Karmazin Feeling Hit on Many Sides Of Sirius

Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius, has been feeling quite a bit of heat lately.  With Howard Stern suing him for breach of contract to his former white knight, Liberty Media, trying to wrestle control from him, Mel has been having some bad days.  Of course the first round of the lawsuit went to Sirius, but Howard is pushing back on appeal.  And initially Liberty was told they couldn't take control but have now gone and bought more shares to increase their ownership stake.  The heat has been turned up and it appears that Liberty Media will shortly get their asset and Mel may find himself looking for the next big thing.

Time To Hop Over The Commercial

The VCR was first invented to play pre-recorded programs but became a great opportunity to tape and watch later your  favorite programming.  Some consumers had a hard time setting the clock feature; rather the clock always seemed to be blinking.  The DVR and TIVO made it even easier with no clock to pre-set.  Still, we had to manually skip through commercials to get to the programming.  Now comes from Dish, a new DVR that when set, automatically "hops" over the commercial break to the start of the next program segment.  No additional remote touching necessary.

Certainly, the  rise of technology to enable skipping commercials may rise from the number of commercials and the length of breaks on TV shows.  In most cases, non-programming time is 25% per hour.  The "Golden Age of TV" certainly never had so many commercials.  Consumer and business ingenuity created the solution with the DVR to counter the problem of too many commercials.

And yet, even with DVRs, I notice my own kids too lazy at times to skip ahead.  Despite heavy use of the DVR, once the show is picked, it runs through, commercials and all.  Adults are most likely more fed up with commercials then kids.  They still get information from them, toys to buy, movies to watch, new shows to record.

The "Auto Hop" feature on Dish DVRs just might appeal to those same consumers to lazy to manually skip ahead and willing to pay a bit more for the opportunity to have it done for them.  Heck, my kids sometimes yell out for me to come in to the room to skip ahead even though the remote is within their arms grasp.  So there just may be a market for those that want skipping done automatically.

And how do the content creators and advertisers survive? Better creative, less commercial breaks, product placement and in-program promotion, overlays, and all sorts of technological tricks.  The cat is already out of the bag with regard to the DVR.  "Auto Hop" is just another  feature.  These are results of too many commercials in programs and less time devoted to the actual show.  Why do viewers also like to watch online; less commercials.  Consumers are telling you the problem; it's time to pay attention.

An iPad In Every Size

Despite its share price being off its all time high, Apple continues to deliver. Every quarter, it beats its estimates as demand surges and revenues rise.  The latest speculation that ultimately will make investors smile is the arrival of new products in the phone and tablet line.  "Apple’s next iPhone will reportedly launch in September, and a 7-inch iPad mini will land in August, according to Digitimes."  Rumors also on the next model Macbook and when the Apple TV set will arrive, this year or next, as well as some next innovation that is yet to emerge.  And so the guesses will continue until the formal announcement as to what these next versions will include, faster processor, sharper screen, HDMI connectivity, and better streaming are all in the mix.  All we can do is stay tuned.

Has Content Lost Its King Status To The Audience

Terrific editorial questioning whether Content is no longer the king.  Once content left the linear world and became reachable on demand across platforms, the answer, according to the author was clear.  "No; because content is no longer enough. Content has always been a means to an end. And the end has always been audience."  An interesting analysis now that distribution is becoming ubiquitous and content can be accessed anywhere.  It becomes then the choice of the viewer which content and which distribution platform is to be used in order to be consumed.  And for the ad buyer, seeking to reach a particular segment, knowing where the audience is or how it is being directed to content, becomes the ultimate priority.

But wait, hasn't that always been the case.  The content may not have been everywhere, but it was still the draw that the audience desired.  Deals for distribution platforms are all about having the content that best fit its audience.  Distribution offered potential viewers; content offered the sustenance and the nutrition to consume.  Whether it is food, videos, data or something else.  Add to the mix pricing, packaging, and positioning and you have the basis of marketing.  But content or product is essential to the mix.  Distribution seeks content and audiences seek content where it is convenient and affordable and available to get.

Is knowing your audience essential; a resounding yes.  But the article assumes that content is ubiquitous and that is not the case.  Content remains king because it is how it is packaged, positioned, and priced that will drive the audience to it.  Ultimately, it is having the right content ergonomically accessible with marketing to draw attention to it that drives the audience.

Rutledge Magic Rubbing Off On Charter Communication

As the new COO of Charter, Tom Rutledge had a lot on his plate when he started at the end of 2011.It seems that whatever skills he brought over from Cablevision has paid off.  With Rutledge at the helm, Charter announced  "an increase of video customers in the first quarter of 20,000 subscribers, the first time the cable company has reached that milestone in about five years."  Make that a triple play growth as high speed and telco subscriptions also grew for the quarter too.

Whether it was the direct impact he had or simply the energy he brought to his new company, Charter is looking recharged, coordinated, and ready to tackle its mission.  The hope is that the momentum continues and it is not an anomaly to future subscription losses.

How Many Social Networks Do You Belong To?

