Retention Zone

?? DAZN and NFL Game Pass: Creating a New Playbook for Global Sports Streaming ?? Day 2 at SportsPro Madrid starts for me with a dual interview on a subject that is very close to my heart, as I spent numerous days and night obsessing about it: NFL Game Pass now on DAZN . To this day the previous version of Game Pass is the widest and deepest OTT/streaming experience I had in my extensive career. My on-the-job masterclass on direct to consumer marketing too. Where I learned the significant difference between open digital experiences and those that have individual paying customers. Speakers: Sameer Pabari Managing Director, International Media National Football League (NFL), Pete Oliver CEO of Growth Markets DAZN Moderator: Steve McCaskill Technology Editor SportsPro (and avid Green Bay Packers fan) 1?? The numbers validate the strategy with 30%+ subscriber growth in year one across 200 countries, proving there was untapped global demand for NFL content. 2?? Constant innovation based on fan feedback, from 10-second skips to upcoming Multiview features, shows how digital platforms can enhance rather than just deliver sports content. 3?? The "Spotify for sports" approach of combining global reach with local relevance (multiple languages, regional pricing, local influencers) creates a blueprint for other sports properties' international expansion. Retention Zone presented by Cleeng #streaming #churn #retention

It's not Saturday Night Live yet, where multiple hosting became a thing, but for this episode 52 of Retention Zone I have decided to invite, for the second time after one year, Nick Meacham the CEO of SportsPro to have a look at what has happened to streaming and the way that streaming is monetize and the fight of customer retention vs. churn. Here are the key takeaways from our chat: 1?? ?? "Co-exclusivity" is the new norm - rights holders are increasingly comfortable sharing exclusive content across multiple platforms 2?? ?? Aggregation is king - from big tech to DAZN, platforms are racing to become one-stop-shops for sports content 3?? ?? Netflix's sports play is gaining momentum - with WWE, and the upcoming Christmas NFL games being a crucial test 4?? ?? Hybrid monetization is working - platforms are finding success combining subscription and ad revenue models 5?? ??♂? Customer retention is top priority - streaming services are investing significant brain power in understanding churn and improving retention through content, experience, and customer treatment 6?? ?? Multi-layer distribution is the new standard - content is being distributed across multiple platforms to maximize reach and sustainability 7?? ?? Sports organizations are becoming media companies - creating valuable content for both their own channels and other platforms One year after our first episode together, it's fascinating to see how the streaming landscape has evolved. Thanks Nick for sharing your insights! Retention Zone is presented by Cleeng Hosted and produced by Carlo De Marchis: A guy with a scarf Alexis Ga? Kirstin White Hjalmar Koedijker Alex Regan Joachim Bergman Chris Welsh Olga Sp?nu Maarten Jacobs Reaves Carrington Jessica Anguiano #SportsStreaming #DigitalMedia #SportsBusiness #RetentionZone #CustomerRetention #Streaming #Sports

?? When Netflix Can't Stream: A Tale of 500,000 Angry Boxing Fans Last night proved why I named my domain StreamingLiveSportsIsNotEasy dot com years ago. Even Netflix – the streaming giant that revolutionized how we watch TV – crashed during the Tyson-Paul fight. ?? The irony? They made it free to attract subscribers, but their infrastructure couldn't handle the load. Traditional PPV might be expensive, but at least you could watch the fight! Even if they failed too :) ?? Official statement from Netflix just came out: ?? 60 MILLION households watched live ?? 65 MILLION peak concurrent streams ?? 50 MILLION watched Serrano vs Taylor ?? 6,000+ bars & restaurants showed the fight "The Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight is the most-streamed sporting event ever, peaking at 65 million concurrent streams, with 38 million concurrent streams in the US." Netflix CTO to employees on streaming issues: “This unprecedented scale created many technical challenges, which the launch team tackled brilliantly by prioritizing stability of the stream for the majority of viewers. I'm sure many of you have seen the chatter in the press and on social media about the quality issues. We don't want to dismiss the poor experience of some members, and know we have room for improvement, but still consider this event a huge success.” "We feel very ready and excited for the NFL on Christmas," Netflix content chief Bela Bajaria said, according to The Wall Street Journal. Just published a deep dive into: ? Why "free" sometimes costs more than you think ? The hidden complexity of live sports streaming ? What this means for Netflix's NFL Christmas game ambitions ? Why even tech giants stumble with live sports ?? Key takeaway: In the rush to disrupt traditional broadcasting, which is inevitable, streaming live sports with quality at scale is still a problem even for the big guys. I know it well, we all had our lessons learned. Agree? Disagree? What was your experience with the stream last night? Retention Zone is presented by Cleeng Hosted and produced by Carlo De Marchis: A guy with a scarf Alexis Ga? Hjalmar Koedijker Alex Regan Joachim Bergman Chris Welsh Reaves Carrington Jessica Anguiano Benedicte Guichard Gilles Domartini Magnus Svensson Thierry Fautier Rauno De Pasquale Francesco F. #Streaming #SportsTech #Netflix #TechFails #LiveSports #Broadcasting #Innovation

