Late May, 2021

FRANCE

The shooting of the feature film “Le Visiteur du Futur” was completed a few days ago. Reminder: Le Visiteur du Futur is surely the most famous web series in France. It started in 2009 on Daylimotion. There was a second season in 2010 and the success was huge. In 2012, the French videogame and animation studio Ankama, associated with French broadcaster FranceTV financed two more seasons. In 2021, it is now a movie. More: http://www.levisiteurdufutur.com/

The Instagram series “Projet Pieuvre” has just released its 1000th episode. The creator Arthur Vautier announced that the series will now also be on Facebook, but with specific new content (the Instagram series is pretty graphic and addresses gay topics such as AIDS or Chemsex).

GLOBAL

YouTube Puts $100 Million Into Creator Fund to Rival TikTok – BNN Bloomberg

The fund for Shorts creators is the latest entry in a social media bidding war for online personalities spurred by the success of Bytedance Ltd.’s TikTok. Snap Inc. launched a new fund last fall for top performers of its video product. Facebook Inc. has tried to lure stars — and copied features — from TikTok, and introduced more ads on its shorter videos.

Lionsgate, Giant Pictures Join Whip Media Content Rights Marketplace (thewrap.com)

A new platform called Whip Media Exchange has launched in a beta version that allows buyers and sellers to make better, data-driven decisions on licensing streaming rights to films and shows

Report: AVOD Revenue to Top $66 Billion Through 2026 – Media Play News

The rise in ad-supported VOD and free ad-supported streaming television, or FAST, is projected to grow the market segment’s revenue 144% to a combined $66 billion across 138 countries through 2026, according to new data from Digital TV Research. The U.S. became the largest AVOD market in the world in 2019 — driven in part by ViacomCBS’s Pluto TV, Fox Entertainment’s Tubi, The Roku Channel, Redbox Live TV, Rakuten TV and Amazon-owned IMDb TV, among others. The U.S. will generate $21 billion in revenue, followed by China with $5 billion.

What’s Right – And Wrong – With AVODs 05/21/2021 (mediapost.com)

Ad-supported streaming services, aka AVODs or FASTs, are the darlings of the media world now, with good reason. Their strengths — along with some weaknesses on the advertising front — are documented in a new report from Verizon Media and Publicis, “Capitalizing on the CTV Opportunity.” The report is based on a nationally representative survey of 3,000-plus U.S. TV viewers, fielded between Feb. 1-11.

From “Protocol” newletter : Google’s R&D unit, Area 120, has been quietly testing digital merchandise sales for YouTube content creators. The test is not integrated into YouTube’s website or apps, but instead is being facilitated on a separate platform called Quaya. Content offered via Qaya includes PDFs, videos, MP3s and personalized reports, with prices ranging anywhere from $3 to $149. The platform is telling users that it is taking a cut for “technology & transaction fees,” but is not detailing how much that is. Quaya currently hosts simple catalog pages for each creator, and offers buyers an option to access their past purchases. Content discovery is planned, but not yet implemented.

The Number Of Cord Cutters And Cord Nevers Has Tripled Since 2014 (forbes.com)

The report notes that the rate of cord cutting appears to be evening out. Cable, satellite and telco TV providers dropped 1.6 million subscribers in first quarter of this year, down very slightly from 1.7 million during the same period in 2020.

Read the report here : Pay TV big bundle blues hit vMVPDsnScreenMedia

Roku streams Quibi shows free now, calling them Roku Originals. Here are 6 we actually like – CNET

Quibi was a dumpster fire. But some Quibi shows were (ducks head)… actually good. Now a first batch of erstwhile Quibi shows — renamed as Roku Originals — are free to stream on The Roku Channel, a free, ad-supported video service operated by streaming device maker Roku. The channel is available on Roku’s own gadgets, but can also be watched on the web and on apps for Apple iPhones and iPads, Android devices, Amazon Fire TV and some Samsung connected TVs.

Post-Pandemic, Consumers Might Drop TV Subscriptions | Broadcasting+Cable (nexttv.com)

Consumers are starting to feel the financial pinch from spending on streaming and cable subscriptions, with two in five saying they’ve had to limit spending elsewhere to afford their TV subscriptions and four in five conceding they’ll need to cut back to pay unaddressed bills or household utilities costs. Only half of those studied said the will keep all their TV services post-COVID, while one in three already have plans to cut cable or streaming services and two in five plan to cut more than one type of service.

