[opendtv] Re: The no-sports streaming bundle is coming soon from Viacom, Discovery, and others
- From: Craig Birkmaier <brewmastercraig@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2017 09:25:14 -0400
On Sep 12, 2017, at 11:08 PM, Manfredi, Albert E
<albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
This is what the Internet brings, Craig. As a two-way and neutral transport,
any number of such concepts can be brought to market, even if they are less
lucrative for some of the special interests. In the old days, it would have
made no sense, everything being walled up as it was. Take it or leave it.
Now, these services actually have to compete.
Yes Bert, the Internet can provide more competition for niche markets. But this
is hardly a breakthrough. SlingTV already offers a bundle WITH ESPN for about
the same price.
What we are starting to see is the owners of popular content creating specialty
stores to sell their network bundles direct to consumers IN ADDITION to the
larger MVPD bundles that still dominate the market. This is a bit like shopping
at a Mall filled with specialty stores that charge higher prices than the big
box retailers like Walmart, Target, et al.
What is actually starting to happen is that the big content congloms are
developing direct to consumer versions of the bundles they sell to the MVPDs.
But the prices are significantly higher than buying the big bundles. The
subscriber fees for ALL of the networks Discovery will own after the Scripps
Howard acquisition are less than $10/mo. If they price the direct to consumer
bundle at $9.99/mo, they may attract a reasonable number of cord cutters. If
they price it at $14.99 or higher they will keep driving consumers to the big
bundles that cost little more.
It is a niche strategy.
Your "the bundle" is unraveling, Craig. It is not merely moving to the
Internet. People are coming up with any number of better formulas, for
offering what the consumers really want.
Yup. DirecTV came up with a better formulae; I subscribed to DirecTV Now
because it has all of the networks I want for half the price of the Cox bundle
I switched from. But it is still a compromise - I'm still paying for a bunch of
channels I do not watch.
If every content conglom creates its own direct bundle, the cost for consumers
who choose these specialty bundles will likely increase unless they only want
one or two of these bundles. Thus most consumers will stay with the bigger
bundles that include a bunch of stuff they do not watch.
So let's cut the crap about the bundles unraveling - they are simply
proliferating because it is now technically possible to sell direct to the
consumer...
So much for the monopoly power of the MVPDs...
How will we know when the bundles REALLY UNRAVEL Bert?
Here's a clue: it's called ALA CARTE.
You will recognize this new paradigm when it becomes possible to select the
networks you want WITHOUT paying a premium for each channel relative to what
the congloms charge the bundles for their networks.
Better yet, in the end we may just pay for each program we watch - no
subscriptions, just a reasonable fee based on the "freshness" and popularity of
the program.
Regards
Craig
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts:
- » [opendtv] The no-sports streaming bundle is coming soon from Viacom, Discovery, and others- Monty Solomon
- » [opendtv] Re: The no-sports streaming bundle is coming soon from Viacom, Discovery, and others- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: The no-sports streaming bundle is coming soon from Viacom, Discovery, and others - Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: The no-sports streaming bundle is coming soon from Viacom, Discovery, and others- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: The no-sports streaming bundle is coming soon from Viacom, Discovery, and others- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: The no-sports streaming bundle is coming soon from Viacom, Discovery, and others- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: The no-sports streaming bundle is coming soon from Viacom, Discovery, and others- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: The no-sports streaming bundle is coming soon from Viacom, Discovery, and others- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: The no-sports streaming bundle is coming soon from Viacom, Discovery, and others- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: The no-sports streaming bundle is coming soon from Viacom, Discovery, and others- Manfredi, Albert E