Hulu Confirms Why Owners Didn't Sell

For all the conflict whether the owners should sell off Hulu, the decision to keep onto their prized digital streaming distribution platform appears to have paid off.  In 2013, Hulu can count 5 million paying subscribers and $1 bullion dollars in revenue.  Yes Austin Powers, I said $1 billion dollars!  Not bad for a business that is only five years old. 

Hopefully the owners have now decided that they can indeed work together and build a common strategy in what is shaping as a very competitive streaming entertainment landscape.  Certainly, Hulu is not the leader in the category.  Netflix is twice the size and although it doesn't have the ad stream that Hulu does, it subscription revenue is almost four times higher.  And Amazon Prime, which operates its streaming business inside its mega retail environment, is equally as powerful.  For these and others in the space, it is still a very nascent business.  The growth potential remains enormous.

With Christmas around the corner, more and more consumers will be buying their gaming platforms, tablets, Roku and TiVo and Apple TV boxes, and they will all be looking for content to power these devices.  Streaming and downloads will continue to grow and the broadband infrastructure will have to figure out how to accommodate all this traffic.  And Hulu, Netflix, and others can continue to ride the growth curve.  So kudos Hulu owners for staying with the platform and not selling out; you have hit one milestone and, with a strong strategic plan, on the right path to future success.

Facebook Adding Video Ads

Search and display ads are nice, but Facebook hopes it can add a new revenue stream with video advertising.  "Facebook reportedly plans to charge $1 million to $2.5 million a day for video campaigns, depending on the size of the audience a marketer is trying to reach. But that price range could reduce advertiser interest."  Video ads might start running the moment you land on Facebook, although the plans seems to be to mute the audio until clicked on.  How Facebook users will react to autoplay ads remains to be seen; most likely, they have already seen this feature on other websites.  Still, it may prove distracting.

Regardless of this new video ad focus, Facebook's real challenge may be that the younger demo is moving away from Facebook to Instagram and that will only skew older the current audience to Facebook.  Will advertisers still want to buy this older demo or move budgets to Instagram and other websites?  For now, Facebook is right to add video ads although they may end up turning off the autoplay feature to gain more credibility of the ad views.  It is an important next step and one that might just find its way to Instagram, too.

Beyonce Proves Social Media Marketing Power

Without any fanfare or traditional promotional advertising, not even a traditional release date, Beyonce released a digital music album on iTunes using the power of social media to sell it.  And the results have been extraordinary.  "Beyonce's latest album broke iTunes sales records, Apple said Monday.  BEYONCÉ, which the singer announced on Facebook's Instagram mobile service, became the fastest selling album on iTunes with 828,773 purchased in its first three days, Apple reported.  The album also broke the U.S. first-week album record with 617,213 sold, the company added." 

Certainly others will try to emulate her strategy and not everyone can compete.  She comes with a huge following, a track record of success, and a high name recognition.  That this album made such a mark before any song was released or played to a radio audience demonstrates the marketing power her name alone must have. 

But recognition also needs to be payed to Instagram as the social driver of her iTunes' success.  The power of her appeal and influence and ability to sell through social media is quite powerful.  And she adeptly pulled it off.  Her audience, the ones that follow her on Instagram, responded to this unexpected Holiday present by quickly downloading and sharing their "find" to their followers.  Over 800,000 in only 3 days; in a word, unbelievable!

Charter Ready To Buy Time Warner Cable

Charter has a number in mind and it might not match what Time Warner Cable wants.  Whether they can find common ground or a low ball bid encourages a counter bid by another remains to be seen.  Perhaps Cablevision might be willing to prop up the bid with Charter in exchange for a big piece, say the NYC DMA.  Or perhaps Charter truly believes that given the continual loss of basic subscribers, Time Warner Cable's future earning potential could decline.  Still the value is in the infrastructure and the opportunity to gain more cost efficiency and more reach for broadband and wireless business opportunities.  And given the possible low initial bid, this acquisition process may take some time to close. 

Instagram Adds Best Friend Feature

It seems sometimes we don't want to share everything with everyone.  There are times we simply want to communicate with a smaller circle of friends, our "best friends" so to speak.  Well Instagram wants to let you private message your select few and has created Instagram Direct, "a new private messaging service built into the platform that will allow users to send a photo or video, along with a caption, to between one and 15 people." 

Now you can limit who gets to see that picture ... or can you.  While on first blush, used wisely, it enables smaller group messaging, but so does iMessage, for those on unlimited data plans.  "Because such messages don't count against SMS messages allotted by wireless plans, these apps effectively allow smartphone owners to communicate using only their data plans." 

Of course, teens, the largest demographic using Instagram should remain careful that anything posted is shareable.  Even a photo to a select few can get reposted and reposted again.  So be careful what kind of snarky or "mean girl" comments you might be considering sending in an Instagram Direct message.  Nothing is really private when it is posted.  Snapchat fans learned that the hard way, too.

