Category Archives: Laura Frankel
Do We Really Need Another Movie Channel?
The latest from Laura Frankel of KIT digital Content Solutions Someone once said to me that there is not enough revenue to support all the content that exists today; not to mention what is coming tomorrow. A statistic that I tend to believe is that we have over 15,000 channels world-wide (including local). And, what is crazy is new cable channels keep popping up. Epix launched several years ago as Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate believed that we need another movie channel. Sony launched Sony Movie Channel in 2010 because Sony also believes that we don’t have enough movie channels. Well of course what is really driving this is the desire to have a channel to monetize their content further. But as I have said many times, what will drive subscriptions are strong originals…HBO has “True Blood” and “Game of Thrones” and many others ; Starz has “Boss” and a few new originals; and Showtime has “Homeland” and “Dexter” among others. … Continue reading
When DirecTV Drops your Favorite Channels
The latest from Laura Frankel at KIT digital Content Solutions So the latest dispute between a content owner and a distributor is playing out with the DirecTV/ Viacom squabble. It may resolve itself before you see this; but even if it does, what I find fascinating with all this is how each party reacts to the issue and defends their position as an advocate to the consumer. DirecTV is blaming Viacom for the loss of the channels saying that they are demanding too much money and are not open to an “a la carte” approach that DirecTV proposed to protect its customers’ interests. DirecTV says that they reached out to Viacom and did not hear back and to avoid being in breach of contract had to pull the channels. Viacom says that they only asked for an increase of “pennies” per sub and that DirecTV pulled the channels before negotiations were complete. They are even disagreeing around the number of … Continue reading
Do Consumers Really Know What They Want?
This week brings another update from our Content Lead, Laura Frankel. I wanted to share with you a study that I got as part of being a member of CTAM. Check it out here. As with all research data, one needs to overlay the information with what they know and are learning from their own consumer base. For me, this data rings true… not necessarily the segmentation piece; but the overlap of needs and behaviors that shows that about 25% of the US population has cut the cord or was never attached to the cord in the first place. The Omnivores (who get content from a variety of sources) maybe the one behavior segment that is still attached to the cord, but are not tied to it. I want to add one comment on segmentation before I discuss the findings on what elements around the TV experience matter most. I have been in the media biz for over 20 … Continue reading