How a golf tournament changed the Streaming Wars fore-ever🏌️‍♂️

Presented by 43Twenty

Amazon’s in discussions to acquire MGM

This would be Amazon’s most significant move yet to expand in entertainment. MGM owns a deep library of 4,000 films and 17,000 hours of television, including the long-running James Bond franchise and other well-known titles such as Rocky and Pink Panther. It also owns the Epix and makes TV shows, including The Handmaid’s Tale and Fargo, and reality shows such as Shark Tank and Survivor. An acquisition would beef up Amazon’s film studio and streaming services Prime Video and IMDB. A deal could cost between $7 billion and $10 billion. It’s not clear if Amazon will follow through with the purchase. Link

AT&T Spins off WarnerMedia and merges it with Discovery...ending “one of the dumbest mergers in recent history”

AT&T has announced a $43 billion deal that will spin off WarnerMedia and merge the media powerhouse with Discovery, bringing together the likes of CNN, HBO, Warner Bros., HGTV, OWN Network, and Animal Planet under the same roof. The merger will create a new business, separate from AT&T, which The Financial Times reports could be valued at as much as $150 billion (though CNN notes the new company will also carry $55 billion in debt). The new business will have projected global revenues of $52 billion a year, making it twice the size of Netflix. David Zaslav is rumored to have just signed a contract to lead the new company, which will be announced next week, at the same time a company name is revealed. Link | Link | Link Additional coverage:

How a golf tournament led to the merger. Link
AT&T decides it’s not a media company; hilarity ensues. Link
AT&T's discovery: beating Netflix is hard. Link

Now the pressure’s on ViacomCBS and NBCUniversal

Suddenly, both ViacomCBS and NBCUniversal seem subscale as they attempt to put together global streaming services. They aren’t trying to be niche players, such as Starz or AMC+. That means both will need more content to compete against Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney, and whatever the new name of WarnerMediaDiscovery will be. The obvious move would be for ViacomCBS and NBCUniversal to merge, according to Alex Sherman. Link

Disney+ subscriber growth slows

Just as Netflix added fewer than 4 million global subscribers in the first quarter, disappointing investors, Disney announced it now has 103.6 million Disney+ subscribers, far less than the 109 million estimated by analysts. But there's one significant difference between the two companies where Disney falls far short: average revenue per user. Disney+'s average revenue per user, excluding India's Hotstar, was $5.61 per month. Netflix's ARPU last quarter in the U.S. and Canada was $14.25 per month — up 9% from a year ago. If you're going to have slumping growth, you want your customers paying as much as possible. Link

7 Strategies for Combatting OTT Churn

Here are 7 of our top OTT churn management strategies that any streaming video service can implement to increase subscriber retention, and revenue. 📈

Read the article from 43Twenty

Hulu’s sees on-demand growth while Live TV loses 200k subs

Hulu has posted 41.6 million total subs; however, that growth has come from the SVOD product (up 2.4 million), while the vMVPD Hulu + Live TV lost 200k subs, leaving them with 3.8 million. Link

Disney’s latest deal with Major League Baseball

Disney and MLB reached a new seven-year rights deal that will keep baseball on ESPN and provides extensive streaming rights to simulcast games and stream other content on ESPN+, which now boasts 13.8 million subscribers, adding 1.8 million in Q2. Link

fuboTV has now reached 590,430 subscribers

This is up 105% year over year and 8% over the previous quarter, after adding 43,000. FuboTV is focused on growing its business through the integration of sports betting. The company said it’s still on track to launch its free-to-play gaming in the third quarter and that it will begin beta testing the feature in the coming weeks. The company also said it’s still progressing toward a fourth-quarter launch for its sportsbook. Link

Netflix is considering adding DVD-type bonus material

Netflix is reportedly considering adding a feature that would enable subscribers to access bonus material such as production outtakes, cast interviews, bloopers, and related video for its original shows — a strategy long associated with physical discs. Dubbed “N-Plus,” the feature would also include podcasts, do-it-yourself content, and user-generated music playlists, among other options. Link Related:

Would Netflix’s ‘N-Plus’ be a value-add or more digital clutter?. Link

Quibi shows will return as “Roku Originals” on Thursday

A raft of 30 original shows developed for — and briefly distributed by — now-defunct streaming startup Quibi are getting new life as Roku Originals, with a premiere date of May 20. Link

CuriosityStream reaches 16 Million subscribers

At its first-quarter investor’s call for 2021 last week, CuriosityStream announced that it now has 16 million paying subscribers, up from the 15 million paying subscribers reported at the end of 2020. Link

INSIGHTS

An Apple exec explains how Apple allows certain companies to reduce Apple's App Store fees from 30% to 15% in exchange for them supporting Apple's TV app. Link

56% of people say they are overwhelmed by the number of streaming services to choose from. Link

Rotten Tomatoes wants to be more than a score. Inside its ambition to be a streaming destination. Link

What your business can learn from Netflix. Link

Inside Hulu’s Disney-style future. Link

Deeper Dive—Charter, Discovery offer conflicting views on the pay-TV bundle. Link

Conan O’Brien and the streaming industry’s pivot to late-night comedy. Link

Why Latin America is so big on the ad-supported streaming market’s radar. Link

VENDORS

Video on Demand Technology Provider Intelivideo and CIPIO Partner. Link

Tremor Video Launches New CTV & Video Audience Solutions. Link

Zype Announces Support for AWS for Media & Entertainment Initiative. Link

Have a story or announcement that you’d like us to share? Email us at TheStreamingWars@43twenty.tv.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Ebook: Optimizing the OTT Customer Journey: Keys to maintaining Direct-to-Consumer Video Growth

We dropped an ebook called "Optimizing the OTT Customer Journey." It explains how streaming video services can increase awareness, inbound traffic, conversions, CLV, and more.

What you can expect to learn includes:

1. Why media companies need to start thinking like software companies

2. Why engagement and retention should be your biggest priorities

3. Nine engagement & #retention KPIs you should be tracking regardless if you're an ad-supported or subscription-based service.

4. How the OTT marketing funnel works

Deck: How to keep your subscribers from hurling their remote at the TV

We recently presented a workshop titled "How to keep your subscribers from hurling their remote at the TV". To attract, grow, and retain subscribers on platforms you own, scaling empathy across each touchpoint, including marketing campaigns, not only keeps consumers from launching the remote, but it is also the key to surviving the streaming wars.

Come grab a copy of the deck we presented, which delves into:

Why OTT brands must focus on product experiences vs. relying on distribution or become faced-with both revenue leakage and data loss
Why MAU is a vanity metric & how to grow subscribers/viewers with customer-centric KPIs
Specific examples citing who is doing it right, and which brands have ample room for improvement

To explore partnership opportunities with The Streaming Wars newsletter, contact TheStreamingWars@43twenty.tv