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More U.S. Households Now Have Netflix Than a DVR… Who Even Has a DVD Player Anymore?

More U.S. Households Now Have Netflix Than a DVR… Who Even Has a DVD Player Anymore?

The power of streaming the content you want, when you want it on the device you prefer is not to be underestimated. It’s been a sea-change in how people consume content, and that has led to a shift in the hardware that people use. With Netflix outstripping digital video recorders (DVRs), we have to question how much longer companies will manufacture those devices, which could be problematic for Tivo, a company that has already been contending with built-in DVR functionality inside digital cable set-top boxes. With Google set to unveil a TV streaming service with DVR functionality in the Cloud, it’s looking more and more like the only streaming hardware we may need will be smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs…. no good for all that cable set-top box subscription fee revenue at Comcast and others. Technology evolution…. a great tailwind for some, and a painful headwind for others.

Netflix has hit a new milestone: More U.S. television households now have the streaming service than a digital video recorder, according to a recent study.

About 54% of U.S. adults said they have Netflix in their household — while 53% have a DVR, according to Leichtman Research Group’s annual on-demand study. It’s the first time that households with Netflix (including those that use shared accounts) have surpassed the level of those with a DVR in the history of LRG’s studies. In 2011, according to the research firm, 44% of TV households had a DVR and 28% had Netflix.

Netflix has now eclipsed DVR usage despite the latter having a years-long head start. TiVo’s first digital video recorder shipped in 1999, while Netflix debuted its video-streaming service in 2007 and started the shift away from its DVD-by-mail business. As of the end of 2016, Netflix had 49.4 million streaming subscribers in the U.S., up 10.5% year over year.

Overall, 64% of respondents said they get a subscription video-on-demand service from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and/or Hulu.

Source: More U.S. Households Now Have Netflix Than a DVR | Variety

Jerry Seinfeld Teams with Netflix and What’s Wrong With That?

Jerry Seinfeld Teams with Netflix and What’s Wrong With That?

There is little question that streaming content is altering the playing the field, not just how people consume audio and video content, but increasingly where certain content can be found. First, it was movies, then TV shows, but as back catalogs were seemingly pervasive, streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon have looked to differentiate themselves through proprietary content. It used to be as Bruce Springsteen sang, “57 channels and nothin’ on,” but that has morphed into hundreds of channels that need to be filled. The end result is an arms race for quality content that is likely to hasten the switch to streaming video services from traditional broadcast and cable networks. If asked, “What’s wrong with that?” for Seinfeld jumping ship to Netflix, we would say nothing… nothing at all.

Jerry Seinfeld is headed for Netflix.The comedian has signed a multifaceted production deal with the streaming giant, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Under the pact, Seinfeld’s award-winning Crackle series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee will move with new episodes to Netflix, with the comedian also set to film two new stand-up specials exclusively for the streamer.

The Seinfeld deal marks the latest investment in comedy for Netflix, which also shelled out $20 million each for a pair of Chris Rock stand-up comedy specials. Netflix’s entry into the stand-up space has created a growing arms race to land top talent in an increasingly competitive landscape against featured players Comedy Central, Showtime and HBO, among others. Other comedians who recently have gone to Netflix include Amy Schumer, who made a name for herself via Comedy Central, and Dave Chappelle.

The deal is a blow to Sony Pictures Television’s little-watched streaming service Crackle, which had been the exclusive home for Comedians in Cars, with Seinfeld’s deal with the independent studio expiring.

Source: Jerry Seinfeld Teams With Netflix for Two Stand-Up Specials, More ‘Comedians in Cars’ | Hollywood Reporter

Alibaba to invest big time in entertainment taking on Netflix and Amazon

Alibaba to invest big time in entertainment taking on Netflix and Amazon

2016 was a year of marked investment in content from the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Alphabet. But there are more companies entering the fray including Facebook and even Apple. Given the global thirst for content, which both Amazon and Netflix are aiming to cater to, it comes as little surprise that Alibaba is looking to invest in Content, which we all know is King. If there is any question about that, we’d point you to the US box office and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group, the entertainment affiliate of Alibaba, plans to invest more than 50 billion yuan ($7.2 billion) over the next three years, the affiliate’s chief executive said.

In an internal email seen by Reuters and confirmed by an Alibaba group spokeswoman, the affiliate’s new CEO Yu Yongfu pledged to invest in content, saying “he didn’t come to play.”

Alibaba’s entertainment business underwent a major reorganisation in October, marking a total consolidation of the company’s media assets.

Source: Alibaba entertainment affiliate to invest over $7 billion over next 3 years

Facebook to copy Amazon and Netflix with original video programming

Facebook to copy Amazon and Netflix with original video programming

We’ve long suspected Facebook would eventually move past short video advertising into longer format programming to capture an even greater portion of the video advertising dollars that are fleeing traditional broadcast TV. It’s got the user base and aims to improve that monetization. Video content, especially outside the US, is a solid strategy to do so. As it does this and brings original programming to its users, much the way Amazon (AMZN) and Netflix (NFLX) are doing, Facebook starts to blur the lines between our Connected Society and Content is King investing themes.

Facebook wants to bankroll its own original video shows, the company’s global creative strategy chief, Ricky Van Veen, told Business Insider on Wednesday.

The videos Facebook wants to license will live in the new video tab of its mobile app and including “scripted, unscripted, and sports content,” according to Van Veen.

Source: Facebook wants to bankroll its own original shows – Business Insider

AT&T CEO puts DirecTV Now at $35/month, but…

AT&T CEO puts DirecTV Now at $35/month, but…

AT&T has been all over the news the last several days, and the news flow continues today when fresh from yesterday’s conference call to discuss the merger with Time Warner,  CEO Randall Stephenson shared its soon to launch DirecTV Now video streaming service will cost $35 per month. Details were rather sparse and we expect more when the official launch happens “next month.”

We expect many comparisons to offerings from Sling as well as pricing relative to Netflix and Hulu, but we suspect it will be far cheaper than the video services offered by Verizon’s FiOS, Comcast and others. As potential chord-cutters, we are anxious for the details!

Speaking at a Wall Street Journal conference today, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson reportedly told attendees that DirecTV Now will launch in November at a price of $35/month. That puts the service $15/month above the starting point for the competing Sling TV live-TV streaming offering, and about the same price point for the barest-bones versions of Sony’s PlayStation Vue service.Where DirecTV Now appears to be trying to compete is on content. According to reports — again, this has not been officially announced or confirmed — Stephenson says that DirecTV Now will offer 100 channels.

Source: AT&T CEO: DirecTV Now Streaming Service Will Cost $35/Month, Launch Next Month – Consumerist

China will be bigger for the movie box office in 2017 than the US 

China will be bigger for the movie box office in 2017 than the US 

Whether its characters from Disney’s Marvel, Star Wars or Pixar stable, or even DC’s own Batman and Superman, people will flock to the movies to quench their content thirst. Increasingly the international box office is becoming a bigger and bigger factor in movie decisions. Some film, like Expendables 3, are being made solely because of foreign demand, and the same goes for streaming content from Netflix and Amazon. What this tell us is content is truly king, but it also means content companies are likely to pivot to satiate local preferences. 

China — not the U.S. — is projected to be the leader in box office revenue in 2017, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.If true, it will mark the first time that the U.S. has not been the top revenue driver in an entertainment and media segment. The Chinese box office is expected to generate $10.3 billion next year, while the U.S. will be at $10.1 billion. By 2020, the Chinese box office will reach $15.1 billion versus just $11 billion in the U.S.

Source: China will be bigger for the box office than the US next year: PwC