See What Tomatometer Score The Rotten Tomatoes Channel Gets | Broadcasting+Cable (nexttv.com)

Rotten Tomatoes, which has long graded and recommended things to watch with its Tomatometer, is launching its own linear streaming channel.

WEB SERIES TO WATCH THIS MONTH

Canadian “Convos” is now one of the longest running web series. Season 9 is now complete. It’s pretty funny but you may need to be familiar with the series.

If you haven’t watch an African web series yet : “Cheat on Me” from Ghana started this month on Youtube. Note the commercials on screen inside the episode, they apparently fund the production. The channel has 140.000 subscribers. Watch episode 1 here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4SUfAD6FKQ

May, 2021

YouTube TV Gets Dropped From Roku Channel Store | Broadcasting+Cable (nexttv.com)

Roku said the dispute is not about money but starts with a demand that Roku manipulate search results to favor YouTube TV. Google also wants access to data otherwise not available.

Amazon Q1 Earnings: More Than 175 Million Prime Video Viewers – Variety

Founder Jeff Bezos revealed the new figure in announcing the Q1 results, adding that Prime Video streaming hours are up more than 70% year over year.

Big Five Networks Down 12% In Prime-Time Season Viewers 05/03/2021 (mediapost.com)

TV networks were plagued with late starts to the season for many prime-time shows, due to TV production delays. Nielsen data for this measure looked at the September 21, 2020-April 25, 2021 period versus the similar time period the year before.

Streaming’s ‘Staggering’ Disruption Since 2019 Drove Netflix U.S. Share Down Nearly 20 Points 04/30/2021 (mediapost.com)

With Discovery+ and Paramount+ — the last of the major new premium streamers (for the moment, at least) — in the game as of fourth-quarter 2020, total U.S. subscriptions in Q1 rose 24% on a year-over-year basis, and 6% versus Q4, according to Antenna.

YouTube could soon equal Netflix in revenue (cnbc.com)

If its current growth trajectory continues, YouTube will book between $29 billion and $30 billion in revenue this year. Netflix is expected to report $29.7 billion in revenue for 2021, according to an average of estimates from analysts polled by Refinitiv.

ViacomCBS To Double Streaming Content Spending | Broadcasting+Cable (nexttv.com)

“With the additional capital we now have the ability to invest more aggressively,” Chopra said. “I would expect that streaming content expense and total company expense should be somewhat higher, but very importantly over time.”

Study: YouTube viewing shifts to Connected TVs | (advanced-television.com)

Surveying over 1,000 US consumers, the report from IAS demonstrates that YouTube ranks as consumers’ top choice on CTV devices, while indicating new opportunities for digital advertisers to activate brand safety and suitability tools in 2021.

How European media groups are adapting to the OTT present in 2021 – Digital TV Europe

Many European broadcasters, while offering OTT components as a complement to their core businesses, have been slow to adapt when compared to the explosive growth of the US Netflix and lack the resources to rapidly scale like a Disney.

Roku Touts Originals Lineup Fueled By Quibi, This Old House Deals In NewFronts Pitch – Deadline

In a 30-minute virtual pitch, the streaming provider noted the median age of its viewers is 39 (compared with 60-plus for the broadcast networks), and they are less tethered to the traditional cord. About 57% of Roku users have no pay-TV subscription, but many of them are willing to pay for SVOD services like Netflix and Disney+.

Contradicting Nielsen, Comscore Says TV Use Didn’t Fall in Pandemic | Broadcasting+Cable (nexttv.com)

Nielsen’s data has been criticized by networks and distributors represented by the VAB. The VAB contends that Nielsen is caused under-reporting TV usage because of  faulty reporting from homes in the Nielsen sample that Nielsen was unable to verify because Nielsen had to stop doing in-home maintenance while following COVID-19 protocols.

April, 2021

 

Netflix Has Lost 31% of Market Share in One Year | Next TV

The overall streaming pie expanded biggly in 2020, and so did Netflix’s subscriber ranks, which grew by around 40 million users. But the biggest subscription streaming platform in the world actually saw its global market share decrease from 29% to 20%, an overall decline of 31%, with a flurry of new competitors, including HBO Max and Peacock, entering the SVOD market.

Pluto TV’s U.S. ad revenue will top $1B by 2022: eMarketer | FierceVideo

“The growth of Pluto TV’s ad business is reflective of how advertisers are funneling more money toward streaming video,” wrote eMarketer’s Ross Benes, who cited Advertiser Perceptions research that suggests 42% of U.S. agency and marketing professionals plan to increase ad spending within streaming services over the next 12 months.

