Apple plans to spend a billion dollars on programming in the next year to compete with Netflix and Amazon. Big deal. With its enormous cash reserves, Apple could make a real impression, if only it had a video strategy.
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Nielsen will account for online viewing of media, including clips and full episodes published on Facebook, Hulu and YouTube. Nielsen says Digital Content Ratings will provide daily measurement of audiences with metrics comparable to those for television. Participating television and digital publisher clients will be able to capture incremental online viewing of their programming as part of their reported audience numbers.
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The global set-top box market is projected to grow by 7.5% a year over the next decade. Estimated to be worth over $22 billion in 2017, it is forecast to reach $46 billion in 2027. According to this forecast, the role of the set-top box is likely to remain central to the pay-television industry, whether it is through conventional cable and satellite or over telco or broadband networks.
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The top 10 television services in the United States in the informitv Multiscreen Index all lost subscribers in the second quarter of 2017. They lost 795,000 television subscribers between them, reducing their combined total to 86.12 million. It was the largest quarterly loss seen so far in the United States, equivalent to 0.9% of their subscriber base in three months, or 2.1% over 12 months.
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Facebook has announced a new platform for video shows, called Watch. It will initially be launched to a limited group in the United States before a wider rollout to a potential user base of 2 billion people. It may be rather late in taking on YouTube but its regular reach could offer producers an attractive audience.
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Disney is taking a majority stake in BAMTech, the online video technology company spun out of Major League Baseball. It will launch new standalone apps for the ESPN and Disney brands and will then cease distribution of new movie releases on Netflix.
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