Well here we go again…
If last Friday was all about HBO’s victory lap, on this week’s roundup we take a look at one of the biggest OTT (over-the-top) competitors: Netflix.
Netflix Is Betting Its Future on Exclusive Programming
The NY Times once again posted a great in-depth television piece, shining a light on Netflix. The article offers a behind-the-scenes look at the cryptic online network. Although there isn’t that much revealed people don’t already know, it still is an interesting side of the OTT network, full of confidence. The focus of the piece is on what Netflix has been trying to accomplish for a while now: lots of great original content.
It has been over four years since I announced Netflix’s original programming strategy was going to be a game-changer. Looks like I’m only getting proven more correct as days go by. The new era has been ushered. As Reed Hastings, CEO’s Netflix, explains:
We’ve had 80 years of linear TV, and it’s been amazing, and in its day the fax machine was amazing. The next 20 years will be this transformation from linear TV to Internet TV.
Better play catch-up now.
Is Netflix Friend or Foe to the TV Industry? It’s More Confusing Than Ever
Continuing on Netflix, VideoNuze offers two perspectives on the OTT’s wide content expansion, both as a friend to the television industry, and as a foe. Time will tell as to which of the two the network really is, but for now, the article offers some interesting points:
While licensing deals have been fattening studios’ and TV networks’ bottom lines, they’ve also been improving the quality of Netflix and other OTT providers’ content, in turn creating better subscriber experiences. With time being finite, eventually Netflix viewing had to come out of the hide of TV viewing.
There has been a staggering 19.2% drop from year-to-year in TV viewership from the 18-24 year-olds. It’s not surprising that a lot of those who are cutting the cable cord (or never had it in the first place) are also switching off whatever TV set they may have in favor of Internet-based content. This will be even more interesting when it comes to kids or youth-based networks. Will parents still have their TVs on, or will they pit other screens in front of their children?
And this brings us to our next article…
The World’s Love Affair with the TV May Be Coming to an End
Perhaps a big over-dramatic with its title, the Daily Dog doesn’t just use Nielsen’s own findings but rather discusses the results of “Digital Video and the Connected Consumer”, a report from Accenture. In it, Accenture notes that video consumption has skyrocketed while traditional TV viewership has plummeted.
Nearly all age brackets reported double-digit declines in TV viewing globally, with 14- to 17-year-olds abandoning the TV screen at the rate of 33 percent for movies and television shows and 26 percent for sporting events. This decline continues for 18- to 34-year-olds at 14 percent for movies and television shows and 12 percent for sporting events, and for 35- to 54-year-olds, at 11 and nine percent, respectively. It does, however, flatten among the 55 and older crowd, at six percent and one percent respectively.
Now here is the most interesting part of the report, as described by Accenture’s Gavin Mann:
TV shows and movies are now a viewing staple on mobile devices of all shapes and sizes, thanks to improved streaming and longer battery life. The second screen viewing experience is where the content creators, broadcasters and programmers will succeed or fail.
A pretty ballsy claim. I do have to agree with one thing: it is clear that it’s not just OTT, but also mobile screens that will shape the near-future of video content. Note that new entrants will still have to prove themselves over traditional medium. Content discovery in this brand new world is still more than a step away from becoming a solved issue.
