Cordcutter News Brief - Amazon scraps live streaming TV plans, Sports Illustrated TV launches, college basketball on Facebook, and more

November 17, 2017 - 16:56 -- RokuGuide

Cordcutter News BriefsIn this week's collection of recent cord-cutting news items from around the web: Amazon scraps plans for streaming live TV, Sports Illustrated TV launches, 47 college basketball games to be streamed on Facebook, Roku's stock hit a record high, number of pay TV subscribers in US grew last quarter, and more.

"Amazon.com Inc has scrapped plans to launch an online streaming service bundling popular U.S. broadcast and cable networks" according to a report by Reuters. This moves comes "because it believes it cannot make enough money on such a service."



Sports Illustrated has launched Sports Illustrated TV, a subscription-video service, on Amazon Channels for $4.99/month after a 7-day free trial. AFTVnews reports that "SI TV will launch with 130 hours of licensed movies and documentaries," while Variety provides synopses for five series initially available on SI TV:

  • The Vault - Series revisits some of the biggest stories that have appeared in Sports Illustrated in its 63-year history with new on-camera interviews.
  • SI: Under the Cover - Profiles of subjects from current issues of the mag, such as an interview with NFL star Julio Jones.
  • The Crossover - A basketball lifestyle talk show about the players, games, culture, fashion and memes, hosted by SI.com writers Matt Dollinger and Rohan Nadkarni.
  • Planet Futbol - Hosted by the soccer writer Grant Wahl, the series delves into the sport around the globe with guests from Europe and the Americas.
  • The Line (working title) - Show about sports betting and daily fantasy sports.

"U.S. Pay-TV Subscribers Actually Grew Overall in Q3, Thanks to Internet Television," says Variety, summarizing a new report from MoffettNathanson. "The firm estimates that total U.S. pay-TV subscribers overall grew by 90,000 in Q3 (versus a net loss of 275,000 in the year-earlier quarter)."

Deadline.com reports that NBC will live stream 1,800 hours of the 2018 Winter Games From South Korea. "Digital coverage will include live streaming of all competition on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app across desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs for authenticated users; TV simul-stream coverage of five television networks; streaming on connected TVs, and an enhanced viewing experience for select sports."

The second-quarter 2017 Nielsen Total Audience Report "found that as of June, 58.7 percent of U.S. homes... now own at least one internet-enabled device capable of streaming to a TV" according to AdWeek. "Meanwhile, overall media usage among U.S. adults 18 and older increased by more than a half-hour in the past year, surging 32 minutes to 10 hours, 48 minutes, as live-TV viewing eroded more than ever."

And another AdWeek article reports that "47 College Basketball Games Are Coming to Watch on Facebook, via Stadium." "The hoops package includes games from the Mountain West Conference, West Coast Conference, Conference USA and the Atlantic 10 Conference."

The "FCC's latest gift to telcos could leave Americans with worse Internet access," says ArsTechnica in reporting on a Thursday vote by the regulatory agency. The vote "will let carriers abandon copper lines without offering adequate replacements."

Roku's stock hit a record high following a Philips licensing deal. Reuters reported that "shares surged nearly 43 percent to a record high on Monday after the streaming device maker said it signed a licensing deal that would put its technology on Philips-branded televisions in the United States this year." And Bloomberg says that because of this, "the chief executive officer and founder of Roku Inc.,... added $652 million to his net worth."

If you ever asked a question on Facebook about how to get free TV, or did even a minimal amount of online research about cord cutting, you undoubtedly were told to get Kodi. It's no secret that Kodi add-ons can provide access to huge amounts of pirated video, but Jennifer Van Grove, reporting for The San Diego Union-Tribune, ask that "before you, too, get sucked in by the proposition of free everything... think about what you're doing. I don't mean to suggest that you should feel sorry for the world's biggest entertainment brands who are, no doubt, losing money on work that cost millions to produce. Rather, it's a matter of right versus wrong, and even kindergartners know it's wrong to steal."

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