with the ABC Family brand, and others might know that before Disney purchased it from Fox, it was Fox Family, Disney has come up with a new name for the channel.  Beginning January 1, 2016, it will be called Freeform.  It seems "Family Friendly" may not be such a positive brand distinction.  To cast a wider net, the new name is meant to reflect the notion of being a "Becomer", according to Variety.

But for me, the name invokes shapelessness, without form or structure.  And while it may be trying to say that the channel will be something for everyone, such a lack of uniqueness will only make it seem like one more generic channel.  Changing the channel's name is like when news channels "refresh their set" to update their look and attract new eyeballs.  But a fresh coat of paint doesn't always work.  Can a new name like Freeform do any better than ABC Family.  I'm not so sure.  Especially as viewers have been much more directed toward shows, than channels.  At the end, it might not really matter.

Sports Has Let Gambling Enter Its Business

As Captain Renault of Casablanca once said, "I am shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on here!"  With such an advertising blitz of commercials from FanDuel and DraftKings, it must be naive not to expect that some illicit gambling has been going on.  In this case, the use of inside information to make winning sports bets.  Who would have suspected that something like this could happen.  Certainly not Captain Renault while he was picking up his winnings.

That major league sports have welcomed these two gambling businesses into their world makes one suspect that the rise of fantasy leagues and money could ultimately lead to players underperforming or trying different things to affect their ranking week by week.  Heck Pete Rose only bet on his team to win.

It is a bit unnerving and sad that the appeal of fantasy sports and the acceptance of ad money by leagues is allowed to continue.  It feels more like we are slipping down Alice's rabbit hole with little chance to remove ourselves from our fate.  The notion that gambling should have no connection with sports needs to be upheld.  Calling it a fantasy is like painting lips on a pig; it is still a pig. Somethings need to be absolute and gambling and sports should never mix. 

Facebook Doesn't Own Your Stuff

As you scroll down your Facebook feed, you might see various people posting this gem:

Now it's official! It has been published in the media. Facebook has just released the entry price: $5.99 to keep the subscription of your status to be set to "private". If you paste this message on your page, it will be offered free (paste not share) if not tomorrow, all your posts can become public. Even the messages that have been deleted or the photos not allowed. After all, it does not cost anything for a simple copy and paste

Better safe than sorry is right. Channel 13 News was just talking about this change in Facebook's privacy policy. Better safe than sorry. As of September 26th , 2015 at 01:16 a.m. Eastern standard time, I do not give Facebook or any entities associated with Facebook permission to use my pictures, information, or posts, both past and future. By this statement, I give notice to Facebook it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute, or take any other action against me based on this profile and/or its contents. The content of this profile is private and confidential information. The violation of privacy can be punished by law (UCC 1-308- 1 1 308-103 and the Rome Statute). NOTE: Facebook is now a public entity. All members must post a note like this. If you prefer, you can copy and paste this version. If you do not publish a statement atleast once it will be tactically allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in the profile status updates. DO NOT SHARE. You MUST copy and paste

As Business Insider tells us, this is a waste.  Facebook never owns what you post.  What is amazing is how many people cite a TV news broadcast that they personally have not seen.  And posting this notice does not change anything.  The only way to keep anything private is to simply not post it at all.  Of course if that doesn't satisfy you, you might try this little idea:

I'd Rather Have A Waterproof Apple Watch

The Apple iPhone 6s has just been released and already there are rumors floating that the next iPhone model will be water resistant.  To that news I say so what.  If your phone is going to get wet, it is more likely that it will get a good dunking.  Some say dropping a wet phone in rice helps to dry it out and perhaps even get it to work again, but I say don't risk it.

Instead, Apple should be developing a waterproof Apple Watch.  That means you can take it into the pool or shower or ocean and it will continue to work.  It certainly would open up new opportunities for apps to make the iWatch more useful.  And with little cause to worry if the watch gets wet, even when just washing dishes or the baby, the Apple Watch becomes a much more practical device.  Until then, you might just be safer wearing your Timex or Casio. 

Verizon Lets iPhone Users Upgrade Annually

For Verizon Wireless customers, the good news is that you don't have to wait for your two year commitment to expire to upgrade your phone.  According to re/code, "a program that will let iPhone customers upgrade to a new phone every year if they have paid off half of their device’s cost and turn in their old device." Good news for my kids who just pre-ordered their 6s and are waiting with bated breath for the phone to arrive later today.  Of course, given all the competitive offers from AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile, this marketing move seems required if Verizon seeks to keep its customer based happy. 

