VIEWERS WATCHING MORE CONTENT ON FEWER PLATFORMS

As total monthly subscription costs begin to approach those of cable, a study from TiVo reveals that viewers have started reducing the number of video sources they use. This aligns with a recent Nielsen IQ report showing consumers plan to reduce their in-home entertainment spending. Overall, habits are starting to settle into the traditional patterns: Word of mouth is by far the leading method of discovering a show or movie, and nearly half of all respondents said they find it “annoying” to browse multiple apps when looking for what to watch. A few key winners from the report: TV is the preferred long-form viewing medium by more than 3x vs. other devices, and local content makes up nearly one-quarter of viewing time. Ad acceptance continues to be strong as well, with 78% of respondents saying they are either “tolerant” or “in favor” of advertising. (TiVo: Oct, 2024)

CANCELLATIONS AREN’T FOREVER

Another study, this time from Antenna: As streaming companies continue to keep a close eye on churn rates, it’s becoming evident that seasonal subscription habits are becoming a normalized practice. This is an especially important factor for services with significant sports content like Peacock and Paramount+ and those with high-profile series like Max and AppleTV+. Consumers are subscribing, canceling, and then subscribing again when their show or sports season resumes. It’s more accurate to look at net churn (not gross)—the number of cancelations minus resubscriptions. Like the TiVo report above, this signals a return to traditional practices; people used to subscribe to and cancel HBO based on when The Sopranos had a new season. It’s just much easier to do now. (Antenna: Nov 11, 2024)

MORE MEDIA CONSOLIDATION TO COME?

With the incoming Trump administration vowing to ease regulations on the media industry, executives, including the heads of Warner Bros. Discovery, Nexstar, and Sinclair, suggest that the next four years will bring even more megamergers. In addition to the wholly new deals that will arise, formerly agreed-upon mergers struck down by the Federal Trade Commission and the DOJ’s antitrust division will likely be revisited and attempted again. Let the guessing games of who’s buying whom and who will be in charge begin. (Hollywood Reporter: Nov 8, 2024)

SHORT-FORM VIDEO IS LONG ON BENEFITS

A just-released report from our AMS sibling Involved Media shows that Short-Form Video (i.e. YouTube Shorts, Facebook Reels, TikTok) is continuing to expand in reach, as 70 percent of respondents say they’ve watched in the last 30 days.  The leading genres include Cooking & Baking, News & Politics, and Pop Culture & Entertainment.  Perhaps surprisingly, 40 percent have purchased a product directly through the platform; not surprisingly, these purchasers skew younger. (Cynopsis: Nov 14, 2024)   

THIS WEEK IN VIDEO HISTORY

November 14, 1976 – Network hits theaters.  Parts of Sidney Lumet’s classic film, written by the great Patty Chayefsky, seemed like absurdist satire at the time—newscasts as catchphrase-driven infotainment, paranoia-fueled content, profit as a single-minded goal… Good thing none of that came true, right? The film won Academy Awards for Chayefsky (Screenplay), Faye Dunaway (Actress), Beatrice Straight (Supporting Actress), and Peter Finch (pictured) won a posthumous Best Actor Oscar for his role as troubled news anchor Howard Beale