Disney+ Tops 50% of Indian SVOD Subscriber Market – Media Play News

Online video subs revenue grew 142% primarily due to the global pandemic, with revenue rising from $265 million in 2019 to $639 million at the end of 2020. Disney+ Hotstar and Netflix accounted for 78% of the total online video subscription market revenue.

Only 15% of Viewers Say They’ll Pay to Avoid Ads | Broadcasting+Cable (nexttv.com)

The survey found that 45% said yes when asked do you view ads in exchange for free video or editorial content. Another 40% said it depends on the content.

Univision Launches Ad-Supported Streaming Service, PrendeTV | Next TV

“The launch of PrendeTV signals a new transformation era for Univision as we expand our already dominant position in U.S. hispanic broadcasting into the AVOD streaming market and build on our leadership as the largest Spanish-language content and media company in the U.S.,” said Pierluigi Gazzolo, president and chief transformation officer at Univision

Female-Led Content Making A Splash This Spring On SVOD (forbes.com)

“Last week I said girls rule, this week they dominate,” said Brian Fuhrer, Nielsen’s senior vice president of product strategy in his weekly video announcement. He noted that the recently-released Ginny & Georgia, the acquired content of Good Girls and the Rosamund Pike starrer I Care a Lot accounted for about 37 percent of total viewing in the top 10.

AVOD Will Be Big, But Will Take Its Time Getting There 03/25/2021 (mediapost.com)

The latest Pew Research report tells us that 34% of U.S. households lack fixed broadband at home (that’s more than 100 million Americans), and many tens of millions of homes lack “smart” TVs. Plus, when it comes to watching live sports and news, TV’s “tent-pole” programming, broadcast and cable deliver high-definition viewing with no lag or latency.

Nielsen: Daily Media Usage Saw Decline — Not Surge — At Height Of Pandemic 03/25/2021 (mediapost.com)

The finding, part of Nielsen’s periodic “Total Audience Report” amalgamating most of the electronic media sources it measures in the U.S., shows the number of minutes of media used by the average American adult declined 16% to 600 in the third quarter of 2020, when the pandemic was surging, compared with 714 minutes daily during the same quarter in 2019.

Indian media and entertainment market to exceed $23 billion by 2023 – Digital TV Europe

Ashish Pherwani, partner and media and entertainment leader, EY India, said: “The M&E sector witnessed a shift in demand patterns as consumers actively sought alternatives and had the time to try new things. Consumption patterns shifted and increased across online news, gaming, and entertainment

 

 

March, 2021

Fears over streaming content as Indian Supreme Court rules in favour of screening mechanism – Digital TV Europe

Tensions have arisen between foreign streaming services and the Hindu-based Modi government (2014- ), due to their capacity to air free of censorship. Netflix was subjected to calls for censorship over its TV series A Suitable Boy (2020- ), while Amazon Prime Video had to issue an apology over its political drama Tandav (2021) for allegedly offending Hindu beliefs. Meanwhile, the Latin American SVOD market to double within five years, led by Netflix, Amazon and Disney+, with Claro Video the largest expected local player, reports Digital TV Europe.

Game streaming and e-sports to grow to US$3.5 billion by 2025 – Digital TV Europe

The growth in value will complement an increasing viewer base. Juniper estimates that there will be over 1 billion e-sports and games viewers by 2025, increasing from 800 million viewers by the end of 2021.

FuboTV Hits 548K Subs in Q4, Up 73% | Next TV

Revenue from subscriptions was up 91% in the fourth quarter to $91.4 million, while advertising sales increased 157% to $13.1 million.

Sony PlayStation moves further away from video | FierceVideo

Starting August 31, 2021, the PlayStation Store will no longer offer movie and TV purchases and rentals. When this change takes effect, users will still be able to access movie and TV content they have purchased through PlayStation Store for on-demand playback on their PS4, PS5 and mobile devices.

Australian pay TV set for decline – Digital TV Europe

According to GlobalData, the total pay TV services revenue in the country will drop from US$2.4 billion in 2020 to US$2.1 billion in 2025, representing a CAGR of -2.6%. The report says that this decline will come as a result of continued drops in cable TV and DTH subscriptions. The firm predicts that cable TV and DTH subscriptions will decline at a CAGR of 10% and 7%, respectively, between 2020 and 2025 due to ever-increasing cord-cutting. This practice, along with a decline in ARPU levels across all pay-TV service segments will also hurt the overall pay TV revenues over the forecast period.