?? When Netflix Can't Stream: A Tale of 500,000 Angry Boxing Fans Last night proved why I named my domain StreamingLiveSportsIsNotEasy dot com years ago. Even Netflix – the streaming giant that revolutionized how we watch TV – crashed during the Tyson-Paul fight. ?? The irony? They made it free to attract subscribers, but their infrastructure couldn't handle the load. Traditional PPV might be expensive, but at least you could watch the fight! Even if they failed too :) ?? Official statement from Netflix just came out: ?? 60 MILLION households watched live ?? 65 MILLION peak concurrent streams ?? 50 MILLION watched Serrano vs Taylor ?? 6,000+ bars & restaurants showed the fight "The Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight is the most-streamed sporting event ever, peaking at 65 million concurrent streams, with 38 million concurrent streams in the US." Netflix CTO to employees on streaming issues: “This unprecedented scale created many technical challenges, which the launch team tackled brilliantly by prioritizing stability of the stream for the majority of viewers. I'm sure many of you have seen the chatter in the press and on social media about the quality issues. We don't want to dismiss the poor experience of some members, and know we have room for improvement, but still consider this event a huge success.” "We feel very ready and excited for the NFL on Christmas," Netflix content chief Bela Bajaria said, according to The Wall Street Journal. Just published a deep dive into: ? Why "free" sometimes costs more than you think ? The hidden complexity of live sports streaming ? What this means for Netflix's NFL Christmas game ambitions ? Why even tech giants stumble with live sports ?? Key takeaway: In the rush to disrupt traditional broadcasting, which is inevitable, streaming live sports with quality at scale is still a problem even for the big guys. I know it well, we all had our lessons learned. Agree? Disagree? What was your experience with the stream last night? Retention Zone is presented by Cleeng Hosted and produced by Carlo De Marchis: A guy with a scarf Alexis Ga? Hjalmar Koedijker Alex Regan Joachim Bergman Chris Welsh Reaves Carrington Jessica Anguiano Benedicte Guichard Gilles Domartini Magnus Svensson Thierry Fautier Rauno De Pasquale Francesco F. #Streaming #SportsTech #Netflix #TechFails #LiveSports #Broadcasting #Innovation

?? A little gift to make today a brighter day for all of you who, like me, have spent their career in our beautiful sports & media tech sector on the B2B "vendor" side. An epiphany for Alex Hunte who I met 25 years ago in preparation for Euro 2000 and who spent most of his career on the B2B "client" side. In a week when "Retribution" seems to be the word of the moment, here it is for us on the vendor side. ?? ?? ?? Like and comment if you can relate... or if you want to tell your stories, let me know. I truly appreciate Alex's candor and ruthless honesty here. An excerpt from Retention Zone (presented by Cleeng) latest episode. #vendor #client #sportstech

