At least 150 million subscription VOD accounts will be canceled globally next year, said a Deloitte report Wednesday, projecting a 30% industry churn rate. But more subscriptions will be added than dropped, the average number of subscriptions per person will rise, and many subscribers who cancel may re-up, it said. Analysts Chris Arkenberg and Andrew Evans called the trends signs of a “competitive and maturing SVOD market.” Retention will be more important than ever, they said: Churn costs SVOD providers up to $200 per subscriber in acquisition costs, and those could increase as the number of SVOD services grows and the pool of new consumers declines. Four in five U.S. households had a paid SVOD subscription this year, with about 35% churn, said the analysts. While providers are spending “billions of dollars” to shore up their content with top-tier programming, “consumers will only take so many price hikes,” they said, which has led to a rise in less-expensive or free ad-supported offerings.
FuboTV completed its buy of Edisn.ai (see 2111100003), a computer vision platform company based in Bangalore, India, it said Wednesday. Edisn.ai technology can recognize and track key individuals and objects in live video feeds, such as athletes, actors, brand logos and products, and it will help fuboTV improve its interactive live TV streaming experience through better play-by-play identification and frame-accurate video-data synchronization, it said. It will also enable the virtual MVPD to expand its ad tech capabilities, such as better detection of ad breaks and targeted contextual advertising. Edisn.ai technology will create the potential for integrated e-commerce to allow viewers to buy what they see on screen, fubo said. Edisn.ai CEO Ashok Karanth will join fuboTV as general manager-fuboTV India, along with about 20 data scientists and engineers. Terms weren’t disclosed.
ViacomCBS will sell its 55-acre Los Angeles studio facility, CBS Studio Center, and associated business to a partnership formed by Hackman Capital Partners and Square Mile Capital Management for about $1.85 billion, said ViacomCBS Tuesday. The proceeds will go to growth priorities such as streaming, it said, saying it will enter a long-term leaseback of a broadcast facility there. It said the deal is expected to close by year's end.
Netflix and Spotify are collaborating to launch the Netflix Hub on Spotify, offering Netflix fans “the full audio-streaming experience,” said the companies Tuesday: Within two weeks of Squid Game’s mid-September debut on Netflix, Spotify listeners “had created more than 22,500 unique themed playlists.”
Wanting to “surprise and delight” Netflix subscribers “by pushing the boundaries of visual effects” was the streaming platform’s rationale for its plans to acquire Scanline VFX, “one of the most creative and innovative VFX studios,” blogged Vice President-Studio Operations Amy Reinhard Monday. The transaction is expected to close in Q1. “Scanline is known for its complex, photorealistic effects and expertise in virtual production,” said Reinhard. Netflix will invest in Scanline’s “pipeline, infrastructure and workforce,” she said.
The FCC scheduled a virtual forum on improving accessibility in online video programming for Dec. 2 at 1 p.m. EST, said a public notice Friday. It will “explore the state of closed captioning availability for online video programming” and discuss possible accessibility enhancements, prospective voluntary efforts, and FCC authority to adopt new rules. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel will speak, along with panels of consumer groups and executives from Amazon, Netflix and Comcast's NBCUniversal.
Crackle Plus will use Gracenote metadata and content identifiers to make Crackle, Popcornflix and Chicken Soup for the Soul streaming service titles more searchable and discoverable by viewers across streaming, MVPD, connected TV and digital search platforms, said the companies Thursday. The collaboration also calls for Crackle Plus to work with Nielsen's Gracenote on distribution of free ad-supported streaming channels starting with the upcoming Crackle and Popcornflix launches, it said.
Apple Music is now available on LG smart TVs with webOS 4.0 and later, it said Wednesday.
SoundHound will go public after its merger agreement with special purpose acquisition company Archimedes is complete in Q1, said the voice AI platform Tuesday. SoundHound shares will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker SOUN after the transaction closes, it said. Voice AI adoption “is rapidly expanding, with the market opportunity expected to reach $160 billion by 2026,” it said. SoundHound’s technology "powers the voice experience" in millions of products, said the company. Vizio’s first voice remote was based on SoundHound’s AI natural language platform (see 2106020050).
Dish Network and Sinclair signed a multiyear carriage agreement that keeps Sinclair's 144 local stations on Dish's lineup in 86 markets, and its Tennis Channel on Dish and Dish's Sling TV, said Dish Monday.