Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Cable execs say Netflix is killing TV ratings
Fortune ^ | 03/11/2015 | Benjamin Snyder

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.


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: apple; cabletv; hbo; lgbtfallout; netflix
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120121-138 last
To: RayChuang88

My wife won’t let me kill cable because of ESPN. She’ll watch any “sporting” event on ESPN.


121 posted on 03/11/2015 12:32:30 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not, no explanation is possible)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Mad Dawgg

Or you can just hook your iPad to the tv and use free streaming sites like I do. I watch what I want when I want. Even the stuff that’s still in the theaters is available if you want to watch it.


122 posted on 03/11/2015 12:34:00 PM PDT by sheana
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator; csvset

The actress that starred in “It’s OK, that’s love” is Gong Hyo Jin, who is probably the biggest female star in KDramas right now. If you enjoyed her performance, then I can also recommend that you check out a few of her other series, “The Master’s Sun” and “The Greatest Love”, aka “Best Love”.

On a more serious note, she also starred in “Thank You”, a story about a single mother raising a little girl who had been accidentally infected with HIV during a blood transfusion.

IMO, she’s an absolutely brilliant actress and never fails to make it seem like the character she’s portraying is a real person.

For those who might not know, much of the music used in the series is performed by many of Korea’s biggest music stars and is available in its’ full version in video clips on youtube, easily found by doing a search for “series name OST”.

For anyone who’s tired of the crap being put out by Hollywood, I heartily recommend giving KDramas a try.

csvset, where do you find JDramas? I haven’t found a site yet that I like.


123 posted on 03/11/2015 12:41:25 PM PDT by Nacho Bidnith (The Govt's war on drugs was the setup for war on the American People)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Jeeves; ozarkgirl

If you have a modern TV, it will receive the video directly from your home wifi access point / router. You don’t even need to buy an external Apple TV or Roku box. I have all three (Panasonic plasma that has Internet connectivity), a Roku, and an Apple TV. I use the Roku most of all — great interface and reliable (but the down-button on the remote volume control for the headphones doesn’t work). OG — you DO have to purchase your content separately. I buy my content mainly from Netflix, Amazon (Prime) and Apple. I still get a DVD/Blu Ray occasionally from Netflix because their disc collection if FAR FAR bigger than their streaming library.


124 posted on 03/11/2015 12:44:37 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not, no explanation is possible)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 79 | View Replies]

To: RayChuang88

Yet about 50% of cable subscribers do NOT watch sports...yet spots channel bundles..are the single biggest component of the monthly bill


125 posted on 03/11/2015 12:51:18 PM PDT by ken5050 (When the GOP takes the Senate, it will tie Obama's hands for two years. How will he play golf?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: TomGuy
A “one-hour” TV program has between 39 and 42 minutes of content. The remaining time is commercials — roughly 20 minutes per hour of content. Many times, they have commercial interruptions with 5 minutes of each other. And, the final commercial interruption period has been extended to about 8 minutes.

I think you're looking at it wrong. The "content" is the commercials. All that other stuff if just filler to get you to watch the commercials.

Of course that model breaks badly in the days of DVRs, where you can skip the commercials at will.

I have 3 shows that I watch on a regular basis, and I have no idea whatesoever when they come on. I just look at my queue and if there's something new and I have time I watch it then.

126 posted on 03/11/2015 12:52:14 PM PDT by zeugma ( The Clintons Could Find a Loophole in a Stop Sign)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: sheana

I do that too now. I notice just about everything is done in MP4 now so it plays on an ipad, I guess the majority of public does. I like that website Veehd, they use to upload movies and videos in AVI and other formats now it’s almost all MP4 or sometimes they call it Flash for some reason but it’s still MP4. I love ipad, I watch anything no matter where I am.

http://veehd.com/search?tag=film


127 posted on 03/11/2015 12:52:46 PM PDT by GrandJediMasterYoda (She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running like a watercolor in the rain)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 117 | View Replies]

To: mass55th

That is why I don’t have a DVR anymore. I just built a computer that has multiple 2TB hrs and I bAck up everything via a handy little program a friend wrote for me. The program also has a streaming record mode like DVR. There are freebie programs that do the same.


128 posted on 03/11/2015 12:57:13 PM PDT by Mad Dawgg (If you're going to deny my 1st Amendment rights then I must proceed to the 2nd one...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 101 | View Replies]

To: ozarkgirl; Mr. Jeeves
You can actually watch the Jeeves and Wooster series on Hulu. It stars Steven Fry and Hugh Laurie. It is a smart, understated comedy series. Wonderful television.

Other hidden gems:

Hulu: Prisoners of War (Israeli with sub-titles) may be the best dramatic television series I've ever seen, and I promise is worth the bother of sub-titles.

Netflix: Their original programming like House of Cards and Marco Polo is outstanding. Warning on these - adult content. Not outright nudity, but adult situations... although I think you get some boobies with Marco Polo.

Amazon: Again, original programming. Also has a lot of British period programs which are great.

