i3 - January/February 2016 - 100

Business

BY GARY ARLEN

E N T E RTA I N M E N T M AT T E RS

A

s CBS, NBC, HBO, Bravo, Discovery and other "traditional" TV networks unleash
their direct-to-consumer streaming video plans, the entire idea of "television"
changed. Add in Netflix's strategy to debut its original programs simultaneously
in theaters and online, you know the business is in the midst of an overhaul.

Global online and video revenue is forecast to double
from now to 2020 to $42 billion.-Digital TV Research
Producers and distributors
are taking diverse approaches
to streaming strategies in these
early "over-the-top" (OTT)
days. CBS surprised people
when it opted to reboot Star
Trek on its CBS All Access
streaming platform (a $6 per
month subscription videoon-demand service) rather
than on its broadcast network.
Home Box Office signed up
Jon Stewart (famed for his
Daily Show) to create short
digital segments for its HBO
Go and HBO Now streams-
in time for the 2016 election
season. Stewart's commentary/
comedy will wind up on the
linear HBO channels, too-but
it will first appear online to
create buzz.
Showtime, owned by CBS,
100

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016

earlier unveiled plans to sell
service for $10.99 monthly via
Sony's PlayStation Vue service
as well as through Apple TV
and Roku streaming receivers.
ABC TV channels plus
ESPN's sports networks (all
owned by Walt Disney Co.)
are available through the
Sony PlayStation Vue service.
Dwayne Benefield, chief of
PlayStation Vue, talked about
being "the first Internet-based
pay TV service to offer Disney's
networks with the streaming
features." ABC is also creating
"digital originals" to supplement its lineup of off-the-air
content.
NBC unveiled its "Seeso"
comedy streaming network,
offering curated as well as ondemand content.

"By focusing on a specific
yet large niche, and providing
a curated experience, we can
help viewers find good stuff
they might not or cannot find,"
said Evan Shapiro, executive
vice president of digital enterprises at NBCUniversal. For
$3.99 per month, viewers can
watch a lineup of new series,
original shows from Lorne
Michael's Broadway Video,
plus old Monty Python shows
and NBC reruns.
Separately, Bravo network,
owned by NBCUniversal, has
tiptoed into the arena by previewing its new documentary/
reality series Après-Ski on the
Shazam app. It's the first time
social app Shazam has carried
a full TV episode before its
conventional telecast.

Quelling Skeptics
On the day after Yahoo! livestreamed a free webcast of the
Buffalo Bills-Jacksonville Jaguars NFL game from London,
some TV anchors said that they
wouldn't want to watch a pro
football game on a smartphone
or tablet. More than 15.2 million unique viewers worldwide
tuned into Yahoo's webcast.
The streamed game was an
experiment to gauge the audience appeal for online video
viewing-via any device.
Local TV stations affiliated
with broadcast networks are
wary of the streaming agenda,
fearing that viewers tuned to
OTT content will not pay attention to the local channels. The
networks and affiliates are figuring out who will negotiate with
the new generation of direct-toconsumer streaming services
and the financial arrangement.
However, advertisers and
marketers are enthusiastic about
the evolving OTT rollouts. Their
hopes are fueled by forecasts that
predict global online TV and
video revenue to double from
now to 2020 to $42 billion,
about twice the subscription
payments at that time, according
to Digital TV Research.

Gary Arlen is president of
Arlen Communications LLC.

Look for lively encounters
at CES 2016's C Space
program, which brings
together marketers and
content suppliers who are
shaping the next phase of
the streaming evolution.
I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

Cultura RM/Getty Images; Bart Sadowski/iStock

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