As Groucho Marx liked to say, I wouldn't join a social network, or club, that would have me as a member. Of course we all like to belong to the club and for social networking, it is easy to sign up and join.  But is too many, too many?  With so many around and more being created, are we being spread to thin in our social network membership?

We use different social networks for different purposes, LinkedIn for business contacts, Facebook for friendship, Pinterest for scrapbooking, Twitter for random thoughts and links to interesting articles.  And of course there is MySpace, Google+, Ning, Meetup, Plaxo and many many more.

So how many is too many?  If we spend all of our time social networking, do we spend enough time doing?  Can we possibly manage all these social networks or is it time to cut back to a more manageable number?  And can the long tail of social networks exist?  Obviously the answer is yes.  To every unique interest or hobby or passion, there is a social network to share with other like minded individuals.  Within the category of interest, whether it be business, family, arts, dating, etc. there will be the leader and the rest of the pack.  But as long as there is a revenue stream, either subscription or advertising or e-commerce, that can keep it thriving, the multitude of social networks will continue to survive.  Groucho may not have joined the club, but for the rest of us, there are plenty to find, join, and participate.

Why Is Dish Dropping All AMC Networks?

As cable, satellite, and telco cable providers seek to keep subscribers signed on, the concern by some may be that they shouldn't have to compete against web offering the same content. For networks, offering access to programs on other platforms brings new revenue streams but is also argued as a way for viewers to "catch up" on series that they haven't watched from the beginning.  Missed Season 1 of "Mad Men"; rent on Netflix, or others and be caught up to watch the latest season from your cable provider.

So why is Dish Network threatening to drop all of AMC Networks, including AMC, WE, IFC, and Sundance,  channels from its line up? Is it because: 1)  the rates are too high, 2) their shows are available on competing platforms, 3) viewership is too low across the networks, or 4) Get back at their ownership for the court loss they faced regarding the Voom lawsuit?  AMC claims it is #4, while Dish is arguing that it is the first three.

Certainly the first three arguments can be applied to every cable network on Dish and every other cable provider. Arguments regarding rates, exclusivity of shows, and viewership affect every contract negotiation.  Unique to these proceedings is the previous relationship between Dish and Cablevision regarding their Voom partnership, a satellite service that offered 100% original  HD channels. Unfortunately it was a failed business model that was structured in a way that  limited additional distribution.  With our regular channels finally offering HD feeds, these original channels were deemed less valuable and Dish pulled out.  So the  fight with AMC, even though it has spun away from Cablevision, may be a way to get back at its common owners, the Dolan family.

Regardless, these fights between networks and distributors are common place.  They tend to take longer and longer to work out, but eventually they all do.  A fight like this one may take even longer though as it may not be about the business but about personal feelings.

Cablevision Empire May Get Even Smaller

Cablevision is spending more money to retain subscribers and while the cost is high, they did report sub gains while other operators posted sub losses.  But their low cost pricing strategy and high marketing costs were not kind to the bottom line as profit and cash flow dropped.  The result perhaps of a strategy that former leadership chose not to follow and thus have been departing from the team.

Cablevision, once known as both a programmer and distributor, has been spinning off assets to concentrate itself as a pure play cable operator.  First came the spin off of MSG Network, followed close behind by Rainbow Networks, renamed AMC Networks.  And now comes word that its Clearview Cinema movie chain is being pushed out next.  "Chief Financial Officer Gregg Seibert said on a conference call that the company planned to explore strategic alternatives with its Clearview Cinemas movie theater chain, which had 45 theaters in the New York tri-state area including the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City."

For a company that once owned Nobody Beats The Wiz stores, today's Cablevision is looking quite different.  Will Newsday be the next asset to be discarded?  And is all this being done to make Cablevision easier for selling it to another cable operator?  All I know is that there is always something interesting going on at Cablevision.

Content's Long Tail Gets Longer And Longer

New content is competing for consumer attention thanks to the rise of the web.  As broadband speeds get faster, content creators have found they can bypass the broadcast and cable distribution model to get their content viewed.  Many have entered the fray already, from NextNewNetworks, which was acquired by Google to My Damn Channel. Hulu and Netflix has announced new original shows exclusive to their platform.  And You Tube has been churning out more original content as well and now Amazon has announced plans to create new content.  "Starting now, Amazon is accepting ideas for TV shows from anybody who has a pilot script, an idea for five or six episodes, and an Internet connection. Amazon says that it wil be selecting one idea per month to put into development."

But with all this clutter of content, a two-fold challenge remains for viewers, how to find out about shows (recommendations and marketing) and where to find them (which distribution aggregator or unique website). Like our TV line-ups, we will have to surf or find guides to help us learn what is on and where it is located.  The audience to watch all these programs will only get more and more fragmented.  The likely winners should continue to be cable networks, provided they expand their linear and on demand viewing to a TV Everywhere, multi-platform  approach.  But they will see lower ratings as the fringe viewership is swayed to the growing pile of programming now being created for web consumption.  Hence a longer and longer tail of content choices.

The web has clearly lowered the barrier to entry for distribution of content.  It has led to cord cutting and new ways to watch content.  Like broadcast changed  the radio model, and cable changed the broadcast model, so too will web programming change the cable model.  History ultimately repeats itself.