In this week's rundown of recent news items for cord-cutters: Roku dethrones Chromecast, Sling TV offers PPV sporting events, Nielsen counting Hulu and YouTube TV viewing, Amazon distributing to theaters, and more.
Roku is the most popular streaming device, knocking Chromecast out of first place. StreamingMedia.com reports that "Roku has risen to become the most popular video streaming device, while the Apple TV falls farther and farther behind." Research company eMarketer says that 23.1 percent of Americans who stream video to a TV do so with Roku devices, up from 19.3 percent last year.
Sling TV is now offering pay-per-view events. The first event is UFC® 214: Cormier vs. Jones 2. Former titleholder Jon Jones will try to reclaim the top spot in the light heavyweight division from current champion Daniel Cormier. Sling TV subscriber can pre-purchase the July 29th fight by logging in to "My Account" on sling.com and clicking on the UFC fight banner. If you aren't already a Sling TV subscriber, a Sling TV free 7-day trial is available.
Approximately 2 million people have installed the YouTube TV app according to TechCrunch. But they point out that "2 million downloads doesn't necessarily translate into subscribers — many users may have simply installed the app out of curiosity; others could be on free trials that never convert to paid subscriptions"
Meanwhile, AT&T's competing streaming service DirecTV Now has nearly 500,000 subscribers 7 months after launch. AT&T made this announcement in its Q2 earnings release. TechCrunch notes that "[t]he company lost 351,000 traditional video subscribers in Q2... while DirecTV Now gained 152,000.
Nielsen is known for its ratings of TV shows on traditional linear television channels, but streaming services are making it difficult to get a true picture of TV watching habits. To get a more accurate picture of the popularity of TV shows, Nielsen is now counting some Hulu and YouTube TV viewing in its ratings. FastCompany says that "[t]he company has been the focus of blame-the-messenger backlash from some TV executives who, in the face of declining ratings, have called Nielsen's relevance into question."
Jeff Baumgartner writes on Multichannel.com that NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke is "'Skeptical' that OTT TV will thrive". "The over-the-top services that have been launched so far are doing about as we expected they would do, and that is they're not all that material to our business," Burke said said Thursday on Comcast’s Q2 earnings call.
Amazon Prime Originals include many popular original TV shows and movies, but the company is looking to expand beyond the Amazon Prime Video platform. Variety reports that "Amazon is moving into self-distributing its own movies, putting it on the path to becoming a full-fledged film studio." Woody Allen’s "Wonder Wheel," which opens in theaters on December 1, will be distributed directly by Amazon without a distribution partner. Variety expects the Amazon film to be an Oscar contender.
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