"pay TV" articles

By Brett L. Sappington, Director of Research On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal published an article reporting rumors that Apple was in discussions with pay-TV providers about the possibility of an Apple-branded set-top box (STB) that would carry live and on-demand content. According to the article, Apple proposed to provide the hardware and have pay-TV providers deliver the linear and on-demand content. For Apple, which has made a strong business by leveraging content to...

Written by Jim O'Neill, Parks Associates Research Analyst During an earnings call this week, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes maintained that cord cutting is a myth, challenging someone to show him the numbers. To a point, that’s not very hard to do if you look at the cable TV industry only. Since 2008, cable has lost a whopping 4.5 million subscribers in the U.S. As the second quarter numbers roll in, MSOs are likely to lose another 1.38 million by the end of the year, and that...

Find out more with Parks Associates' Choosing Content: Video Viewing research. The project analyzes the use of digital media and its impact on the market for consumer electronics, packaged media, and entertainment services. It reveals the decision processes for consumers and the key variables in choosing what to watch, on what platforms to access their content, and how much (if any) to pay. This reseach aims to discover which options consumers consider first when looking for...

Written by Patrice Samuels, Research Analyst Pay-TV operators are all too familiar with the cord shaving and cord cutting phenomena that had their subscribers migrating to online video services like Netflix and Hulu. While the largest pay-TV provider Comcast lost more than 37,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2012, Netflix’s gain of approximately 1.7 million subscribers over the same period made the company the leading subscription video service in the U.S., in terms of...

Written by Brett L. Sappington, Director of Research While content brinksmanship between pay-TV carriers and content owners over carriage fees is nothing new. The recent conflicts between DISH and AMC and between DirecTV and Viacom  appear to have taken the face-off to new heights...though perhaps new "depths" might be a more accurate statement from a consumer perspective. The networks maintain that their current approach to channel carriage fees is good for...

By Jim O’Neill, Parks Associates Research Analyst DirecTV is the latest operator to dig its heels in a carriage fee battle. This time, Viacom, and its 26 channels on the operator’s lineup, is the protagonist. The tune may have changed, but the song remains the same: DirecTV claims Viacom is asking for an unreasonable increase in carriage fees; Viacom, of course, claims big traffic numbers and says it’s simply trying to bring DirecTV in line with the prices the content owner...

Written by Brett L. Sappington, Director of Research In a move that will be welcome by home fans throughout the nation, the NFL announced that it will be changing its television blackout rules . Previously, broadcasters and pay-TV providers could not broadcast local games unless the local team sold out the stadium in advance of game time (or the NFL granted an exception). The NFL has changed this policy to where teams can opt to lower the sell out threshold to 85% of the seats...

This week, AT&T joins the dispute with AMC Networks over carriage fees; already in the battle? Dish Network. The U-verse TV service provider says it can’t/won’t/shouldn’t have to pay what it contends is an “excessive rate increase,” one that potentially will have to be passed on to viewers. AT&T says AMC—the network that carries shows like “Mad Men” and “Walking Dead”--is asking it to pay nearly double what it thinks other operators are paying, and...