[opendtv] Re: Sony To Take Viacom Over-The-Top | Multichannel

  • From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 23:28:20 +0000

Craig Birkmaier wrote:

> You've quoted articles that are saying that ESPN Is trying some experiments,

Yes, Craig, that's the way one understands where the wind is blowing. You can't 
convincingly demonstrate your insightful understanding and thinking only after 
the changes have already happened. And when this will (undoubtedly) happen, for 
at least some of the ESPN content, Craig will continue to deny it for several 
more years. If history is a guide. Right, Craig?

> They can lose 10% of existing MVPD subscribers and still be highly
> profitable.

And John Skipper himself was quoted as saying that even a 10 percent loss of 
viewership will cause big changes at ESPN, Craig, without stipulating anything 
about profit margin. Craig would have us believe that he's more attuned to how 
ESPN will respond than ESPN's president. Interesting.

>> Plus, I've already suggested to you more than once that "bundles" with
>> OTT sites can be totally different from the MVPD bundles. Remember? For
>> instance, that individual congloms can now create their own bundles,
>> unimpeded by other congloms.
>
> Really?
>
> Please show me an example.

You should know better than to question these things, Craig. How many times has 
this happened? Here's a fairly recent example:

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[opendtv] Re: =?windows-1252?Q?NCTA:_"Netflix_is_beating_cable"?Message-Id: 
<4BCFB0CA-F390-4144-A4C1-F50BF3F230AC@xxxxxxxxx>
From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 17 May 2013 19:35:44 +0000
. . .

Let me give you an example. Using the Internet as distribution pipe, and 
freeing itself of any dependency on old-school MVPD bundling, CBS could create 
its own content bundles, on its own web sites. Or perhaps even create its own 
content bundles on aggregation sites, like Amazon.

It is foolish to think that CBS prefers to have customers tied to bundles that 
include a bunch of expensive ESPN channels, for example, since CBS gets zero 
nada out of that ESPN overhead cost for customers. They might even lose 
potential customers that way.

The MVPD model, retained to control access to Internet TV, cannot stand long. 
It's top heavy, cumbersome, unnecessary anymore. You can't assume the consumer 
is too plain dumb to eventually figure this out. They already are figuring this 
out.
---------------------------------

Okay? Check the archives. It doesn't have to be "the bundle" anymore. It can be 
either different bundles, or no bundles at all.

> ESPN is reliant on the subscriber fees from "the bundle"

And yet, their president has even questioned that, directly. Like I said, 
broader distribution, perhaps even without subscription fee, can end up being 
even more profitable. John Skipper is thinking along those lines too, even if 
Craig can't. And with the Internet, "broader" can mean the entire world, Craig.

> To make this absolutely clear, DO NOT expect Sony to launch a MVPD
> competitor without ESPN as part of the mandatory bundle.

Because Craig says so.

Bert

 
 
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