Roku And Google Declare A Truce

Roku And Google Declare A Truce

Roku and Google have been beefing about what Google allegedly wants Roku to do, and what Roku allegedly wants Google to not do. Publicly, the battle was mostly around data capture and search rankings, both of which must seem trivial to consumers.?

Things had come to a head when a recent Roku OS update left YouTube TV virtually unworkable on most Roku devices and TV sets, forcing Google to come up with a workaround, since Roku had already banned YouTube apps from its app store, updated or otherwise.

There was also name-calling, always fun to see, with Roku calling Google “an unchecked monopolist.” (Well, at least that’s what they called them publicly)

But this week the two parties seem to have come to an agreement, at least for now, and Roku will once again support and carry the latest versions of the YouTube and YouTube TV apps.

The lesson here is that carriage fee wars haven’t gone away. They’ve merely shape-shifted to fit the new streaming era. This one, between Roku and Google, seemed to encapsulate three of the bigger battlegrounds of the streaming era... [read the rest at TVREV]

Meanwhile, there was action too among some of the less behemoth-like players. FuboTV, who we’ve previously dubbed “The Little vMVPD Who Could”for its ability to survive and thrive in a market full of well-funded giants, made another interesting purchase this week:?buying France’s Molotov TV.

Molotov is a popular service that combines free, ad-supported and subscription services via a very well-designed and easy-to-use app. The service has 17 million subscribers in France and the French-speaking regions of Africa.

The plan, as per the press release, is to provide Molotov with sports content while using its well-regarded freemium business model to help drive growth internationally.

It’s a smart move because Fubo and Molotov have something unique in common, which is that they’ve been focused on the actual technological capabilities of digitally delivered TV. While many of their competitors have stuck with user experiences that largely mimic traditional pay TV, both companies have looked to experient... [read the rest at TVREV]

Everyone’s betting on sports at this point, and it’s those sorts of features that will actually fuel a greater migration of audiences over to streaming. Betting will also help balance out the initial lost TV ad revenues as rights holders deemphasize linear, as will other interactive elements (perhaps you’ve even seen some of those ideas in?a recent TVREV piece from StreamLayer).

Not letting streaming TV rest on legacy TV's laurels is the key, even outside of sports, and it’s something to watch as churn picks up in 2022. Even top service Netflix has some new challenges ahead, if?you take a look at recent Moffatt Nathanson data. While most of the content is evergreen in theory, there’s still a steep viewership drop-off — just like there is on linear — after the launch of a new Netflix original series.

Some of that may be due to Netflix’s new-focused interface, which quickly buries shows beneath the glut of more debuting programming the following week. But the biggest takeaway is that Netflix and others are going to have to continue emphasizing the new to maintain relevance. That’s easier for others with weekly serialized releases.

Is Netflix finally going to have to cave on its binge focus? This would at least suggest it’s likely.

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News You Can Use: Curated Stories From Around The Web

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The name of the game now is subscriber gains and minimizing churn rates. Those are things Zaslav already sees happening with Discovery Plus. Of the two prized platforms, he adds: “We’re going to make them available in a way that is simplest for the consumer.” How David Zaslav Plans to Combine Discovery and WarnerMedia to Unleash ‘Shock and Awe’ on the Streaming Wars?(Variety)

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Karl Meyer

Head of Samsung Ads, Media and Entertainment - North America

3 年

Thank you, Alan.

Thank you Alan!

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