Aereo Wants A Definitive Ruling

Question, when is a broadcaster not a broadcaster?  When they don't transmit over the air.  And does it matter where an antenna is located to receive those signals and display them on a screen?  According to Aereo, it does not.  Despite all the additional manipulations that Aereo does to move the signal from antenna to home, their bottom line contention is that they have every right as consumers have had to make copies since the days of the VHS tape.  Could they be accused from reselling the signal, costs to rent the antenna and provide additional value to the free signal.  And that seems to be the center of their argument.  So with a number of court victories already, Aereo wants a definitive ruling from the Supreme Court to end this continuous litigation.  "We want this resolved on the merits rather than a wasteful war of attrition,' said Aereo Chief Executive Chet Kanojia in a statement." For Aereo, such a move makes complete sense. 

And while Cablevision is not a fan of Aereo, they don't agree with the broadcasters argument as it relates to "cloud-based technology and future innovation", according to a spokesperson.  And so the issues that the Supreme Court are asked to review are far more complicated than just the acquiring and re-airing of signals.   And until the Supreme Cort decides to rule, lower courts will keep ruling within their jurisdictions. 

Cable Programmer Moving Toward Streaming Distribution

Given the high barriers to launching on a cable system, coupled with continual talk about even more cable operator consolidation, one cable network seems to have heeded my advice and struck a streaming platform deal.  "Bloomberg TV launched an app on Apple TV devices Wednesday morning that includes a live feed of the cable networks financial news programming as well as access to on-demand videos."  Most important to note is that this distribution deal does not require a user to be an authenticated cable customer. Other smaller, independent networks might just want to look at the Bloomberg model and see if perhaps they too have more to gain by gaining distribution on these OTT platforms.

Bloomberg contends that this deal is not meant to cause cord cutting and I would agree.  It certainly helps those consumers that have already cut the cord to gain a live linear news network into their home, but it won't be the driver that causes customers to cut the cord in the first place.  Consumers are defecting cable because of price and access to cheaper streaming options like Netflix and Amazon. Access to Bloomberg TV only adds more content to their mix.  A good number of customers are retaining their cable subscription and expanding their selection with streaming.  Those consumers can now finally receive the Bloomberg TV signal.

For Apple TV, these new content deals are a way to make their box a more valuable addition to the home.  In addition to Bloomberg TV, "Apple also added Disney’s Watch ABC app, Sony’s Crackle and the Korean TV app KORTV to the Apple TV Wednesday."  It also helps Apple to drive the value of its $99 box and encourage more purchases within its iTunes library.  And for both Apple and Blomber, I see a win on both sides. 

Sports Makes It Hard To Be A Cord Cutter

As many household know, sports fans can be crazy.  We will do most anything to watch our teams.  Out of market football fans find solace with DirecTv Football package while cable homes rely on NFL Redzone.  And for every type of sports interest from football to baseball to soccer to tennis, there is a channel or two devoted to it.  Which makes cutting the cable cord to watch the array of sports on TV almost impossible. 

The article in MarketWatch may represent more of a soccer interest but the author recognizes just how difficult it is to get access without paying for cable service.  An app here or there, an illegal streaming site perhaps, but the challenge in finding specific sports content without cable, "has made cutting the cable cord so difficult, if not impossible. "  Sure we can drop by the local pub to watch our games, but the cost of eating and drinking might just start to outweigh the cost of cable, as well as our own weight. 

Not every one is a sports fan, but there are enough in each household that cable cord cutting won't be at much risk till all games can be streamed a la carte.  And that is why broadcast and cable networks are willing to shell out big money for sports rights to air on their channels.  It is the glue that keeps us tuned to cable television.

Content Consumption By The Numbers

20 Crazy Santa Claus Photos
19 Snacky Foods
18 LOL Memes
17 Unselfish Selfies
16 Inexpensive Gifts
15 Best Movie Lines
14 Victoria Secret Lingerie Models
...
You get the picture.  Lately, web pages are filled with numbers with eye catching graphics and compelling subject lines that want us to click page after page to get to the number one reason. It is the success of David Letterman's Top Ten List that has been reworked for the web.  And the bottom line, more pages consumed, more time spent with the website, and more ad impressions. 

And who is doing this "content by the numbers" game well?  Almost everyone these days.  From Buzzfeed to Huffington Post, you can catch articles like "17 Santa Claus Photos That Make Your Skin Crawl" to "11 Things You've Always Wanted To Know About Lesbian Sex But Were Afraid To Ask".  From unusual to titillating, these headlines keep our fingers clicking on the pages, with photos, videos and articles to view, as well as display ads, pre-rolls, pop-overs and pop-unders, and everything inbetween.  It seems we are caught up in top 10 or whatever number suits your fancy.  So have fun clicking.  Me, I'm off to Business Insider to learn about "23 Spin-Off TV Shows That Totally Bombed".