Netflix is Cannibalizing Video on Demand

According to researchers at Parks Research, Netflix is gaining momentum, especially in terms of the value-price relationship. While Netflix doesn't lead in terms of picture and sound quality, it clearly is viewed as providing better value for money.

TiVo, PayPal, TRA Tighten Link Between Ad Message and Purchase

The traditional quip about advertising is that "half of it is wasted; I just don't know which half." But the entire movement of advertising these days is towards targeting, tracking and measurement of return on that investment.

Now TiVo, PayPal and TRA will be working together to provide not only a tighter link between message and action, but also a better way to measure those results. TiVo is working with PayPal so users can easily click to buy products they see in TV ads.

Users who like an advertised product can do so with a few clicks of their remote after they set up their accounts. Such ads are not ones that typically run during broadcasts but instead pop up during various interactions such as when shows are paused.

Separately, TiVo has purchased TRA, which supplies a platform that directly links information from the same households as to what viewers watch and what they buy. The idea is for PayPal to use TRA to matche television exposures from 1.5 million TV homes with specific purchase transactions, which then are anonymized.

The result, again, should be better data on advertising effectiveness.

Viacom and DirecTV Eventually Will Settle; Will Consumers Win?

The contract dispute between DirecTV and Viacom that has at least temporarily yanked Viacom content from DirecTV customers will be solved, eventually. What isn't so clear is whether customers will win. Viacom wants to be paid more; DirecTV wants to pay less. Any eventual settlement will result in DirecTV paying more than at present, though not as much as Viacom wants.

But prices will rise. And that means consumer retail prices will rise, as well. And that is the strategic problem TV distributors have been able to resolve. Programmers understandably want to be paid more. But those desires are meeting a growing wall of opposition from consumers, some of whom just don't want the product at all, and others who want only some of the programming.

To be sure, TV distributors are trying to change the "value" part of the value-price equation by adding additional viewing options on PCs, tablets and smart phones. But "price," in an absolute sense, is becoming a bigger problem every year.

One potential solution is for distributors to pay lower fees, one way or the other, either by offering fewer channels, or paying networks less. The former is more likely than the latter, though.

That is why the preferred network practice of requiring distributors to take a "bundle" of channels, rather than allowing distributors to buy single channels, is a key issue. As consumers indicate they want a la carte options, so do video distributors want a la carte.

No matter how the contracts eventually are structured, consumers will "lose," to the extent that prices will climb, as DirecTV is unlikely to want to do without the Viacom networks forever, and will wind up paying more to Viacom for the right to carry the channels.

It always is possible that this particular set of negotiations is the one that will break the recent industry practices by starting to unravel the way networks get carriage on the distribution networks. Someday it will happen. Whether it happens here, or not, is the issue.

Will AT&T Charge Users of FaceTime?

AT&T appears to be testing a method to charge Apple FaceTime users when they use mobile network bandwidth, 9to5mac.com reports. There is no charge when users are on Wi-Fi networks.

Of course, in some cases that will add value for end users. Nor, it should be noted, is such charging a formal violation of existing network neutrality rules, which apply only to fixed network broadband access.

What Mobile Service Providers Can, and Have Done, To Protect Voice and Messaging Revenues

For many years and in many countries, SMS has been an excellent source of revenue for mobile operators, often generating almost 20 percent of revenue, according to Strand Consult. But those days are almost over, many would suggest. The question is whether there is anything at all that  mobile service providers can do about the situation.

In part, the answer always is to find another new revenue source to replace a source that is in decline. The other, short term answer is to try and shore up the value of the endangered product, or change the way the product is packaged and priced. Service providers will probably try to accomplish both tasks: finding replacement sources for the long term and shoring up the value proposition in the short term.

Data Tsunami Could Wipe Out All Telco Profits

Telecom service provider “costs per gigabyte must decrease by 90 percent every three to four years” just to keep service provider revenues and costs in the same relationship as they are now, according to Norman Fekrat, IBM Global Business Services partner and VP. That illustrates the magnitude of changes many believe must be made in the global telecom business.

And the bad news, says Fekrat, is that, at the moment, service provider costs are “increasing when it needs to decrease.”

“The cost structures need to be reduced significantly,” not incrementally, he says.

Whether DirecTV or Viacom Can "Win" in the Long Term is the Real Issue

You can take your pick about which partner--DirecTV or Viacom--has more leverage in the programming dispute that has taken all the Viacom channels off DirecTV, at least temporarily.

Some might argue it is a mistake for DirecTV to risk consumer irritation when some popular channels “go dark,” the theory being that it is the programming people pay for, so one distributor risks losing customers, eventually, should a major network such as Viacom be dropped on a permanent basis.

Some might argue that no matter the outcome, the whole video ecosystem is becoming unworkable. That, at least, was what Robert Johnson, founder of the BET cable channel, recently warned.