I just want to note that the streaming business is still in its infancy and it’s preliminary to guess what news will be like in the future based on current models. When TV networks started offering national news broadcasts they weren’t expected to make money; they were there to show viewers that TV was as good a source for news as radio, newspapers, and magazines. Networks and cable news channels may see a streaming option as fragmenting their audience thus limiting the resources to grow and develop it. If Amazon or Apple set up a streaming news service that lost them a billion dollars a year, that’s change in the couch cushions for them.
> On Feb 28, 2022, at 5:42 PM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I wonder if the US could make some kind of deal, perhaps based on agreeing to > waive challenges to media aggregation in violation of anti trust laws, in > exchange for an obligation to DP set up certain minimum public service > programming, including robust news gathering, a la what they did for > broadcasters? > >> On Mon, 28 Feb 2022 at 8:33 AM Adam Bowie <[email protected]> wrote: >> PGage wrote: >> >> "I admit to not having a good understanding of what a streaming-dominant >> television world will look like. I am not sure how linear news divisions >> could be maintained without a critical sized audience. aBC can always have >> talking heads and broadcast video it gets from others, but whatever vestige >> remains of an actual news gathering operation could not be maintained if it >> only had sizable numbers of viewers during intermediate crises. Maybe >> streaming networks will be able to support real news divisions in the >> future, but my experience with Netflix like operations has not included many >> live programs. Lives sporting events is the exception, but those are set >> pieces, relatively passive. Will a day come when one of the options on >> Amazon or Netflix or Disney is a live Newscast?" >> >> This is an interesting question. Currently channels like CNN and Fox News >> are profitable because they create appointment to view programming in >> primetime that can be sold to advertisers, but also those cable bundle >> revenues. As the cable audience declines and everyone moves to streaming, at >> some point that becomes a significant challenge. >> >> I do think that at some point bundles will be become bigger and slightly >> less fluid than they are now. It's really not in, say, Disney's interest >> that I can subscribe for a month, binge the latest series and then cancel. >> If that churn becomes a major problem, then I can see it becoming more like >> traditional cable contracts where you have to subscribe for a year or more, >> and can't cancel at a moment's notice. On the other hand, it's entirely >> likely that Disney will eventually push you to a Disney/Hulu/ESPN combo, >> just as Warner-Discovery push you to an HBO Max/Discovery+/CNN combo. >> >> The question is whether everyone will do news, and what we've seen in recent >> years is that with a few exceptions, news isn't all that profitable. Local >> news outlets have gone, and even the local TV news operations which are >> perhaps profitable right now, rely on network TV to maintain their position. >> When those viewers go, where does leave those who can't pay or at least >> subsidise local news? Big regional US papers seem to be in the hands of >> asset-stripping hedge funds who probably aren't looking more than a handful >> of years forward. And then there are a few who are in much better positions >> and are cleaning up. The New York Times busily growing a powerful subs >> business, and the Washington Post having a benign billionaire owning it >> (benign in that I don't believe he interferes editorially). Globally, beyond >> CNN and some specialist financial news players like Bloomberg and CNBC, you >> have state funded outlets. The BBC is paid for directly via UK licence fees >> by citizens (although some of it is ad-supported). See also Deutsche Welle, >> Al Jazeera and many others. There are agencies like Reuters and AP, but >> they require subscribing services to stay afloat. >> >> Lack of news means a challenge to democracy. If you don't know what's >> happening then anything could be happening. > -- > Sent from Gmail Mobile > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYKGsJzdW2QVYJGTnHLzBjKtPYZer6%3D9SoVTsfs-ei2DXw%40mail.gmail.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/AC0703DE-ED4C-456B-8AF8-9B99E2ACDB14%40gmail.com.