In fact, all the streaming networks seem to carry a lot of Brit shows, some of which are as silly as ours, and some of which are amazing.

129 posted on 03/11/2015 1:10:36 PM PDT by TontoKowalski
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 108 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

All gay, all the time, is the ratings killer.


130 posted on 03/11/2015 1:11:39 PM PDT by VRWC For Truth (Roberts has perverted the Constitution)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Roman_War_Criminal
Is there a way to get rid of cable and just do Netflix over Wi-Fi?

First I did Netflix over a Roku puck via Wi-Fi. Sucked. Then did Netflix over an Apple TV puck via Wi-Fi, works pretty good but limited to my HD TV connection. Doing Netflix via Safari browser on my Mac works best, pretty good interface and very portable over Wi-Fi.

131 posted on 03/11/2015 1:16:47 PM PDT by roadcat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator

I’ve found Kommissar Rex on YouTube

The star of the show is a German Shepherd working for the Vienna Police homicide squad.

In the 11th season, the show moves to Rome and its now in its 16th season as Commissario Rex.


132 posted on 03/11/2015 1:26:35 PM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Nacho Bidnith

What sites have you tried? Dramafever and Viki have some.
Viki has more since they were sold to a J media group but a lot of the content requires paid access.

Of the “ scalper “ sites, that is, they aren’t licensed by the broadcasters and they steal the work of the subbers to profit from ads on their websites.

I would say myasiantv and drama.net have the biggest selection. I use ghostery and no script to kill any ads and or other junk they my want to try to run.

Of the scalper sites they seem to be the better ones, others can be rather shady.

If you are so inclined you can download the sub files from someone like d-addicts but then have to d/l the videos from torrents. I choose not to go that route. It can be challenging to find J programs subbed. They seem to have a different business model and are not as keen to export as much as the K are. The J seem to like to sell DVDs to their domestic audiences. Its a shame because I think the J have better writing in a lot of ways.

Have you seen the J drama Woman ? Awesome. Tear jerker for sure but the writing and acting blow away the garbage on US TV.


133 posted on 03/11/2015 1:43:47 PM PDT by csvset
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 123 | View Replies]

To: csvset

Thanks for your reply.

I’m a premium subscriber to both DramaFever and Viki, but was unaware of the J content on Viki. One of the reasons I use Viki less is that they seem to be slower on “subbing” than is DF so I’m not as familiar with what they have to offer.

Although I prefer using the Roku for content delivery, I also use Chromecast and stream my web content from the laptop to my TV and that’s a satisfactory workaround.

For anyone considering pulling the plug on cable, if you can live without live sports, there’s no shortage of content available to you if you have a decent internet connection.

Once you’ve experienced how good a la carte choice AND on-demand programming is, you’ll wonder how you ever tolerated watching TV on someone else’s schedule.

Between Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, YouTube, and the Asian entertainment providers being discussed here, there’s plenty of entertainment available for a lot less than what you’re currently paying to support CNN, MSNBC and all the other lefty cable channels you never watch.

All things considered, premium subscriptions to both sites I mentioned here costs me less than $10 per month, and combined, the Roku box and Chromecast stick cost less than $100, so it’s well worth it to me to get my content commercial free and in HD.

I cancelled my TV package with FIOS about 1 1/2 years ago and short of not being able to watch the Dodgers, haven’t missed it at all.

I prefer to avoid the “shadier” sites and stick with the mainstream providers.


134 posted on 03/11/2015 2:52:48 PM PDT by Nacho Bidnith (The Govt's war on drugs was the setup for war on the American People)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 133 | View Replies]

To: liberalh8ter

Samjunk is on my Never Buy Again list.

I had their DVR and it went belly up after about 2 years.

I had an $800 laptop that quit, just a month after the warranty. Local repair said it was the motherboard. They tried to be a replacement, but SamJunk apparently doesn’t make replacement motherboards for their laptops. So, I have an $800 door stop.

SamJunk will never get another cent from me.


135 posted on 03/11/2015 3:02:23 PM PDT by TomGuy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 119 | View Replies]

To: TontoKowalski
You can actually watch the Jeeves and Wooster series on Hulu. It stars Steven Fry and Hugh Laurie. It is a smart, understated comedy series. Wonderful television.

Yes - that's exactly where my screen name comes from. :)

136 posted on 03/11/2015 5:41:59 PM PDT by Mr. Jeeves (Heteropatriarchal Capitalist)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 129 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Suck it, cable & satellite TV.


137 posted on 03/15/2015 7:07:05 PM PDT by Excuse_My_Bellicosity (Death before disco.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ken5050
Yet about 50% of cable subscribers do NOT watch sports...yet spots channel bundles..are the single biggest component of the monthly bill

I always suspected that.
Most normal people support the mindless sports junkies.

Thugball... who needs it?

138 posted on 07/26/2015 8:55:26 PM PDT by publius911 (If you like Obamacare, You'll LOVE ObamaWeb.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 125 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120121-138 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson