Streaming TV war kicks into gear with Apple, Disney launches

SAN FRANCISCO - The streaming television war is set to enter a new phase as titans Apple and Disney take direct aim at market leader Netflix, vying for consumers abandoning their cable TV bundles for on-demand services.

The shift away from "linear" television is likely to escalate with powerful new entrants to streaming coming this year and in early 2020.

The new landscape has important implications for longtime segment leader Netflix, which is now locked in a battle with deep-pocketed rivals for actors, directors and producers to win and keep audiences.

"The Cinderella ride that Netflix has been on has some stormy weather ahead," said Wedbush Securities equity research managing director Daniel Ives.

"You are talking about some of the biggest brands in technology involved in this battle."

An Apple TV+ service will launch November 1 in more than 100 countries at $4.99 per month. Apple is spending heavily on new content and promises a "powerful and inspiring lineup of original shows, movies and documentaries."

Entertainment colossus Disney will launch its own online streaming service, chock full of popular franchises such as "Star Wars" and Marvel superheroes, on November 12 in the US, Canada and the Netherlands, before rolling out worldwide.

And more competition looms on the horizon, as AT&T's WarnerMedia will launch its "HBO Max" in early 2020 after reclaiming the rights from Netflix to stream its popular television comedy "Friends." 

NBCUniversal's Peacock service is also launching next year.

Disney chief executive Bob Iger told investors on a recent earnings call that "nothing is more important to us" than the Disney+ platform.

As well as offering Disney's enormous back catalog, including all animated films and Pixar movies within its first year, it will feature freshly commissioned shows. It will cost $6.99 a month in the US.

Spotlighting originality

Netflix, which began streaming television to subscribers online some 12 years ago, has so far stayed ahead of Amazon Prime and Hulu, key rivals in the US market.

Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings said he is unfazed by the new rivals.

"Disney will be a great competitor," he told analysts recently. "Apple is just beginning but, you know, they will probably have some great shows too."

The budget for original shows at Netflix this year is $15 billion, and the California-based company this week announced plans to issue $2 billion in notes to have more cash for uses including creating and acquiring content.

Ives said Netflix remains the leader until proven otherwise.

"Netflix is on the top of the mountain and will continue to be the leader, but there are legitimate opportunities for number two and number three players with Apple, HBO, and Amazon in the running," the analyst wrote.

Big-name entertainment industry talent has been recruited to make shows for the competing services, and Netflix is also showcasing local talent from countries around the world.

Cable TV obsolete?

As Disney and other major studios begin streaming directly to viewers, and keep coveted shows or films on their own services to attract subscribers, traditional cable companies "should be very concerned," according to IHS Markit analyst Fateha Begum.

"The cable service provider as a middle man bundling content is no longer needed," Begum said.

"I don't think cable TV will die, it still provides the one place for content you want, but this will push cable and pay TV services to innovate further."

Cable TV companies may have to end revenue-boosting tactics such as charging monthly fees for boxes needed to access their services.

Online streaming services accounted for a third of paid video subscriptions worldwide last year, with the rest going to traditional pay TV, according to IHS Markit media platforms executive director Maria Rua Aguete.

She expected the number of streaming subscribers worldwide to grow 19 percent to 921.8 million next year, and then another 16 percent to 1.1 billion in the year 2021.

"With the new flexible services threatening to convert more consumers into cord-cutters and into leaving the pay-TV ecosystem behind, besieged pay-TV providers are justifiably feeling the heat," Aguete said.

Meanwhile, the expense and complexity of accessing a variety of streaming services for shows could give rise to aggregators that bring options together in a single place, perhaps in the Amazon Prime style of mixing subscriber content with films for purchase or rent.

More than 50 streaming television services have launched or will launch in the year ahead, according to Mobilocity analyst Gerry Purdy.

"Until now, it has been Netflix's world and everyone else has been paying rent," Ives said.

"Over the next three to six months, we are going to see an all out battle for consumer mind-share."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

HGTV now available in PH

MANILA -- Filipinos can now watch HGTV, a home and lifestyle entertainment channel in the U.S., on cable TV in the Philippines.

In a statement, Scripps Networks Interactive announced that HGTV will start airing on SKYCable and Cignal Digital TV on Sunday, March 1.

For SkyCable subscribers, HGTV will be available on channels 88 (SD) and 246 (HD), while the launch date for Cignal Digital TV and its assigned channel have yet to be announced.

Before the Philippines, HGTV was also recently launched in Singapore, Australia and Mongolia.

According to Scripps Networks Interactive managing director for Asia-Pacific Derek Chang, HGTV is thankful for the support given by SkyCable and Cignal in bringing the home and lifestyle channel to the Philippines.

As demand for lifestyle channels rises in Asia, HGTV hopes to add to the variety of content that viewers are looking for, he said.

"HGTV is the first regional channel dedicated exclusively to the growing home and lifestyle category in Asia and is seeing great traction with our advertisers, affiliates and audiences alike," Chang said.