?? Ep. 51 - Building Frictionless Sports Streaming: From Product?to Customer Retention For this episode of Retention Zone I invited someone from my early digital days. Alex Hunte and I first crossed paths 25 years ago during the preparation for Euro 2000, when he was at UEFA, where he spent 10 years as head of product in their new media division. Our professional relationship continued as we both witnessed and shaped the evolution of digital sports media, from the early skepticism about watching sports on computers to today's multi-platform streaming landscape. 1?? Great product development should be invisible - "When I do my job really well, you don't know the job's being done." Product teams should facilitate rather than dominate, letting marketing, commercial and content teams shine. 2?? Follow customer behavior, don't dictate it. Success comes from watching what users are already doing and making it easier - not trying to create new behaviors from scratch. 3?? Data-driven decisions are crucial, but accept that your initial offering will need adjustment: "That's the only guarantee about the first thing you put out to market - it's wrong." Build systems that can react to user feedback and evolving behaviors. 4?? Don't annoy your customers! If there's a service failure, just refund them. The cost of losing a subscriber is far higher than the cost of making things right. For seasonal sports, consider payment holidays during off-seasons rather than risking cancellations. 5?? The future of sports streaming is bright, driven by three factors: growing global interest in sports, universal expectation of content availability, and new generations willing to pay for streaming services. But success requires making content accessible "anywhere, anytime, at a reasonable price point." Retention Zone is presented by Cleeng Hosted and produced by Carlo De Marchis: A guy with a scarf Alexis Ga? Kirstin White Hjalmar Koedijker Alex Regan Joachim Bergman Chris Welsh Olga Sp?nu Maarten Jacobs Reaves Carrington Jessica Anguiano #SportsMedia #Streaming #ProductDevelopment #CustomerRetention #DigitalStrategy

?? Retention Zone Ep. 50: Special Edition - Industry Veterans Share Their Vision ?? I wanted to make episode 50 a milestone episode of Retention Zone, so I assembled an all-star panel of streaming industry veterans and previous guests to dissect the current state of the industry and peer into its future. The roundtable brought together Magnus Svensson from Eyevinn Technology, Sébastien Audoux (former Canal Plus), Matthew Collier (former GCN, IOC, ESPN), Giles Tongue (Bango), Christy Tanner (Swerve Sports), and Kirill Magaev (Streaming expert), offering a global perspective on streaming's evolving landscape. Watch the full session for some engaging discussion on streaming past, present and future! Retention Zone is presented by Cleeng Hosted and produced by Carlo De Marchis: A guy with a scarf Alexis Ga? Kirstin White Hjalmar Koedijker Alex Regan Joachim Bergman Chris Welsh Olga Sp?nu Maarten Jacobs Reaves Carrington Jessica Anguiano #streaming #churn #retention

?? Getting ready for Episode 50 special edition of Retention Zone - the video podcast focused on streaming monetization, churn, and retention - recorded live with 6 smart and dynamic previous guests! It will be Tuesday Nov 5 biggest media event... ah wait, maybe not, there may be some thing a bit more consequential on the other side of the ocean, but that one will be buzzing a bit later during the day ?? ?? So get ready! Retention Zone is presented by Cleeng Hosted and produced by Carlo De Marchis: A guy with a scarf Magnus Svensson Sébastien Audoux Matthew Collier Giles Tongue Christy Tanner Kirill Magaev #streaming #churn #retention

??? For Episode 49 of Retention Zone, which I am recording while at SPORTEL Monaco, I decided to go off-script and put my face out there... ??? Yesterday, I stumbled upon a really thought-provoking article in The New York Times about how Netflix's endless content buffet has flipped our viewing habits and shaken up the cultural landscape. It got me thinking: if this is happening in entertainment, what's going on in the world of sports? Being knee-deep in sports tech and having a front-row seat to the streaming evolution, I decided to dive in and explore. ?? I took a deliberately positive and optimistic angle to create a strong contrast with the article's perspective. And since we're talking streaming, we can't ignore the overwhelming influence of social media stirring the pot in the same space. So, in this long-form piece and a video podcast episode, I'll unpack how these shifts are playing out in sports, how social media is changing the game, and why the sports industry might just be better equipped to handle these challenges. Let's jump in and see where this takes us. Key topics: 1?? The Allure of Infinite Choice 2?? The Paradox of Too Much Content 3?? The Impact on Cultural Cohesion 4?? The Economic Implications 5?? Technological Advancements and Challenges 6?? Reconnecting with the Audience 7?? Sustainability and Ethical Considerations 8?? The Future of Streaming Retention Zone is presented by Cleeng Hosted and produced by Carlo De Marchis: A guy with a scarf Alexis Ga? Kirstin White Hjalmar Koedijker Alex Regan Joachim Bergman Chris Welsh Olga Sp?nu Maarten Jacobs Reaves Carrington Jessica Anguiano #streaming #sports #entertainment #netflix