Cordkillers 97 - It’s Official: Broadcast is in Decline

Big 6 broadcasters all lose viewers, Univision launches a streaming service, and TiVO makes a CEO change.

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CordKillers: 97 - It’s Official: Broadcast is in Decline
Recorded: November 23 2015
Guest: Kristi Kates

Intro Video

Primary Target

  • Another year of decline for broadcast
    - This autumn the big 5 broadcasters saw ratings fall 6% (DVR+7)
    - Every single network dropped vs. last year.
    - Averaging 10.4 18-49 down from 11.1 last year
    - NBC 2.8 CBS 2.6 both down 0.1
    - ABC went 2.5 - 2.2. Fox 2.1 CW 0.7 both down 0.1. Univision 0.8
    - Networks have been slipping steadily 3-7% every year.
    - These ratings don’t include apps
    -And yet broadcast’s total audience still huge. Last week CBS 2.53 million 18-49.
    - Is it cord cutting or just more entertainment choice?
    - Video games, social media, smart phones, tablets etc…

Signal Intelligence

  • Univision Launches Streaming Service for $5.99 a Month
    - $5.99 a month streaming service “Univision Now”
    - Stream Univision and UniMás channels live
    - Annual sub $59.99
    - Prime time for 7 days after air.
    - Prior 72 hours full channel
    - NY, LA and Houston can watch local news
    - Some movies etc won’t be available but sports will.
    - UniMás is up 12.5% in primetime viewership this season
    - Univision down 22%
    - Univision Season to date (Nov. 15)
    - #5 rating ahead of CW
    - 1.05 million 18-49
    - 2.27 million 2+

Gear Up

  • TiVo's CEO steps down as the TV industry evolves without it
    - TiVo CEO Tom Rogers will step down in January after 11 years
    - Will stay on as non-executive chairman
    - Search for new CEO begins immediately (Tom hears Chekt Kanojia may be available)
    - Company lost 1/3 of stock value over the last year
    - Verizon, Google, Cisco, Time Warner Cable and AT&T, all pay patent fees to TiVo, and Samsung is next.  

Front Lines

Under Surveillance

Dispatches from the Front

First congrats on closing in on the FIRST 100 episodes of Cordkillers.

Pluto does have an Android (and I assume an IOS) app and that's how I've enjoyed using it so far. I was eager for their Roku app but that quickly faded when I brought it up and found only the barest of channel line up. I get that there might be agreements in place that makes what appears on mobile different from what appears on the web. I don't understand why there'd be a difference between mobile and Roku though. If Pluto can get their act together I'll probably drop Sling TV (and their not so great Roku interface).

Yesterday I noticed how much Netflix really has the user experience nailed.... and Amazon is still far behind them in that regard. I got an email from Netflix telling me about Jessica Jones and giving me a link to add it to my list. Then when I sat down to watch TV, I seem to always start with Netflix to see what's on. Again, right there on the first screen was Jessica Jones. How could I not click it? When I did click over to Amazon (again on my Roku 3) I think I had to scroll around a bit to find Man in the High Castle. Good golly is the Amazon interface on the Roku painful.

Anyway, thank you gentlemen for another good episode of Cordkillers.

- Kyle
 

 

 

Hello Tom & Brian,
I could totally see WalMart selling a USB media player to the under tech educated patrons out there. But there is already a very popular set top box with a USB port (Roku). Although I don't understand why Roku has a mirco SD slot, but its not available for media storage. Anyways, I use a Network Attached Storage device connected to my Roku for local media storage.

Secondly, how can I watch SW Rebels? I have Netflix & Amazon Prime, but it isn't available for streaming. I've searched them but not been able to view SW Rebels without paying? Is this something that I need to go to Hulu for, or somewhere else?...

Any thoughts on a complementary podcast of someone who truly never watched SW? I'm thinking of taking my daughter though the experience when she is older. Until then, I'm shielding her from that ecosystem."

- Jeff

 

 


I,  finally convinced his wife to cut the cord but they just moved and the only viable option was Comcast:

"Here's the kicker: I decided "sure, let's try out cable TV again since it's about the same price, see all the amazing stuff we've been missing out on." Haven't gotten time to watch sports yet, so that jury is still out, but as far as kids programming we are horrified. What are these things called commercials? And how on earth am I supposed to teach my 3 year old to fast-forward through them? 8 year old doesn't really get it either. What the heck are they trying to sell my kids now? Why is my kid screaming at me when I just wanted to get a break and let him watch one of his favorite shows?

Back to Netflix/Amazon for us... truly we never left, but this has been the perfect bake-off for us to compare with a somewhat fresh perspective, and cable TV will need to do MUCH much more if they think they are going to be competitive. I imagine I will soon be one of those numbers of consumers who is a "new" cable subscriber, and I'll probably continue to pay for cheap cable because of the bundle Comcast will offer me when I cancel TV service...

Or maybe I'll just pay more every month to spite them. "Take your TV service and stick it in an old CRT monitor somewhere in the desert... someone there will love it."

Keep up the great show, cheers!

- Kress from "not sure how I ended up on the east coast" New Hampshire...

 

 

"FYI

This cracked me up.  It was at the end of the credits on this week's Big Bang Theory...

- Belinda Orick
Hackett, AR"

 

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers

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