In this week's collection of recent cord-cutting news items from around the web: 2018 will be Netflix's best year yet; Twitter leaving Roku, Android TV and Xbox; Verizon seemingly cancels its streaming TV service; Sling TV adds two news channels; what's leaving The Roku Channel this month, Sony not shutting down PlayStation Vue; Roku shares jump after short-seller reverses call; Boomerang adding SVOD features; and more!
StreamingMedia predicts that "2018 Will Be Netflix's Best Year Yet" and says the service is headed for 201 million subscribers by 2023. "Strong demand outside the United States—especially in Asia Pacific—will propel record growth at Netflix... As for revenue, look for it to grow from $11.3 billion in 2017 to $28.8 billion by the end of 2023. Of that, $11.2 billion will come from the U.S. "
Beginning Thursday, May 24, Twitter will no longer be available on Roku, Android TV or Xbox according to one of their own tweets. Variety reports that "Twitter is shutting down apps for those platforms because it would need to make changes to them in order to comply the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which takes effect on May 25." However, Variety says that Twitter apps will still be available for Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.
Tom Teodorczuk, entertainment writer for MarketWatch, asks, If its ratings don't really matter, why is Netflix suddenly canceling so many shows? "Analysts and industry sources think that for all its public disdain for ratings, Netflix is more like a conventional television network than it cares to admit."
Verizon seemingly cancels its oft-delayed streaming TV service, according to The Verge. "Verizon has apparently given up on launching its own streaming TV service... Verizon is now going to partner with an unspecified existing OTT service and contribute content from its various Oath brands."
Sling TV is adding Newsmax and Free Speech TV to their News Extra add-on ($5 per month with a Sling Orange and/or Sling Blue subscription). Newsmax is a 24/7 live channel with breaking news, including up to the minute headlines and perspective on politics, health, finance and other information. Free Speech TV is a national, independent, viewer-supported networkwith unfiltered news, views, and analysis you won't find on commercial networks. Find more information in this Sling TV announcement.
21 movies are leaving The Roku Channel at the end of May. Better hurry if you want to catch them! Departing titles include All the King’s Men (2006), Cadillac Records (2008), Drive (2011), Godzilla (1998), The Queen (2006), and The Rum Diary (2011). Find the full list on the Roku blog.
Sony has no plans to shut down PlayStation Vue according to the Wall Street Journal and MultiChannel News. "Speculation about the future of PS Vue swirled this week when a presentation (PDF) given at Sony's investors relations day characterized that the market and future business model for PS Vue 'remains uncertain.'" However, Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida told reporters that "Sony has no plans to shut down PS Vue, as it is bringing in useful user data."
Boomerang adding Android TV support, Spanish language content, says FierceCable. Turner's streaming video on demand (SVOD) product "is also turning on unified search results that will surface Boomerang content on searches across Roku, Amazon and Apple devices. The company said Google devices will soon be added to that mix. Finally, Boomerang is adding new personalization features including avatar creation and show discovery as well as the ability to create and share playlists."
CNBC reports that Roku shares jump after short-seller reverses call, says he doesn't want to bet against cord-cutting. "Shares of Roku spiked Friday after short-seller Citron Research said it is reversing its negative view on the maker of streaming players, given a major shift away from the traditional cable television subscription model. 'The move to cutting the cord and [over-the-top] advertising is real and it is a megatrend that Citron not only does not want to be short, but at this valuation I want to be long,' the research firm... said in a report Friday.
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