In this week's collection of recent cord-cutting news items from around the web: FOX merged several networks into a single app, cord-cutting in Canada much less than in the US, YouTube TV adds Tastemade and TYT Network, DirecTV Now adds free cloud DVR, Hulu is now exclusive home for Viceland shows on-demand, the virtual pay TV market is set for a shakeout, and more!
Amazon Channels accounts for more than half of all direct-to-consumer sign-ups, says Business Insider, and it's even higher for premium apps: "Amazon Channels accounts for 53% of HBO streaming sign-ups, 72% of Showtime OTT, and 70% of Starz OTT sign-ups. That compares to 47% of sign-ups directly through HBO's app, 26% directly through Showtime, and 30% directly through Starz." If you aren't familiar with Amazon Channels, its a streaming video on-demand (SVOD) service aggregator that lets users subscribe to and manage a wide range of streaming services through Amazon's Prime Video apps.
Sling TV's group president said to use OTA antennas to avoid retransmission costs. Retransmission fees are paid to local TV stations to carry their signals over cable or services like Sling TV and DIRECTV NOW. According to FierceCable, "One of the keys to Sling TV's $20 entry price point is that the service doesn't include local affiliates. Schlichting said Sling TV thought it would launch with local channels, but at some stage his team asked why do that when retransmission fees are crazy... According to Schlichting's math, customers can save $12 a month by not taking local channels and that it could be $15 next year."
MobileSyrup reports that "cord-cutting far less prevalent in Canada than the US and will likely stay that way." This comes from a report from a Scotiabank analyst "that shows Canadian telecom companies aren't experiencing the same rate of decline in video subscribers as U.S. telecoms are."
YouTube TV has added two new 24-Hour linear channels, Tastemade and TYT Network. Tastemade is a travel, food and lifestyle media company, and TYT focuses on news commentary, politics, and entertainment. According to Variety, "one of the key motivations behind the deals is [to allow YouTube] to tap into the large online followings of Tastemade and the Young Turks, to potentially lure new subscribers to YouTube TV and its core lineup of 50-plus traditional broadcast and cable networks.
And while we're discussing YouTube, YouTube Red is becoming YouTube Premium. USA Today reports that "the YouTube Red subscription service, which for $9.99 monthly had offered original video programming, a free subscription to YouTube Music and Google Play Music and the ability to listen to music in the background, ad free, is getting a new name — YouTube Premium — and new pricing... YouTube Premium subscribers will get access to the original, ad-free YouTube and a complimentary subscription to YouTube Music."
DirecTV Now has added a free cloud DVR to it's popular streaming TV service, and BGR calls it "better than any cable box." "The free plan lets users record up to 20 hours of video for a maximum of 30 days, while an extra $10 per month gets you 100 hours of recording for 90 days. To access the feature, you’ll need to be using the latest version of the DirecTV Now app on iOS, Apple TV, or the web browser. Support for other platforms, including Android, Roku, and Chromecast, is set to come in the next few weeks."
Philo's CEO isn't concerned about competition from AT&T's planned "Watch" skinny bundle. FierceCable quotes Andrew McCollum as saying "We don’t really pay much attention to competition. We focus on building the best product that we can."
Hulu has an exclusive deal with Vice for 150 Hours of Viceland programming according to Variety. "It's Vice's first-ever subscription VOD agreement for Viceland... The deal makes Hulu the exclusive SVOD home for Viceland's shows."
The virtual pay TV market is set for a shakeout according to a top video and TV analyst and reported by Multichannel News.
"The number of consumers that will gravitate to virtual MVPD services won’t be nearly enough to sustain a growing mix of players, setting the market up for an inevitable shakeout." The "market is 'too big to fail, but too small to succeed.'"FOX has merged several of their networks into a single app on Amazon Fire TV. AFTV News reports that "The FOX NOW app, as well as a newly released Nat Geo TV app, now provide access to content from FOX, FOX Sports, FOX Sports 2 FX, FXX, FX Movies, National Geographic, and Nat Geo Wild all within the same app."
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