In this comprehensive podcast update on the CDN market, I separate facts from opinions, providing a detailed analysis of the latest trends. I cover everything from CDN pricing trends, market sizing, traffic and revenue growth rates, DIY initiatives (TikTok, Disney, Apple, Netflix), tech trends and demands across 4K, ULL, CMCD, bitrate optimization,…

This week, we discuss ad tech and how some SSPs are packaging CTV inventory into curated, omnichannel deals, resulting in CTV inventory being attached to less desirable content. While SSP auctions allow buyers to tailor bids to media quality, buyers could bid highly on packages with only some premium inventory. We also detail the report that Disney…

This week, we recap details from the ongoing Sunday Ticket trial, including the news that the NFL rejected ESPN's proposed reduced price of $70 for the entire 2023 season for Sunday Ticket, along with single-team packages. Trial evidence also showed that Fox considered Sunday Ticket an "existential threat" to its business, asking the NFL in 2021 th…

This week, we recap details from the ongoing Sunday Ticket trial, including the news that the NFL rejected ESPN's proposed reduced price of $70 for the entire 2023 season for Sunday Ticket, along with single-team packages. Trial evidence also showed that Fox considered Sunday Ticket an "existential threat" to its business, asking the NFL in 2021 th…

With all the recent sports streaming news, co-host Mark Donnigan and I did a special “Sports Streaming Podcast Episode” this week. We discuss the upcoming Venu Sports offering (Disney/WBD/FOX sports JV) and the limitations we expect the service to have when it launches. We weigh in on some of the tech behind the scenes and consider whether a 'beta'…

This week, we discuss some of Netflix's latest data on its ad-supported business, including usage, monthly active users and the news that it will launch an ad tech platform to control its ad buying, placement, and targeting. We also cover news from YouTube's Brandcast, announcing that viewers watch more than 1 billion hours of content on TV screens…

This week, we detail all the P&L numbers from the Q1 earnings across OTT platforms and streaming vendors. We highlight that while Disney+ and Hulu had an operating income profit of $47M, the rest of Disney's business didn't fare well, with linear TV operating income slumping 22% and linear network revenue across Disney’s portfolio fell 8% (excludin…

Fubo’s Co-Founder and CEO, David Gandler, sits down for an in-depth discussion about their lawsuit filed against Disney, FOX, and WBD, its Q1 earnings numbers, industry challenges around content licensing pricing and bundling and Fubo’s goal to get to profitability in 2025. David defines antitrust, why Fubo believes the JV is anticompetitive and ho…

This week, we recap all the Q1 subscriber and P&L numbers you need to know across Peacock, Paramount+ and Roku, breaking down profitability, losses, subscriber additions, ARPU and free cash flow. We cover the latest cord cutting numbers from Verizon, Comcast and Charter, who lost 938,000 pay TV subs in the quarter combined. We also discuss some rec…

This week, we did a mini-review of the NAB Show Streaming Summit and some topics we heard discussed around the difficulty in scaling streaming services for low latency and QoE. We also cover Netflix’s Q1 earnings and excellent user growth, adding 9.3 million subs, which was tempered by the news that they will stop reporting quarterly membership num…

This week, we discuss the latest news around Disney, including their plans to crack down on password sharing in June in a "few" countries and markets, with a "full" rollout in September. We detail how complex ESPN’s DTC offering is becoming, with Disney announcing that its new ESPN streaming service will launch in the fall of 2025 and will be offer…

Step up to the plate with us this week as we tackle the complex maze of baseball streaming. We cover the latest baseball streaming news with Fubo adding RSNs, Hulu+ Live TV adding the MLB Network, and discuss the terrible fan experience with some MLB teams requiring fans to access five different networks to stream games. We also highlight other spo…

This week, we detail WBD's planned international expansion of Max, which will make the OTT service available in 25 countries in Europe and 65 countries and territories worldwide. We also highlight comments made by the NFL's Chief Business Officer regarding the newly announced WBD, FOX and Disney sports JV, which is missing over half of all NFL game…

This special podcast takes you inside the NAB Show Streaming Summit with a preview of all the content, speakers and expert strategies you’ll learn at the event. Hear what the keynote fireside chats will cover with Paramount Global, Prime Video and NBCU. We also give an overview of the new AI Demo Track and break down all the sessions tied to sports…

This week, we detail how SeaChange, which once dominated the cable TV operator market and had over $216 million in revenue, will have its assets acquired for $30 million. We break down the numbers you need to know from Fubo's full-year 2023 earnings, ending with 1.61M subscribers and reaffirming their expectation to reach positive cash flow and adj…

This week, we break down all the numbers from Warner Bros. Discovery's full year 2023 earnings, including DTC profitability in 2023, exclusive NBA negotiations, international expansion of Max, and their disciplined approach to investing in subscriber growth, mindful of lifetime value to subscriber acquisition cost ratios. We also highlight why Fubo…