CPO Neal Mohan: 41% of AVOD Consumption Happens on YouTube – Media Play News

The executive claims 70% of YouTube viewers have purchased products advertised on the platform. Last December, more than 120 million people in the U.S. streamed YouTube or YouTube TV on their TV screens.

Fox’s Tubi Made Millions With Reruns. Now It Wants Original Programming – BNN Bloomberg

Tubi will start off by focusing on original movies, but has discussed spending as much as $4 million an episode on new TV series, according to people familiar with the plans. The company is still talking to advertisers about partnerships for its first slate of programs, said the people, who asked not to be identified because plans haven’t been announced.

AVOD Platforms Forecast To Grow To $18 Billion By 2025 03/09/2021 (mediapost.com)

In 2025, the analysis company projects that of the nearly $18 billion for AVOD, $5.3 billion will go for Hulu; $4.4 billion for Roku; $2.3 billion each for Peacock and Pluto; $1.9 billion for Tubi; and $500 million for HBO Max (an ad option yet to start.)

In the news (25 September)

# covid – About how pandemic affects content production
“Producers of new scripted content — which typically spends an average of 11 months in production — will be battling against COVID-related delays well into 2021, far longer than their unscripted counterparts, according to a study from Ampere Analysis.

While producers of new unscripted content — which spends an average of just two months in production — have been able to adapt production to the new circumstances, already overcoming the worst period of delays, the same is not true for their scripted counterparts, according to the analysis.

Compensating for the lack of new high-quality scripted content, unscripted commissions increased from 66% in Q2 2019 to 72% in Q2 2020. Reality shows benefitted the most from this trend with 24% more titles commissioned in Q2 2020 than in Q2 2019.

The temporary stop in production also forced programmers to air older and less popular content to fill gaps, and some have turned to unscripted material to pad their schedules, according to Ampere.”
https://www.mediaplaynews.com/ampere-delays-of-scripted-content-to-last-well-into-2021/

 

#quibi – About Quibi getting its first Emmy
The first Emmy wins for Quibi, which is led by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, don’t come as a surprise: The well-funded mobile streamer has paid handsomely for its originals — upwards of $100,000 per minute of programming from A-list Hollywood talent. All of its entries were in the short-form categories, which historically have been populated by series that are sidecars to TV shows.
https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/quibi-first-emmys-wins-1234774206/

#discovery #streaming – About Discovery going streaming
CEO David Zaslav, speaking this week at a Goldman Sachs investor conference, said Discovery’s new streaming service will be “coming to the market very soon” and he said his company is “aggressively driving” new original content for the platform. kHe suggested that Discovery will take an approach similar to Disney+ and use its brands – like Discovery, Oprah, Food Network and Chip and Joanna Gaines, who are launching their own Magnolia Network – as “curation portals.”
https://www.fiercevideo.com/video/discovery-says-its-new-streaming-service-coming-very-soo

#Shudder – About the success of a “niche” channel
AMC Networks launched Shudder in 2015. The company has pursued a niche streaming strategy, a contrast with larger media rivals launching mass-audience services like HBO Max, Peacock and Disney+.
https://deadline.com/2020/09/shudder-hits-1m-subscribers-as-key-part-of-amc-networks-targeted-streaming-approach-1234582104/

#ShortsTV: a channel dedicated to short films
ShortsTV, the exclusive presenter of the Academy Award-nominated short film theatrical releases, offers a catalog of scripted, animated and documentary shorts from filmmakers worldwide.
https://realscreen.com/2020/09/23/exclusive-shortstv-signs-licensing-deal-with-documentarian-leslie-iwerks/

#SVOD market experiencing unprecedented growth amid #Covid19
While subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) is experiencing huge growth, it is projected that advertising-based video-on-demand (AVOD), which is free, will surpass SVOD in revenue and share of viewing time by 2024.  The current growth rate of both models is being accelerated by Covid. With reference to cable subscribers moving to streaming services, non-connected TV homes, currently 31.2% of homes, will rise to an estimated 46.6% of homes.  Martin suggested, “it’s chord-swapping, not chord-cutting” that is evolving as households look to higher broadband delivery to eliminate buffering.
https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/356154/the-future-of-the-entertainment-sector-revealed-at.html

#Quibi maybe already looking for a buyer
Last month, Kantar said that 33% of Quibi subscribers plan to cancel in the next three months, based on data from 20,000 consumers and 2,500 new subscriber interviews.
https://www.fiercevideo.com/video/struggling-streaming-video-service-quibi-may-already-be-for-sale