The Television world has changed. Media meltdown from the markets.

Investors this week are re-assessing the value of TV.

The TV business is in trouble on two fronts - Firstly from disruptive technology that's ad-free (Netflix) and therefore, declining audiences (bringing less Advertising) and now, from the markets. A perfect storm.

Shares in Viacom, Time Warner, CBS, Fox were all hit last week, greater than the general market declines. Viacom for example, was -25% down, having reported declines in revenue, profit and income.

Disney, who are very diversified with blockbuster movies, even took a hit because of their dependence on TV. Time Warner took a hit because of its loss of subscribers/viewers. Yet, Netflix audiences surge to nearly 50 million in the US.

The problem with traditional TV continues, as viewers have now more (and better) options. 

Whether that's online broadcasting (Netflix, Amazon) or Apps (snapchat, vine) or spending time on Social Media (Twitter, Facebook) or Second screen viewing whilst watching TV - they're simply watching less. That means in turn, less advertising (because advertising money follows audience) and less subscribers (I use it less so why should I pay for it).

Audience ratings of prime shows (which you'll see peppered in this blog) are in steep decline with Nielsen reporting that 25 of the top 35 channels attracted lower audiences in 2015. Shows are in decline too. That's despite the TV industry trying to convince us otherwise through spurious data analysis.

According to The FT, "Wall Street has belatedly realised that the television world has changed. It is unlikely that the latest media meltdown will be the last" and indeed, that reporting will also be self-prophecy.

Of course too, TV is being replaced. By online digital video, something which Streamabout knows so well.

Superbowl Airtime nearly sold out.

Superbowl airtime on CBS is nearly sold out.
At 5 million usd for 30 seconds, that's a bonanza for CBS.

And it shows just how important the Superbowl is in American Psyche. 

Nevermind the audience numbers, the brand association is extremely positive allowing the kudos of being part of the party. Of course too, it allows a whole creative opportunity online to get engagement for the "best Superbowl Ad" and commentary.

But it's not cheap....

US Supreme Court will decide the future of Television. Today.

The US Supreme Court might decide the future of Television, today.

Aereo, a start-up, rebroadcasts TV content like Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS on the basis that those signals are free and in turn it charges customers to watch them (about 8 usd a month).

Subscribers can watch, record and see a lot of content on their various devices.

But cable companies like Time Warner and Comcast, pay those broadcasters billions, to be allowed re-broadcast their content. They in turn sell it on to consumers as part of a cable subscription (like Sky).

Broadcasters have sued Aereo on the basis of copyright infringement. However, if Aereo's model is found to be legal, this will be a dramatic day for cable companies and for traditional TV broadcasters.

If Aereo loses, it might have to shut down. If it wins....re-broadcasting free signals is now going to expand and perhaps broadcasters will be forced to do it themselves and by-pass cable.

For example, NFL (America Football) would overnight be "free to air" through re-broadcasters online. 

But of course, the bigger picture is copyright and as to who owns it and what rights the copyright holder has. 

However, the even hugely bigger picture is that TV Broadcasters have now to resort to legal actions to defend their business. Always the sure sign that technology has overtaken them. And it has.

CBSNews.com to re-create JFK assassination as it happened, 50 years ago, on Social Media.

Lovely idea from CBSNews.com.

To mark the assassination of JFK on November 22, 1963 (yep, 50 years ago) they will be streaming the exact news, as it happened, minute-by-minute. So a complete re-creation of the tragic day.

We all know the iconic Walter Cronkite reporting on the day itself for CBS. (note the report from Dan Rather here!).

They'll continue it for 4 days to include the funeral itself and I would think, the swearing in of LBJ on the plane with Jackie Kennedy (to become the 36th President). 

If you want to read a great book about it, look no further than Robert Caro's 'The Passage of Power' possibly the best book I have ever read. Or one of them (because his previous 3 in the series were just as good!). 

CBS will also be live tweeting as it happens too and using Facebook and Instagram. 

Lovely idea to remind you that CBS were at the forefront of news and still are. And a great use of Social Media.

You'll find it here http://www.cbsnews.com/news/schedule-of-cbsnewscoms-live-stream-of-jfk-assassination-broadcast-coverage/ from 630pm GMT.

Publishers, Music Companies, Mobile Companies and more are being rescued by internet companies they tried to stop.

All the talk of the Internet wreaking havoc on traditional media companies is changing. In fact, it's helping them!!

I've stolen this from a great Article in the current August 17th edition of  The Economist (cover above) which is well worth the read, called "digital pennies pile up at last".

The reputable PWC reckons revenue for online media and entertainment will rise by 13% each year for the next 5. So the web is growing the entertainment business.

Music, which record companies legally, stupidly, fought internet pioneers for years, is actually showing +.2% growth - the first time it's growing in a decade. Which means the internet increases royalty payments to....the very same record companies! 

And that's their IFPI trade group numbers. So the web is coming to their rescue as their CD and DVD sales collapse.

Online radio and music streaming (Spotify etc) brought in a billion dollars in 2012. 

Mobile phone companies are benefitting too, by selling data to access these services whilst their call rates are going into a death spiral. 

YouTube are now paying small copyright fees too on music downloads.

Netflix, Hulu and Amazon are of course buying rights to stream content online from traditional broadcasters. That's about 3 billion Dollars a year and rising. Online licensing accounts now for a third of the revenue growth at traditional CBS.

