Posted on 03/11/2015 10:37:37 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Viewership was down in the third and fourth quarters
It might be time for cable to start worrying about online streaming. The Wall Street Journal reported that a drop in TV ratings and viewership can be chalked up to subscription-based streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu and Amazon.
People familiar with the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau told the newspaper that as much as 40% of TV-rating declines in the third and fourth quarters were attributable to streaming services. The news comes as TV viewing has declined by an estimated 10% from a year previously in the third quarter, and by 9% for the fourth quarter year-over-year, according to the Journal, citing Nielsen data.
“We believe the U.S. television industry is entering a period of prolonged structural decline, caused by a migration of viewers from ad-supported platforms to non-ad-supported or less-ad-supported platforms,” according to Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Todd Juenger in a March 9 statement.
According to the Journal, Scripps Networks Interactive chief revenue officer Steve Gigliotti said that working with Netflix once “sounded like a good idea, but “now there are some serious misgivings about it.”
Netflix reported fourth quarter earnings in January, posting big gains. The company reportedly finished 2014 with a 26% gain in revenue in the year’s last quarter, while over four million people subscribed. Netflix notched $1.48 billion in revenue during the quarter, up from $1.18 billion last year. Profits also rose 72% year-over-year for the fourth quarter to $83.4 million, or $1.38 per share.
Meanwhile, HBO announced a streaming service that will begin as an exclusive partnership with Apple. Plans were unveiled at a March 9 event, featuring the Apple Watch. While HBO Go will cost $14.99 per month and require access to an Apple TV, Netflix costs $8.99. During the event, Apple also announced it’d be reducing the price of the Apple TV to $69 from $99.
Good.
Nine hundred channels available and nothing to watch ‘cept football ....
With one exception: ESPN. Live sports is the only thing many cable subscribers cite as the reason why they keep their cable/satellite subscriptions.
They called it years ago...TV is a total wasteland for the cup drooling crowd.
5700 stations, and nuthin on
5700 stations, and nuthin on....
Wouldn’t they get a cut from the streaming fees that Netflix pays thereby making up for lost ad revenue.
They need to adapt, or die off. That’s how it goes.
$170.00 per month cable bills probably ruined cable.
Bring it down and maybe I’ll come back. If not, well, so long.
You are learning, Grasshopper.
That’s a shame.
Boo freaking Hoo.
For years and years, consumers were screwed over by cable providers who insisted that letting viewers CHOOSE which cable stations they wanted "ala carte" was a no-go.
Why, for instance, would I want to pay for PMSNBC when I never, ever, ever watch it?
Finally, netflix comes along as an alternative and voila! the cable folks finally care.
Netflix isn't the greatest, but they fill a niche.
57 channels
_ Bruce Springsteen
I bought a bourgeois house in the Hollywood hills
With a truckload of hundred thousand dollar bills
Man came by to hook up my cable TV
We settled in for the night my baby and me
We switched ‘round and ‘round ‘til half-past dawn
There was fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on
Well now home entertainment was my baby’s wish
So I hopped into town for a satellite dish
I tied it to the top of my Japanese car
I came home and I pointed it out into the stars
A message came back from the great beyond
There’s fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on
Well we might’a made some friends with some billionaires
We might’a got all nice and friendly if we’d made it upstairs
All I got was a note that said “Bye-bye John
Our love’s fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on”
(Fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on)
So I bought a .44 magnum, it was solid steel cast
And in the blessed name of Elvis well I just let it blast
‘Til my TV lay in pieces there at my feet
And they busted me for disturbin’ the almighty peace
Judge said “What you got in your defense son?”
“Fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on”
Fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on
I can see by your eyes friend you’re just about gone
Fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on
Fifty-seven channels and...
Heh! Just yesterday there was someone who came to my door to ask if I wanted Comcast.
I politely said no because Comcast is run by people who are against the second amendment.
I’m not certain if Comcast is, but it still felt good.
Haven’t watched TV since 2009.
After enjoying Netflix or Amazon, why would anyone return to inane TV shows/sitcoms with endless commercials/laugh tracks that amp the volume to make sure you hear them in the kitchen or behind the bathroom door when you flee from the family room.
Death to TV.
“Got thirteen channels of s—t on the TV to choose from.” - Pink Floyd “Nobody Home.”
I don’t watch football or sports of any kind. Leave it to ME-TV with some TCM and BBCA. Any more on Jeremy Clarkson?
I’ve discovered KDramas, they are much better than the crap Hollywood produces.
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