In May, Twitch, an Amazon-owned video game service, began an 18-day transmission of all 886 episodes of the popular public TV show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and even showed episodes that only aired once. Meanwhile, Verizon is paying the NFL more than $20 million to stream the September 24 game in London between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Baltimore Ravens to all Verizon platforms: AOL, FiOS, go90 and Complex Networks (digital video co-owned with Hearst Corp.). If the deal goes through, Yahoo CBS-TV, which would normally carry the game, will only show it on its local affiliates in the two teams’ hometowns. Sky Sports will carry the game in the UK and Verizon will offer streams to other international online audiences. The streamed game is part of the NFL’s exploration of how to deliver live video when its broadcast contracts come up for review in a few years. Amazon is paying $50 million to stream 10 games through its Prime system this year, and Twitter streamed 10 NFL games last season.
Sports events, once the crown jewels of live telecasting, are only part of the live streaming juggernaut. Hulu’s new $40-per-month streaming service includes channels like Food Network, Travel Channel and HGTV that are packaged into cable’s big bundles. “By bringing together thousands of live and on-demand libraries of shows and movies, Hulu can now be a viewer’s primary source of television,” CEO Mike Hopkins explains. For an extra $4 monthly, Hulu offers a commercial-free version, and a $19.99-per-month package which includes a cloud DVR and multi-screen access. Even when added together, those fees are lower than a typical cable TV subscription.
YouTube Live is attracting vast audiences with a different approach. There were 6.9 billion views during the first quarter of 2017, according to Tubular Labs’ latest State of Online Video report. Gaming content (eSports) accounts for 53 percent of YouTube TV’s live programming, while technology (15 percent) and news (12 percent) draw substantial audiences. In the spring, YouTube opened streaming capabilities to any user with 1,000 subscribers, encouraging corporate or private creators to set up their own programs.
The Digital Entertainment Group’s (DEG) recent study shows a steep decline in purchase and rental of entertainment content from 2015 to 2017. Analysts believe that DEG’s tally of $1.8 billion spent on SVOD during the first three months of this year may be undercounted.
Live streaming is reinventing the TV business, even as traditional broadcast and cable companies prepare to use new tools to compete in the world of 2020 television.
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