Book sales are growing again by about 14% per year on Ebooks means bigger profits for publishers and for authors. Yes, it has meant the death of bookshops but in return, accessibility to books is far greater especially amongst the young and far more of us are reading.

Digital newspapers subscriptions are working to a point too. The New York Times has nearly 700,000 (!) online subscribers. 

The surge in smartphones, in tablets, in ipads coupled with the extension of broadband speeds are driving this growth. EMarketer, a US research firm, thinks Americans will spend more time online this year than on TV. And because people want content, 'on the go', they're becoming more prepared to pay for it.

It's a fairly extraordinary turnaround that Internet companies are now becoming the saviour of traditional media companies such as publishers, record labels and TV broadcasters who tried so desperately to stop it. Instead of embracing it, encouraging it, because better access means higher sales, they were afraid of something they didn't understand.

They'd have sold more far sooner, if they had.

Ad revenue is bypassing Ad Agencies as it goes online. Like the book publishers, the record companies of old, Agencies are pooh-poohing it instead of selling it, embracing it. There's lessons here.

Like the peasant's in Lamb's essay, we know not how to roast pork, other than to burn the house down.

Interesting isn't it? 
You have to laugh though. Irony of ironies.

Superbowl Sunday. 36% of TV viewers will have a second screen open. 52% will follow the game on Social Media. 3.7 million for 30 seconds of airtime. And a lot of chicken wings.

This weekend is 'Superbowl Sunday', (49ers V Ravens) the final of the NFL and traditionally, the most expensive airtime in the world. 3.7 million usd for 30 seconds in fact.

What's interesting too, is that the Coaches on both teams are brothers. So it's Brother Versus Brother and Dad will therefore win whatever happens.

It was a commercial in the Superbowl that launched the Mac in 1984.

However, interesting research today by 'Century 21', an advertiser in The Superbowl, which showed that 88% of viewers will watch it from home (as distinct from the Bar or elsewhere). The main reason is being able to replay - a key issue in American Football more than any other game.

The other main reason is that 72% also liked the idea of having access to food and drink easily.

However, yet again we're seeing 36% saying they'll have a 'second screen' open during the game. Presumably to follow the Social Media patter or indeed, to watch it more closely. 52% are going to follow the game on Social Media.

Second screen viewing is now a part of TV consumption from a mountain of research and notably during Ad breaks as viewers turn to watch their laptops/tablets. Critical for advertising that's so expensive if viewers turn to the laptop during the break.

And the sophistication now of Social Media means there's plenty of distractions to entice them away. CBS is the main broadcaster and already, spots are fully sold and Social Media is getting the spillover.

Bud, Audi, Chrysler, Coke, Doritos, Century 21, Go Daddy, Kia, Hyundai, Ford, Mercedes, M&M's, Oreo, Samsung, Pepsi, Blackberry, Taco Bell, Tide, Toyota, VW, Disney and others are all lined up as advertisers in the broadcast.

And each one has it linked through a huge effort on Social Media - notably Audi and Bud. It's real integration of the media.

On Facebook, Twitter, Google+, analysis shows that 49er fans are more likely to share and be active than Baltimore Raven fans based on season games. 

One wonders if they'll ever be watched on traditional TV in the future and not directly online as internet ready TV's get into the mass market next year. Then you'll need just the one screen.

Television broadcasting takes another hit at The Republican Convention. Google Hangouts are another nail in the broadcaster coffin.

Another nail arrives in the coffin of Television news broadcasting.
It's called Google hangouts.

What once was the exclusive domain of the Television networks, is now fully open to citizens and with encouragement from Google, they used it at length from The Republican Party Convention. Without the need to call "lights, action, make up", a whole new breed of citizens reported back live about the convention.

No trucks, no cables and no, media types.

Standing in front of small cameras or smartphones they did their report, their piece to camera, just in the style of Sky News, Fox or CBS. Some perhaps were a little unpolished - but that will come in time and some broadcasts were a bit, well, "fuzzy" but so too will that be corrected.

We are so used to Skype and dodgy cameraphone pics, that perhaps there is an honesty about this type of broadcasting. The fact that it's not manufactured, means it's real.

However, in return, what we got was honest news from honest attendees and the start of a technical revolution where "ordinary" people will become adapt at sending pictures back live via streaming networks. And easy it is.

Indeed. Google I suppose, is now a TV network in its own right with video "journalists" literally in every street, every home. Whilst the quality might not just be up to standard yet, it will be and one wonders how traditional TV stations are going to compete with this?

The answer is they can't unless they got involved in creating their own citizen network which they haven't and they won't. They see the intenet as a threat and so they pooh-pooh it and run away whilst their newspaper competitors embrace it and jump onboard. It is newspapers that will be the new TV.

Whilst Google isn't a "content company" (like Streamabout), it is a network that facilitates the distribution of content and although not quite "there yet" it's well on the way. The Huffington Post Live is one of the great early adopters of this type of hangout news.  And I blogged here about that recently http://streamabout.blogspot.ie/2012/08/tv-broadcasters-watch-out-newspapers.html

See what you think and then ponder the future for TV news.
Then think about Netflix and the future of TV entertainment.
Then think about Apple TV and the future of TV companies.
And wonder how they let it all get past them.