Inside The Stream

The latest quarter's results put Disney on the path to full-year direct-to-consumer profitability. With an ESPN Flagship reveal next week, we discuss pricing and bundling strategy.

TiVo's new Video Trends report shows that video bundles are simplifying, total video spending is dropping, sports fragmentation is growing, and smart TV loyalty is increasing.

Vevo's EVP Global Sales, Rob Christensen, joins us to talk about Vevo Evolve, the new data-driven ad platform. Rob also dives into multiplatform success, AI, measurement, CTV, and more.

The TV OS space remains fragmented yet highly influential in viewers' content choices. New data explains how the big six use that influence to their advantage.

We discuss NAB Show 2025 highlights, including breakthroughs in global distribution for live programming, AI-powered interfaces, and built-in dialog enhancements for TVs.

Antenna's CEO shares insights on the firm's latest SVOD research, including churn stabilization, re-subscribers, growth in ad-supported plans, the role of live, and more.

The role of social media in TV discovery, SVOD pricing optimization, and churn reduction are three key takeaways from Deloitte's new digital media report. You can download this week's sponsor's report, "The Sports Streaming Craze: Sustainable Growth or Overhyped Trend?" here. 

Sports streaming continues to gain momentum, with Peacock, Disney, Fubo, and DirecTV all part of the action this past week. We review all the activities and what's ahead.

Themes at the Connected TV World Summit included broadcasters and digital, streaming sports, and YouTube. Also, new FAST research from Gracenote and AI updates from Bango. You can download the free Bango report here.

VideoNuze's conference last week, which focused on the intersection of CTV and AI, included valuable insights from 18 speakers in 5 sessions. We highlight the top takeaways.

It's not all plain sailing for AI in connected TV. Four experts highlight some of the technology's challenges and how they think it will revolutionize the industry in 2025 and beyond.

Revy's fight with The Trade Desk has spilled into the trade press. In this interview, Revry's co-founders explain why all specialty and fan-forward providers could be affected.

Tubi delivered with its live Super Bowl stream, outperforming YouTube TV and broadcast in the process. And way more streamed the game than the 13.6 million using Tubi.

Disney continues to defy gravity by raising prices and cutting content without losing subscribers. Meanwhile, YouTube ads soared above $10 billion with help from long-form content.

Peacock subscribers held steady at 36 million in Q4, while its quarterly loss significantly improved. Super Bowl ads are $8 million. And plenty of new streaming research. Scan the QR code below or click this link for a free copy of the Looper Insights report Streaming Forward: Trends Shaping Digital Entertainment in 2025. Thanks to Looper Insights for sponsoring this episode. https://nscreenmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/Inside-the-Stream-QR-Code-Looper-Insights.png 

Netflix delivered a stellar Q4, with subscriber and revenue gains across all regions. Ads and gaming will fuel future growth, but tracking its evolving success will be much tougher.

Tubi's Super Bowl UHD livestream plan is bold, but can it deliver? Prime's wildcard game gets its best NFL rating yet. Vizio jumps into SVOD bundles and consumer AI research.

The Disney-Fubo deal seems to clear the path for the launch of Venu Sports and provide Fubo with financial strength. But DirecTV thinks it doesn't settle the issue.

PBS has a new distribution deal with Amazon to simulcast 150 local stations. We talk with PBS's digital head, Ira Rubenstein, about the deal and its 2025 strategy.

In this exclusive interview, Antenna's CEO shares insights on streaming's ad-supported growth, live sports, and the NFL's impact on subscriber acquisition and 2024's top promotions.

Starz's CEO outlined the company's streaming strategy, which includes partnering with SVOD aggregators, retaining originals, and avoiding annual rate bumps.

Walmart closed its $2.3 billion acquisition of VIZIO, creating many opportunities to extend WatchFree+ and drive new ad revenue and one-click buying.

Comcast's decision to spin out all of its cable networks except Bravo into an independent company is a signal of more cable network consolidation to come.

Disney CEO's slip reveals AVOD's dominance in subscriber gains, and a Netflix announcement confirms the trend. New data shows Prime Video's content inefficiency.

eMarketer says that 20 million more viewers will consume live sports on streaming than on pay-TV this year, with the gap more than doubling by 2027. Listen on for the implications!