Among the shows that will air on the channel are "Property Brothers," "Buying and Selling," "Kitchen Cousins" and "The High Low Project."

Scripps Networks announced that it will also produce short-form local content, such as "Extreme Homes" and "I Like This."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Al Jazeera America launches

New cable network Al Jazeera America introduced itself to U.S. viewers on Tuesday with reports on political strife in Egypt and a shooting at a Georgia elementary school, making its bid to win audiences shortly after a major pay TV distributor declined to carry the network.

The decision by AT&T's U-verse pay-TV service stemmed from a contract dispute over terms to carry the new channel, AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said.

Globally, Al Jazeera is seen in more than 260 million homes in 130 countries. But the new U.S. channel funded by the emir of Qatar has so far had difficulty getting distributors, in part because Al Jazeera was perceived by some as being anti-American during the Iraq war.

Before AT&T's announcement, Al Jazeera America said it would be available in more than 40 million homes, roughly half the reach of Time Warner Inc's CNN. U-verse was launched in 2006 and had 5 million video customers at the end of June in markets such as Texas and California.

"We could not reach an agreement with the owner that we believed provided value for our customers and our business," AT&T spokesman Siegel said.

Defining the new channel's mission clearly will be crucial for Al Jazeera to gain a foothold in the United States, according to advertisers, executives and industry experts.

In its first hour at midafternoon, Al Jazeera pledged to cover "issues that matter to America and the world beyond." Anchors said they would provide in-depth coverage of stories ignored by other media outlets, with bureaus in cities they considered underserved such as Nashville and Detroit.

Al Jazeera America hired ABC news veteran Kate O'Brian to be its president and on-air talent including CNN veterans Ali Velshi and Soledad O'Brien.

Its news coverage kicked off with reports on Egypt, the Georgia school shooting and wildfires in the western United States, topics also covered by cable news competitors on Tuesday. Al Jazeera America also reported on a hunger strike by inmates protesting conditions in California prisons and Kodak's plan to rebound from bankruptcy.

It turned to sports with an interview of retired slugger Gary Sheffield about baseball's steroids scandal. A show called "Inside Story" explored the impact of climate change on U.S. cities and working conditions in Bangladeshi factories.

Audience ratings data were not yet available.

COVERAGE DESCRIBED AS BALANCED

Media critic Howard Kurtz, speaking on rival Fox News Channel, said Al Jazeera America's early coverage was "not much different, at least so far, than what you might see on Fox News, CNN or MSNBC." One top story on Egypt was "right down the middle" in terms of balance, he said.

The network is airing six minutes of commercials per hour, below the 15 to 16 minute average on cable news. Executives indicated they are willing to lose money in the near term.

Advertisers on Tuesday included Procter & Gamble Co's Gillette for its Fusion razors and phone service provider Vonage .

U-verse is the second TV provider after Time Warner Cable to drop the network since it acquired Current TV in January and replaced it with Al Jazeera America. Comcast, DirecTV, Dish and Verizon are carrying the network.

Merrill Brown, a former media executive who helped launch cable news network MSNBC, said Al Jazeera America may need to pay distributors if it wants to reach more viewers, particularly since it is not owned by a media conglomerate that can package it with other channels to gain leverage in negotiations.

"It's hard to believe they are going to get this thing nationally distributed without paying for carriage," Brown said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

FOX Threatens to Switch Into Cable Channel in Protest Against Aereo

A top executive at News Corp. said he's considering to convert FOX to a pay-TV channel on cable or satellite if Aereo survives. At a conference of the National Association of Broadcasters in Las Vegas, Chase Carey, the President and COO of the international media conglomerate, made the suggestion as a legal dispute with the Internet startup continues.

"We won't just sit idle and allow our content to be actively stolen. We have no choice but to develop business solutions that ensure we continue to remain in the driver's seat of our own destiny," Carey stated. "If we can't do a fair deal, we could take the whole network to a subscription model."

The same solution has apparently come into the mind of Univision Communications Inc's execs. Univision Chairman Haim Saban said, "We too are considering all of our options-including converting to pay TV."

The suggestion by FOX's and NBCUniversal's execs came a week after a federal appeals court said Aereo could continue its service. Major broadcasters, including CBS, NBCUniversal, ABC and FOX filed a lawsuit against Aereo in March 2012 for copyright infringement since it offers the networks' content without paying for the right to distribute the programs.

Launched in February last year, Aereo allows subscribers to view live broadcast content and to record it for later viewing by using an individual remote antenna. In a statement to respond to Carey's statement, Aereo said, "Aereo has invented a simple, convenient way for consumers to utilize an antenna to access free-to-air broadcast television, bringing television access into the modern era for millions of consumers."

"Over 50 million Americans today access television via an antenna," it added. "It's disappointing to hear that Fox believes that consumers should not be permitted to use an antenna to access free-to-air broadcast television."

source: aceshowbiz.com