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AVoD: A Very Onerous Deal?

Streamers, both global and national, are using advertising to boost their SVoD or catch-up services. Global streamers recognise that in macro-economic hard times sign-offs can be rescued by a lower price tier supported by advertising. National catch-up services recognise that ads are so irritating to viewers that they can charge some of them to upgrade […]

November 8, 2023 Nick Snow

Dominion sees end of KRM reign

You could be forgiven for assuming that Keith Rupert Murdoch answers to no one but himself. And there’s plenty in that – though his companies have been public for years, they have, in effect, been fiefdoms following the iron will of their leader. And that will has led his companies to participate in several groundbreaking, […]

September 21, 2023 Nick Snow

Charter: The streamer showdown

Going dark is an extreme, but not very unusual, tactic when MSOs are negotiating package carriage deals with content companies. So far, so what? as Charter – America’s #2 cable operator – dims the lights on Disney’s channels as contract talks drag. What is different, is that Charter hasn’t shied away from (quite the opposite) […]

September 4, 2023 Nick Snow

And, so, it is written

Barbie and Oppenheimer – Barbenheimer – (not a portmanteau any of their creators were expecting), have had big opening weekends. Indeed, Barbie is in the all-time top ten and is #1 in the ‘by a female director’ league. Both are ‘original’ dramas in the sense that matters most. They are not original stories – Barbie […]

August 28, 2023 Nick Snow

BT: Tough gig

BT has a new CEO in Allison Kirkby, though she is not new to the company having served as a NED since 2019, the same time Philip Jansen became CEO. BT is the definition of a lacklustre stock. This despite being in a major growth area and holding a huge market share. It is, to […]

July 31, 2023 Nick Snow

Streamers are failing the stress test

The Covid pandemic was a once in a lifetime stress test for many sectors. No customers on the streets represents the darkest of times for hospitality, retail and live entertainment. For streamers, though, ‘Happy Days’. Time on everyone’s hands and nothing else to spend their money on. The bump to their subscriber numbers and revenues […]

June 13, 2023 Nick Snow

Arrivederci Silvio Berlusconi

RIP Silvio Berlusiconi, another of the titans who dominated media in the eighties, nineties and beyond. At a MIPCOM press conference in 1984 or 85, (the Com and some random satellite dishes had just been added by the wily MIP founder Bernard Chevry), the panel was Ted Turner, Robert Maxwell and Silvio Berlusconi. I remember […]

June 12, 2023 Nick Snow

The Future of TV is FAST… and also the Past

The Great Streaming War of the early 2020s is finally over. Like so many wars, this one ends with many losers, but no clear winner. And we, the viewing audience, are left with too many choices and too much cost. Let’s briefly recall why the Streaming War was fought. Not long ago, SVoD (streaming video […]

May 10, 2023 Paul Epstein

Murdoch ducks day in court

Few have more admiration for Rupert Murdoch than me. He has been dominating the ‘new media’ space all my working life, and that is true for virtually everyone reading this. What I admire particularly is that KRM has – unlike any number of other faceless corporates or ‘characterful’ entrepreneurs – regularly bet the farm on […]

April 19, 2023 Nick Snow

Virgin rocket fizzles out

Sir Richard Branson’s rocket company Virgin Orbit has filed for bankruptcy in the US after failing to secure new investment. The satellite launch company had already halted operations and laid-off staff but says it hopes to find a buyer for the business. In truth, it was always an also-ran contender in the competitive launch business […]

April 4, 2023 Nick Snow