Comcast’s purchase of the 49 percent of NBCUniversal that it didn’t already own was expected to take several years, but the cable provider said Tuesday it has bought the rest of the company for $16.7 billion. Read more »
For the first time ever, the number of U.S. households paying for TV service will go down. The news comes as a tipping point in consumers’ struggles to break away from a TV industry that forces them to buy bundles of channels. Read more »
After more than a week of public squabbling and dark channels, DirecTV and Viacom have a new licensing deal that restores all 26 of the channels — and leaves open the possibility that premium channel Epix will show up on the satellite operator. Read more »
For the first time in the digital age one U.S. network has complete rights across platforms. ESPN will live stream 800 hours+ on broadband network ESPN3, plus ESPN and ESPN2 via Watch ESPN, And it’s only for subscribers. Tennis Everywhere, as long as someone pays. Read more »
A survey of the top 10 publicly traded cable, satellite and telco TV services providers reveals video subscriber growth of only around 494,000 in the first quarter. First-quarter subscriber growth among these companies was over 900,000 just four years ago. Read more »
Belying several earlier research studies, which said growth of U.S. multi-channel subscriptions has slowed significantly but not stopped, Nielsen’s latest “Cross-Platform Report” says the number of U.S. homes paying a multi-channel provider for TV services last year actually declined by 1.5 million, or about 1.5 percent. Read more »
With initiatives like TV Everywhere and broadband usage caps, is the cable industry biting the hands of the streaming video companies that are driving its most vibrant prospect for growth? Why the cable industry might consider enabling Netflix and YouTube, not hindering them. Read more »
NimbleTV, a New York start-up, is looking to make good on the promise of TV Everywhere by offering an online TV platform that allows a customer of a paid TV subscription plan to get their content streamed to them wherever they are. Read more at GigaOM »
A new study predicts $200 bills for the pay-TV portion of your cable bill by 2020. Here’s how the cable companies are using both a carrot and a stick to keep pay TV necessary in an IP age. Can government or consumers stop them? Read more »
