Disney Plus is off to a strong start. In its inaugural quarter, the subscription video on demand (SVOD) service brought in 10 million subscribers on the first day and 26.5 million subscribers over Q4, Disney said during its Q4 earnings Tuesday. By contrast, twelve-year-old Hulu, which is majority owned by Disney, totals 30.4 million users. […]
“Let it go, let it go” is the theme song for any advertisers who might’ve had their hearts set on an ad-supported option for Disney+. There won’t be one, Disney revealed during an investor day event on Thursday in Los Angeles. Disney’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming service, slated to launch in the United States on Nov. […]
Carving out a spot in the ever-crowded direct-to-consumer streaming market is an expensive proposition – and Disney is ready to spend. DTC is “a bet on the future of this business,” Disney CEO Bob Iger told investors on Tuesday, the equivalent of pouring money into building a theme park. “We are deploying capital so that the […]
In February, you can watch the Super Bowl on your phone with the Yahoo Sports app. Last year, Verizon purchased the mobile and tablet rights to NFL games for Yahoo Sports. Live NFL coverage attracted 4.3 million people to download the Yahoo Sports app this season, in addition to 1.1 million people who downloaded the […]
After years of sitting on the programmatic-video sidelines, ESPN is tagging in. The sports network started selling video programmatically for the first time this year. Travis Howe, SVP of platform ad sales strategy, is running the playbook. “When I looked at the media landscape, there were very few companies that were not only sitting at […]
Disney’s bet on BAMTech could signal big advancements for its data and platform strategy. The streaming video provider, once majority-owned by MLB Advanced Media, proved such a valuable investment to Disney that it acquired an additional 42% stake in the company for $1.6 billion in August. It previously owned a 33% stake in BAMTech. “Disney […]
Turns out owning your own cable channel might not be the most efficient way to attract an audience. Poker Central folded its channel last December. Now the network is experimenting with new ways of distributing its content, including partnering with ESPN and NBC Sports and OTT services like Amazon-owned Twitch. It also launched its own […]
Pizza Hut set a record during last year’s Super Bowl when it sold $12 million worth of pizza through digital channels. This year, it hopes to set a new one by doubling down on traditional and digital media – early and often. “People are thinking about what they’re doing for Super Bowl Sunday earlier now,” said […]
Turner-owned Bleacher Report is going all-in on social platforms because the chance to set roots in social broadcasting before ESPN does, whether or not reliable platform monetization is a mirage, is too tempting to ignore. Bleacher Report’s future success will “key off our ability to leverage the social graph,” said Rich Calacci, Bleacher Report’s CRO […]
Server-side ad insertion (SSAI), also known as ad stitching, is emerging as a key method for video publishers to mitigate ad blocking and boost video playback across devices. Though the technique is not new, industry insiders say there is massive growth potential as consumers stream more video content and new over-the-top devices enter the fray. […]
