Who is the third largest pay channel television distributor in the United States?
This would be YouTube with 8 million subscribers. It is only topped by Comcast and Charter Communications.
Consider that for a second. YouTube is surpassed all but the largest cable operators in the U.S. It is also the number one streaming service. This is very impressive consider it is a relatively late entrant into these markets.
From Nexttv:
YouTube TV, the fast-growing virtual multichannel video programming distributor, is expected to post a profit for the first time in 2024, according to analyst Michael Nathanson of MoffettNathanson.
With a growing baseline, what is YouTube going to do next?
This particular service is losing money. However, projections are that it will add 1.5 million subscribers per year, hitting 12 million in 2026. At this point, the company expects roughly $600 million off this venture.
What is going to entice people to sign up?
YouTube is going after sports. Live events are still the draw. The company already has NFL Ticket. It is looking to add to its offering in this area.
We already see Amazon and Apple involved with MLB and the former is looking like it will have the NBA during the next contract.
While the rest of the entertainment industry is facing many different threats, including AI, live events are resilient.
YouTube, like many others realize this.
YouTube is the dominate player here. However, Tubi is making some moves.
The little known channel is hot on the heels of Disney. Ironic that Tubi is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who purchased it for $400 million after selling much of his Fox empire to Disney for $70 billion.
This service is seeing some positive results.
Today, Tubi announced that the number of hours it streamed content jumped 36% in the third quarter (ending March 31, 2024) during its earnings call today. Viewing time jumped 36%, and revenue also went up 22% during that period.
A jump like that in the next few quarters and we could see Tubi ahead of Disney+. Tubi is an ad supported platform with no subscription. That separates it from many of the other services.
What also should not be lost is the other services are now adding advertising. They moved away from that model believing streaming was the next golden goose, only to return to advertising.
I am in the camp that fragmentation is the future of entertainment. We have not even begun to see Web 3.0's entry into this field.
That said, the players are rapidly changing. Both Hollywood and New York (my terming of television even though much is produced in California) are going to see a monumental shift as customers turn from the traditional realm.
What we are going to see is alternative services popping up. Some of these will be from major corporations with others being start ups.
The tools that are rolling out is not changing content creation. It is completely obliterating it. Individuals are no longer going to be content creators. Instead, they will be their own media companies.
As we can see, the distribution channels are really being muddied. Who is going to be the dominant players in a few years? We can see how the "pipe" is still controlled by the cable entities. With the likes of Starlink being rolled out in many areas, how will that alter things. The same holds true for Blue Origin's Internet service.
We are watching one of the greatest transformations of an established industry in a relatively short period of time. Things are accelerating to the point where the major players, within all parts of the industry are feeling it.
How is this going to progress as we move forward?
Guessing that takes a crystal ball. What we can state is the disruption is just getting started.