This week, we cover infrastructure news and Q4 and full-year earnings from Akamai, Fastly, and Broadpeak, highlighting overall CDN industry revenue growth, pricing trends, and Akamai's continued dominance of the content delivery market. We also discuss the Super Bowl stream on Paramount+, my 8.5 million AMA viewership number, and reported news that…

This week, we discuss the key numbers from Disney's latest earnings, including subs, ARPU and D2C profitability projections. We detail what the ESPN brand could look like with their comments that they will bring its ESPN DTC app to the market in the fall or late August of 2025, including integrated fantasy betting. We debate what their newly announ…

This week, we discuss the key takeaways from Q4 earnings across OTT platforms and streaming vendors, including Apple seeing a "huge opportunity" with AI, YouTube's ad revenue growth of 15% and AWS closing out 2023 with $90.8 billion in cloud revenue. We discuss new numbers released by Amazon, which spent $18.9 billion on content in 2023, of which "…

The Netflix episode "Woooooo!" This week, we discuss Netflix’s record Q4 earnings, their free cash flow of $6.9 billion for 2023, their growing AVOD business and their off-the-top rope deal with the WWE as they continue to dominate the industry. We discuss how the WWE deal with "scripted entertainment” differs from sports content, how it will expan…

This week, we discuss the use cases for Apple Vision Pro and why it will not become the future of video viewing for consumers at scale. We also break down the Diamond Sports Group complex proposed restructuring plan, Amazon's commitment to make a minority investment, and the potential repercussions for Prime Video customers who will be able to purc…

This week, we break down all the latest sports viewership numbers from ESPN, FOX Sports, CBS Sports, and NBC Sports. We also highlight the new joint venture by YES Network and MSG Networks, the launch of an Innovation Lab by Major League Soccer and details around the Super Bowl stream, which will not stream in 4K on Paramount+ and will be in 1080P6…

This week, we review what's behind all the industry layoffs as companies reset the cost bar on CAPEX and OPEX expenses. With full-year 2023 financials in the book, some companies didn't hit the revenue, efficiency, and cost savings goals they had expected, prompting layoffs to start the year. We also detail how some vendors are restructuring their …

This week, I reviewed Peacock's exclusive NFL game stream with some users having a poor quality video experience and detailed why I think Peacock's strategy failed with their ad-free fourth quarter. I also break down the viewership numbers reported by NBC Sports and highlight how sports is a costly and unproven part of Peacock's subscriber acquisit…

This week we discuss, how in a blow to Amazon and DAZN, pay TV broadcaster Sky won broadcast rights to show a record number of Premier League matches in a new four-year deal. We also break down Paramount’s balance sheet to refute the reports they are nearing bankruptcy and highlight Peacock’s latest data of 30 million paying subscribers, their $10 …

Avi Saxena, CTO and Tyler Whitworth, CPO at Warner Bros. Discovery, join me for a detailed conversation about the technical video stack at Max. Learn how they approach the user experience when it comes to their apps, latency, adding live sports and news to the platform, device support, 4K, advertising, personalization, and how they measure QoE. We …

This week we discuss some of the latest news and rumors around bundling and aggregation of streaming services, the impact that wholesale rates have on DTC profitability, and the lack of data in the market to prove that bundling reduces churn. We also cover the viewership numbers from Prime Video's first NFL Black Friday game, Amazon's new licensing…

Larry Allen, VP/GM, of Data and Addressable Enablement at Comcast Advertising joins me for a detailed discussion on how the shift in viewing habits to all screens is making it difficult to provide cohesive cross-media measurement. We discuss the impact of the loss of third-party cookies, the challenges and opportunities that exist with measurement …

This week we cover all the latest news in the world of sports streaming tied to Apple, Amazon, ESPN, Disney+ Hotstar, Fubo, Max, Peacock, and YouTube TV. We also discuss content licensing and viewership stats across the NFL, NBA, Formula 1, and MLS. Some highlights include: Apple reported that they had more than a million viewers to watch the bigge…

This week, we examine the Q3 financial results of OTT industry heavyweights Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, DISH, and Vizio, along with streaming providers Akamai, Brightcove, Kaltura, Comscore and Vimeo. We go over some of the most important conclusions, such as Disney+ having 5 million AVOD customers and ESPN+ making $33 million in profit. We go …

This week we detail the Q3 earnings numbers you need to know tied to Paramount+, Peacock, Fubo, AMC+, Roku and Brightcove including subscriber counts and DTC profit and loss. We also draw attention to the roughly one million new Comcast, Verizon, Charter, and Altice pay TV customers who have cut the cords. We talk about the announcement from Netfli…

This week we break down the numbers from Netflix’s Q3 earnings, their content spend for 2024, what their ad business looks like today and the reasons why many are undervaluing Netflix's prospects for AVOD in the coming years. We also talk about YouTube's statement indicating that they most likely won't participate in the upcoming round of bidding f…

Diane Strutner, CEO of Datazoom, joins me for a detailed discussion on the current state of advertising data and the complex road ahead as inventory moves to digital and CTV. We discuss the seismic industry shift from siloed to a converged currency models, and the ensuing challenges in valuing digital and streaming ad impressions. Learn the crucial…

