Today's Top Stories Yahoo is planning to take on Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) YouTube online video dominance, and this summer will announce a service that offers channel pages and video hosting. Its value proposition? Giving creators a bigger cut of ad revenues, and offering the ability to distribute their videos across Yahoo's online properties. Google currently takes 45 percent of ad revenues generated from views and clicks via YouTube creators' uploaded content, a chunk that leaves those creators, and multichannel networks they've partnered with, squabbling over the remaining percentage. In response to this sore spot among creators, Yahoo says it will split revenues more favorably. It's also offering the option of a fixed ad rate that is reportedly 50 to 100 percent higher than YouTube's average net ad rate, according to Ad Age. Yahoo will sell pre-roll ads that run before the uploaded videos. Creators are also not bound by exclusivity requirements, as they are at some MCNs and, in certain cases, at indie video site Vimeo. They can upload their video on both Yahoo's planned service and on YouTube. It's not all roses, though. YouTube reportedly planned to announce the new service during its upfront presentation to advertisers in April, but contract negotiations with creators tapped to inaugurate the service stalled due to questions around content ownership. The user-generated content service is another piece of the odd online video puzzle Yahoo is assembling. It's continuing to acquire online video properties--most recently, a rumor cropped up that it would purchase RayV, adding it to over three dozen small acquisitions the company has made since 2012. It's still negotiating with News Distribution Network to add the white-label news service to its portfolio, bulking up its online news strategy. Yahoo has a stake in the original content game, with two new original series planned for this year, and it's trying to grab a piece of YouTube's huge music video market, reworking a deal with Vevo to bring live concert events and original music programming to Yahoo Screen. For more:
- Ad Age has this story Related articles:
Yahoo may add RayV to online video acquisition pile
AOL, Yahoo announce new original series, bank on star power
Yahoo, Vevo try again, expanding video licensing and promotion Read more about: YouTube
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The number of online video viewers keeps growing steadily, and those who have completely cut the cord from pay TV are happy with their decision, a pair of newly released reports from comScore and nScreen Media reveal. But pay-TV providers are battling the trend. The number of unique viewers of online video websites grew steadily between March and April, from 181.9 million to 186.1 million, comScore reports. Google Sites topped the list as usual, driven mainly by YouTube views, followed by Facebook and AOL. Yahoo Sites and NDN round out the top five online video websites. Additionally, cord cutters are overwhelmingly happy about their choice to stop paying for cable and go to over-the-top and over-the-air entertainment solutions--87 percent told an nScreen Media poll they were at least somewhat happy with their decision, and 37 percent said they would never go back to pay TV, Multichannel News reports. However, pay-TV operators are holding the line on subscribers, DSL Reports' Karl Bode wrote in an article citing a Leichtman Research Group report. The top 13 pay-TV providers added 260,000 video subscribers in the first quarter of 2014, compared to 230,000 during the same period last year. It's a figure that Bode suggests that "while growth is fairly flat, traditional cable TV operators still don't yet have much to worry about when it comes to cord cutting." Pay-TV subscriber losses were about 40,000 over the period, the LRG report said, which were nearly identical to the year previous--suggesting that operators are working harder to hang onto subscribers. For more:
- Multichannel News has this story
- DSL Reports has this story
- Clickz has this story
- comScore has this release Related articles:
Dish Network adds Netflix to subscriber bonus package
Cord cutters dominate broadband usage
Report: Canadians slicing the TV cord on pace with U.S. counterparts
Subscribers increasingly fleeing pay-TV, report says Read more about: YouTube
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WWE began thinking about a bigger online presence more than three years ago, an idea that came to fruition as WWE Network, its hugely popular subscription video on demand (SVOD) and live streaming service. But the company's shift from pay-per-view to online has had a few challenges, Chief Strategy & Financial Officer George Barrios told investors.  | | Barrios (Image source: WWE) | "It's a significant pivot in the business model," Barrios said during a presentation at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Telecom conference in Boston. "We have transitioned essentially the core growth platform to a subscription video service."
