This week, we recap all the recent sports news involving FIFA, DAZN, IPL, NBA, WNBA, Apple TV, NBA, NHL, Peacock, Indianapolis 500, U.S. Soccer, WBD, Wimbledon, Sky Sports and the Olympics. We highlight some of the recently released sports viewership stats across streaming and pay TV, discuss the recent price hikes by Max and Spotify, and Amazon's acquisition of video streaming service MX Player. Finally, we explain why the number of app downloads is a worthless metric for tracking usage, ARPU, engagement, subscriber lifetime value, or any other real metric tracked and utilized by streaming companies with Wall Street.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, we discuss some of Netflix's latest data on its ad-supported business, including usage, monthly active users and the news that it will launch an ad tech platform to control its ad buying, placement, and targeting. We also cover news from YouTube's Brandcast, announcing that viewers watch more than 1 billion hours of content on TV screens daily. We discuss why FOX's CEO said 90% of viewing time on Tubi comes from VOD content, not their FAST channels and why I think FAST won't be profitable for all but the major content owners. We break out the nearly 2 million live linear TV losses in Q1 across pay TV and vMVPDs and how consumers continue to move from a deep linear channel lineup to specific live content. Finally, we discuss why Nielsen's new Media Distributor Gauge is flawed in viewership data when Nielsen compares companies, like The Walt Disney Company, to single streaming services, like Prime Video.

We also quickly recap earnings from Vizio, Brightcove, Akamai, WBD, and EchoStar and highlight a new patent lawsuit filed against Google regarding caching and content delivery methods dating back to Sandpiper Networks.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

With all the recent sports streaming news, co-host Mark Donnigan and I did a special “Sports Streaming Podcast Episode” this week. We discuss the upcoming Venu Sports offering (Disney/WBD/FOX sports JV) and the limitations we expect the service to have when it launches. We weigh in on some of the tech behind the scenes and consider whether a 'beta' label could soften the blow for fans expecting a fully polished service from day one.

We also cover Netflix’s deal with the NFL, including its importance as the first global licensing deal with no blackout restrictions and how the agreement is structured. Finally, we highlight the NFL's 2024 fragmented distribution strategy across broadcast and streaming, which is great for the NFL's revenue but terrible for fans. (Correction: I say on the podcast the games will be on seven broadcast networks and platforms, but it's ten or eleven, depending on if you separate ESPN from ABC and add in YouTube TV.)

Also briefly discussed are Roku's deal with MLB for Sunday morning baseball games, Sky Sports+ launching this August, and how, months later, Max's Bleacher Report (B/R) Sports Add package is still free for users.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media