This week we discuss the rumors that Apple is weighing an annual bid of $2 billion for Formula 1 racing, with the opportunity to purchase global rights after five years. We also detail how Candle Media's earnings are predicted to be between $140 and $170 million, which is less than the $330 million initial expectation. According to reports, Candle …

This week we detail the language in the new terms announced by the WGA in their deal with the studios (AMPTA) that have come as a result of the writers strike. The new deal provides no real transparency into viewership numbers outside of total hours streamed and only for self-produced high budget streaming programs. We also discuss Amazon's news th…

This week I break down the economic and financial factors that are directly impacting the growth and restraints in the streaming media industry. Learn why companies are doing more with less, reducing and consolidating their spending on services like storage and delivery, and the market factors that are influencing their decisions. From banking inte…

This week I recap the opening weekend of the NFL season reviewing the streaming services across YouTube (NFL Sunday Ticket), ESPN (Monday Night Football), Amazon, (Thursday Night Football), and Peacock (Sunday Night Football). I document why YouTube came out on top, the problems Amazon and Peacock had, and the complete outages that took place on Xf…

This week we detail how the current model of licensing broadcast networks to pay TV distributors is completely broken. With a recent blackout on Spectrum due to a licensing dispute with Disney and a current blackout on DISH due to their dispute with Hearst, the methodology of how content is valued needs to change. We discuss what consumers want fro…

Dan Robbins, VP of Ad Marketing and Partner Solutions at Roku joins me for a discussion about the latest challenges and opportunities with advertising across SVOD and FAST services. We discuss the measurement side of advertising, the powerful role of big data and integrated platforms in delivering accurate and consistent results and what brands are…

This week we expose the flawed comparisons of bundled streaming services to pay TV, with Nielsen improperly comparing linear TV to YouTube, but excluding vMVPD services like Sling TV and Hulu + Live TV in their ratings. We also break down the new NFL Sunday Ticket bundle with Max, new student pricing, and multi-view combinations, and speculate on t…

This week we break down Disney's recent financials and news from their earnings including their DTC revenue and losses; subscriber churn, the announcement of higher pricing for their ad-free tiers, ESPN+ and Hulu + Live TV, as well as their plans to crack down on password sharing next year. We also detail the numbers from other earnings including P…

This week we break down all the important numbers you need to know regarding Q2 earnings from OTT platforms and streaming vendors. Hear about profitability/loss and subscriber gains/losses for Warner Bros. Discovery (Max), Comcast (Peacock), Fubo, Roku, Brightcove, Vimeo, Verizon, Charter, Kaltura, Fastly and Cloudflare. We also pose tough question…

This week we deliver fresh insights on Netflix's password sharing crackdown, analyzing the effects of the introduction of the ad-supported tier, the adjustment of pricing and plans, and how consumer behavior and engagement metrics are driving their decisions. We also discuss the news around Disney's intention to pull back spending and content creat…

This episode offers a deep dive into the murky waters of ad fraud detailing the allegations against YouTube. Dr. Fou, an expert in ad fraud joins me as we head straight into the eye of the storm, exploring the latest report alleging Google's TrueView ads appear muted and on autoplay on third-party websites. Discover how these misrepresentations are…

This week we discuss the topic of FAST and how as an industry, we have almost no details on revenue growth amongst the FAST platforms. With Plex’s recent round of layoffs and too many FAST channels in the market, we make the case that popularity, without profitability, is a problem for FAST operators. We also discuss YouTube TV's business including…

This week we peel back the layers of NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV dissecting the potential implications and benefits for the streaming media industry. We discuss the criticality of promptly addressing technical glitches before mainstream media taints the image of streaming technology. Learn how YouTube TV's new 'multiview' feature could amp up t…

What do TikTok's video lengths and user engagement tell us about the future of content consumption? Join us this week as we uncover the surprising data behind this social media giant and its innovative audience. We'll also dive into the growing trend of long-form content including movies and TV shows being chopped up into bite-sized pieces for a mo…

This week we discuss the recent increase in Netflix's stock price which hit a 52-week high, all based on "assumptions" in new sign-ups based on four-day’s worth of data from third-party firm Antenna. We also question if YouTube TV is cracking down on password sharing ahead of NFL Sunday Ticket, with more users reporting pop-up messages reminding th…

This week we discuss the Netflix password sharing notifications that have started rolling out in 103 countries and territories and the challenges users are having in understanding how Netflix will enforce the rules and what exactly classifies as a violation. We also detail the roll out of Max, with less than .1% of HBO Max accounts having technical…

This week I discuss the technical issues that YouTube TV, Apple TV and Netflix all had in the past 30-days with a live event/stream on their platform. I also break down all the key numbers from Disney’s earnings including the 3.8 million sequential decline of Disney+ Hotstar subs, their comments that the price increase for Disney+ without ads had n…