WWE's move proved popular with the audience, as its $9.95 per month service signed on more than 667,000 subscribers in its first six weeks, particularly around its premier Wrestlemania event. But investors haven't warmed to it as quickly: WWE's stock dove more than 40 percent on Friday after the company announced a licensing deal with NBCUniversal that disappointed investors, and revealed that it wouldn't make up the lost profits from its pay-per-view business until 2015. "Doing that kind of pivot within a public company construct makes the communication issue a challenge. We have to be as transparent as possible. You can't underestimate the (impact of) the shift," he said. WWE remains optimistic about its online network's potential. Following the two most profitable years in the company's history, 2009 and 2010, WWE went into an "investment phase," Barrios said, looking at the potential profits involved in two key business strategies. The company looked at launching an online network that would monetize its social media and digital media assets, and at renegotiating its four largest rights deals, he said. By 2013 the company had locked in those rights deals and felt that the profit potential made the shift to online video a risk worth taking. But to surpass its 2012 OIBDA (operating income before depreciation and amortization) high of around $63 million, WWE needs to continue adding subscribers. It's well on its way with nearly 700,000 signed up, but it needs to double that number to match what it once made solely through its pay-per-view broadcasts. "Break even for us on a global basis … is about 1.3 or 1.4 million subscribers," Barrios said. "Our pay-per-view used to generate on average about $40 million. … With that 1.3 or 1.4 million we think we can generate about that same $40 million of OIBDA." WWE's 2015 outlook is much more favorable, as it predicted growth in its subscriber base to as much as 2.5 million, which would drive net income somewhere between $57 million and $105 million. For more:
- listen to the webcast
- Bloomberg has this story
- The Motley Fool has this post Related articles:
WWE stock slumps on pay-per-view report
WWE Online, Twitch close in on Amazon in bandwidth growth
WWE online passes 667K subscribers in first 6 weeks
Multiscreen over-the-top video to dominate NAB 2014 Read more about: wrestlemania, investor conference
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Subscribers to Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH) who opt for its Hopper DVR will get an added bonus: six free months of Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), thanks to a deal the satellite operator signed with the SVOD provider. However, those subscribers won't find Netflix bundled into their DVRs, Variety reports. Unlike the recent deals Netflix signed with several cable operators including Suddenlink and Atlantic Broadband, whose subscribers can now access the service directly from a TiVo-enabled DVR, Dish Network subs will need to access their subscription through a streaming device like a Roku box or Chromecast dongle, or via a smart TV. "This is a straightforward promotional offer where Dish is offering several months of Netflix to its customers," a spokesperson for Netflix told FierceOnlineVideo. Dish didn't respond to a request for comment by press time. Customers will have until July 31, 2014, to take advantage of the offer. Once they subscribe to a qualifying plan that includes a Hopper DVR and sign a two-year contract, they'll receive a promotion code between six and 10 weeks later that will enable them to sign up for the free Netflix subscription. It's an interesting promotional twist for Dish Network, which has attempted for years to offer its own subscription VOD service. Most recently, the provider inked a deal with Walt Disney Co. which gives it the rights to offer ESPN, Disney Channel and other networks through its own over-the-top service, one which is expected to launch later this year. However, analysts discussing Dish's moves, along with those of other potential OTT players at a panel during The Cable Show, felt the business models around OTT delivery are still unclear. "I don't look at Netflix as a competitor to pay-TV," Benjamin Swinburne, managing director at Morgan Stanley, said during the session. "But an OTT-rich bundle of services at a lower price point can be a game changer." In 2011 Dish bought ailing video rental giant Blockbuster for $320 million and refocused the brand into an online video streaming and DVD-by-mail rental service, attempting to compete directly with Netflix. But the idea of going head-to-head with the SVOD juggernaut was largely abandoned by fall 2012. Dish announced in late 2013 that it would close all 300 remaining retail Blockbuster locations and lay off 2,800 employees. It also planned to end the DVD-by-mail service, but Blockbuster@Home remains a big part of its subscriber marketing strategy, figuring prominently on its special offers page as part of a three-month free promotion. For more:
- see this Variety story
- Reuters has this story on Blockbuster closings Related articles:
Analysts: Watch out for Dish's OTT ambitions, but business model is unclear
Dish Network folding Blockbuster retail and DVD business
Dish scoops up Blockbuster for $228 million Read more about: Netflix
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The online content race is continuing to heat up, as Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) debuted the first of its planned kids' series, Tumble Leaf, on Prime Instant Video. The e-commerce giant also made available the first batch of HBO series, including The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire and others, through its exclusive deal with the programmer. Meantime, Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) is on track to premiere the second season of Ricky Gervais' original series Derek on May 30, and the second season of its hit series Orange Is The New Black next Friday, June 6. Tumble Leaf is targeted toward pre-school aged children; the first six episodes are now available to Prime members. And two more childrens' series are on tap for this summer. On June 27, Creative Galaxy debuts, offering an "interactive art adventure" for preschoolers; while on July 25, Annedroids, a live-action adventure series for kids aged 4 to 7, will premiere. Amazon's slowly increasing cache of original content has a way to go to catch up to Netflix, but its series debut signals the provider is serious about offering content that will draw viewers to its fold and away from other online video competitors. Both are bringing more original series to bear. Netflix is filming the highly anticipated Marco Polo as well as an as-yet-unnamed Spanish-language sports comedy. And Amazon, which launched Alpha House and Betas last year, recently announced six more original series geared toward adults. Release dates aren't yet available. And other online video competitors are hoping to close the gap with their own original content. Hulu recently hired Jenny Wall away from Netflix, clearly hoping her marketing experience will boost its planned original content. The provider has also brought aboard executives with experience in key areas--such as Warner Horizon TV veteran Craig Erwich and former Disney distribution exec Tim Connolly. It also plans to triple its spending on original content. Yahoo and AOL have both announced original series as well. For more:
- see this Amazon release
- and this Netflix release Related articles:
Hulu hires Netflix's Jenny Wall as marketing chief
Hulu brings aboard Netflix veteran Wall to lead marketing efforts
Netflix wrangles staying in line with revenue as it expands further into Europe Read more about: Hulu
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