This week, two big indicators of significant change in the TV/video industries: Comcast may spin off its cable TV networks, and YouTube hit a $50 billion revenue run rate.

Disney+ and Hulu dropped Apple's App Store, IAB Tech Lab is driving new CTV ad standards, Fubo is offering premium sports services, and streamers are partnering with grocers.

Bloomberg Screentime interviews highlighted Amazon's dominance in streaming distribution, while Comcast seemed indifferent to cable TV despite NBCU's reliance on it.

Google's Rob Caruso joins us to discuss key new features in Google TV and the new Streamer device. Can smart home and photo integration boost the TV OS's market share?

In this exclusive interview, Antenna's CEO shares new research on specialty SVOD services, which show robust growth, dependence on Amazon Channels, and particular success stories.

Google and Roku released new streaming media players, Disney rolled out paid sharing, Netflix is dabbling in sports, and a new initiative to measure FAST viewing has been launched.

YouTube is revamping its CTV app to emulate best practices in SVOD apps and launching a series of AI features for creators that will drive better viewer experiences.

Four topics this week: IAB raised its 2024 CTV outlook, movies continue hitting headwinds, the impact of the Charter-AMC+ deal, and Amazon jumps into NextGen TV.

Disney blacked out all its networks on DirecTV as part of a carriage dispute. The standoff seems to be part of a pattern of inconsistent and reduced customer focus at the company.

Disney, Fox, and WBD's roles in the multi-channel bundle are a “gilded cage” that contributed to a judge issuing a preliminary injunction barring Venu Sports' launch. What's next?

Multibillion-dollar write-downs on Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount linear TV networks underscore the seismic changes streaming has brought to the industry.

Disney reported its fiscal Q3 ‘24 results, including its first-ever profit in its DTC segment. But we're skeptical of the true quality and sustainability of the profit.

Early returns show Olympics viewership is up 75% from 2021. NBCU's streaming coverage is solid, especially its management of highlight clips on Peacock and YouTube.

Peacock reduced its Q2 ‘24 loss by half but lost a million subscribers. The Olympics looks like a pivotal moment for the service and its sports agenda. Meanwhile, Netflix's ads lag.

Antenna's research is a must-read for streaming industry executives. Jonathan Carson, Antenna's Co-Founder and CEO, joins us for an exclusive deep-dive into its latest report.

In this exclusive, must-listen interview, Top Wall Street media analyst Michael Nathanson dives into the major issues driving the TV and streaming industries.

New Antenna data reveals the power of streaming bundles, that annual subscriptions fail to engage, the acceptance of price increases, and ad-tiers' ascendency.

New Magna-Roku research shows the home screen is critical in the content discovery journey. Executives from both companies join us to discuss the research and its ad implications.

Inscape research reveals that virtually all VIZIO smart TV owners are streaming. Max raised rates—but only on ad-free tiers. Streaming satisfaction scores are off the charts.

The Memorial Day box office plummeted 36%.  Latency, unnatural breaks, and slates are hurting ad experiences. Netflix's bundling angle is unclear—all this and more in this week's podcast.

Comcast's $15 StreamSaver bundle is great value. Combine it with Disney's $15 Trio Basic bundle and streaming's value prop is stronger than ever. But who are the bundles for?

Netflix revealed it has 40 million ad-tier subscribers. Hub research says it is viewers' top choice to drive streaming bundles. Add in the NFL, and Netflix is looking strong.

How did Amazon Prime Video vault to the top of the chart in ad-tier subscribers? Is Disney's DTC progress sustainable? Get the answers and much more in this week's podcast!

This week's NewFronts highlighted three key and interlocking themes: TV OEMs' emphasis on FASTs, AI's role in driving video ads' value, and CTV evolving to the full funnel.

Wurl released its new AI-powered BrandDiscovery product. CEO Ron Gutman says it makes CTV ads context-sensitive, and AI will make ads more targeted and valuable.

AI loomed large at NAB 2024, with solutions exposing new video revenue opportunities. The blockchain delivers big encoding savings and how to cut TV power use by half.