television

Apple TV’s so so content depends on ecosystem integration for success

1 April 2019 by Steve Blum
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Apple tv keynote aniston witherspoon 25mar2019

Apple unveiled a new subscription video service last week. If it were any other company except Apple making the announcement, there would have been a huge yawn from the market. The Apple TV service, at least what we know of it, isn’t significantly different from other over-the-top services. They’re borrowing business model bits from several different platforms and putting the pieces together a little differently and, but overall it looks very familiar.

Apple will have exclusive programming, as the big OTT players do, and that will help it position its video brand as it has for HBO and Netflix, but it’s just icing on the same cake as everyone else’s.… More

Cable subs shave before they cut

30 March 2016 by Steve Blum
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The pay TV subscriber count in the U.S. dropped below the 100 million mark in the fourth quarter of last year, according to Nielsen. That’s the number of households that buy traditional television programming packages from either cable, telephone or satellite companies.

The declining fortunes of traditional linear television are directly linked to the viewing – and buying – habits of young adults, age 18 to 34. These cord cutters are more likely to have broadband connections with enough oomph to handle video streams and pay for subscription video on demand (SVOD) services like Netflix.… More

The end of TV and the rise of the microwave oven will define consumer electronics of the future

10 January 2014 by Steve Blum
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Twilight of the gods.

“The TV has been challenged for the the last four or five years and, frankly, it’s on the way out unless they reinvent its presentation in the home”, said Peter Corcoran, assistant dean at the National University of Ireland. He spoke yesterday at a CES session sponsored by IEEE and focused on future technology.

“The TV needs to reinvent itself”, Corcoran said. The way to do that is to marry it to smart phones and tablets and make it a two screen experience.… More