And who else should be happy, Apple.  With their habit of introducing a new iPhone model every year, with new must-have improvements, making it easier for customers to purchase new phones will certainly help improve their revenue stream.  The more customers capable of upgrading, the more phones that can be produced and sold.  In our technological world of faster and faster obsolescence, we have shrunk the lifespan of the Apple iPhone down to just 12 months.

Is Apple Music Successful

Despite the high competition in subscription music between Pandora and Spotify, Apple felt that there might just be an opening for them as well.  Seeing that itunes purchases of music were at risk, Apple created Apple Music to offset the purchase revenue model with a subscription one.  Apple seems to have no problem recognizing the need to shift as they did with the entry of the iPhone, knowing it would hurt future iPod sales.

And many believe that Apple Music is already a success with 15 million users signed into the free period.  That free trial ends in 9 days and we can only watch and wait to hear how many start to pay.  According to the NY Post article, if a third convert to pay, then Apple Music is successful.  So far half of the trial base has yet to turn off the auto pay feature.  If they all convert, 7.5 million users would make this new business a very successful launch.

Content is King and Howard Stern likes to tell us that he is the King Of All Media.  That being the case, Apple Music might want to sign him up onto their subscription service.  He did wonders for Sirius and could do the same for Apple. 

Another Inane Commercial That Makes You Wonder

If you have been reading my blog, every now and then I come across an inane ad that makes me cringe.  From the 'Vacation' Infiniti ad to the FIOS ad to the silly TD Bank ad.  Well the latest one seems to beat them all so far.  It involves a dad with his young son racing a school bus to get to school.  It seems that driving a Nissan Altima can help you outrace a school bus... WHAT????? The premise not only makes no sense it defies any logic or rational thinking.  Does Nissan want us to believe that they don't think much about safety?  There is nothing aspirational, beneficial, or even informational about why a Nissan Altima would become your preferred car to drive.  And frankly, it lacks any humor to even offset the serious consequences of what they are presenting.

If you haven't seen this atrocious ad, take a look:

Altice To Buy More, Pay Less

The European telco, Altice, plans to buy more cable properties as it grows its footprint in the United States.  At the same time, they have already stated that they expect to pay less to keep costs low and margins high.  According to Deadline Hollywood, that they will pay less for channels or drop those that don't perform.  At the same time, he cites some high wage earners in the company that may not be a part of their future.

Given Altice's desire to become a bigger force in cable operations, challenging both Comcast and Charter for system ownership, more deals could come in the next year or so once the FCC approves the Altice purchase of Cablevision and Suddenlink.  That means that Cox Cable could also be in their sights, as well as Mediacom, WOW!, and CableOne. 

Consolidation might also lead to Verizon watching how well AT&T is doing with their DirecTV purchase.  If they start to see success, Verizon might want to kick the tires on Dish Network.  Of course, there is always Google and their slow fiber expansion across a few cities.  Perhaps Verizon is tired of supporting their FIOS brand and willing to get out of the wired business completely to refocus on wireless broadband. 

The media landscape looks to get more interesting given the involvement of Altrice into the mix.  And new cost structures could lead to a quantum change in channels and services being offered. 

Dolans Finally Agree To Sell

The Dolan Family sure knows how to unlock value. The question in media for a decade or more has always been when will Cablevision sell its systems.  Does patriarch Chuck Dolan need to retire or pass on for Jimmy to let go of the family run business?  But before that would happen, the Dolans would unlock the value of its holdings by spinning off both the AMC Networks and MSG businesses into two separate companies, each still controlled by the family.  And that value boost continues as the MSG company splits into two itself with media and event spaces being separately run.  The result, the empire value has grown and grown.

Today, that profitability continues as the Dolans have agreed to sell its Cablevision business, comprised mainly of  its control of Long Island cable systems as well as Newsday and News 12 cable networks to Altice, a European telco.  And they sell it at a very high premium to its latest stock price.  While Cablevision may have less than 3 million subscribers, its region of Long Island is considered a premium system with the highest household incomes.  It also faces direct competition from Verizon FIOS across the footprint.  Still Attice seems committed to enter the cable media industry.

Altice previously announced its plans to buy the Suddenlink cable properties which when added with Cablevision gives them less than 5 million subscribers.  Neither acquisition will likely bring any cost savings through synergy, unlike the Charter - Time Warner Cable merger.  Altice will likely look for more cable systems to acquire.  Could Cox Cable be next on their screen?

As to the Dolans, the sale of Cablevision might just be a great move to unlock value before the cost of cord cutting takes too heavy a toll. And with their ownership of content companies like AMC and MSG, a freedom to find more revenue generating opportunities outside of cable or fearing moves negative to the cable operations side of their balance sheet.  Rumors are already flying of AMC's plans to purchase the Starz Network.  Perhaps the cash from Altice makes that purchase easier to swallow.