streaming

Netflix is no longer the online video titan it once was and, based on its current trajectory, is likely to lose the so-called streaming wars.. That’s according to a Needham & Co. analyst report published on Monday that’s skeptical of the company’s chances to fend off rivals like Disney, Apple, Peacock and Paramount. The analyst note, based on a survey of 504 U.S.-based Netflix subscribers, revealed the biggest challenges.

The Chicago Cubs are in talks with Sinclair Broadcast Group to launch a streaming service for customers without a cable or satellite-TV subscription — despite pushback from Major League Baseball on the idea. In a deal that insiders say could have league-wide implications, the Cubs and Sinclair are angling to launch the new service following a tough round of negotiations with Comcast more than a year ago that resulted in capping monthly fees for the Marquee Sports Network, the broadcaster of local Cubs games, according to sources close to the situation.

FuboTV starts at $64.99 a month, but if you want to sign up, you will need to buy a three-month prepaid package totaling $194.96. It’s unclear if the quarterly offering will be permanent. Plus, as of Sunday morning, the quarterly plans were not available on FuboTV’s site on all platforms.

There’s a wealth of provocative and creative Black-focused programs in February, looking deep into the past to examine topics such as the roots of slavery and the achievements of towering figures including Frederick Douglass. The post-George Floyd onset of racial reckoning and the subsequent backlash have coincided with the growth of streaming and its voracious need for content, a two-fold incentive for TV to pay heed to the sweep and nuance of Black experience.

Verizon next week will begin extending its Disney Bundle streaming promotion beyond wireless to home internet subscribers. Starting Feb. 11, new Verizon Fios and new 5G Home Internet customers will get the Disney Bundle — which includes Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu priced at $13.99 per month — for up to 12 months free.

Amazon is hiking the price of Prime memberships in the U.S., with the annual fee jumping from $119 to $139 — its first increase in nearly four years. In addition, the monthly fee for Prime is rising from $12.99 to $14.99. Amazon last raised the price of Prime in 2018. For new Prime members, the latest price change will go into effect Feb. 18,. For current Prime members, the new prices will apply after March 25, on the date of their next renewal.

SkyShowtime, the joint streaming venture between Comcast and ViacomCBS, has received full regulatory approval. It will launch in Europe later this year. SkyShowtime’s CEO Monty Sarhan, who was put in charge of the project last month, will lead the rollout.

Juicy, soapy Korean series have been a staple on Netflix for years, but following the Squid Game phenomena, audiences around the world can’t get enough of not only the typical K-drama fare but also Korean thrillers and reality series. Korean zombie thriller All of Us Are Dead, which features a familiar Squid Game face (Lee Yoo-Mi) made its debut on the streamer’s non-English language TV Top 10 list for the week of Jan. 24-30, coming in at No. 1 with 124.79 million hours viewed.

Fox Entertainment and Hulu have struck a major deal that allows the streaming service to run all out-of-season episodes of key Fox unscripted and animated series. Hulu will have the right to stream all episodes of Fox’s unscripted series, including The Masked Singer, Lego Masters, I Can See Your Voice, Name That Tune, The Masked Dancer, Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back, MasterChef and MasterChef Junior. 

Streaming-video services get a surge of subscribers when they launch a hotly anticipated show or movie. But many of these new customers unsubscribe within a few months, according to new data, a challenge even for the industry’s deep-pocketed giants. Roughly half of U.S. viewers who joined right after Hamilton and Wonder Woman 1984 debuted were gone in six months.

Viewers can stream local newscasts from the group’s eight owned stations, breaking news, weather, premium content, ABC’s Localish and more across the station group’s websites, mobile and connected TV Apps on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV.

For the past two years, media and entertainment companies have been dead-set on showing Wall Street that they have a strong streaming video strategy to counter traditional pay-TV decilnes. But after Netflix forecast first quarter subscriber additions that missed analyst estimates last week, investors seem to have soured on streaming, or at least curbed their enthusiasm.

The TV and digital news veteran oversaw the recent launch of NBC Owned Stations’ local news streaming channels on Peacock.

The number of monthly users of the streaming service — 24.5 million active accounts at the end of 2021 — is already at 75% of the company’s original projection for 2024, including 9 million who are paying for either limited commercials or no commercials. Thus, spending is being ramped up for even faster growth, with profits from the rest of NBCUniversal easily covering a few more years of losses at Peacock.

Netflix rose handily in after-hours trading Wednesday following news that Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital has acquired more than 3.1 million shares to become a top-20 stockholder.

The network’s boss, Jeff Zucker, tries to make up for lost time by signing Chris Wallace, Audie Cornish and Eva Longoria.

Networks like CBS and CNN are leaning on “iconic franchises” and “old-school” reporters in a bid to transition linear audiences to digital viewers.

Single-camera comedy series Maggie, originally picked up by ABC for the 2021-22 season, now will stream exclusively on sibling Hulu in the U.S. as a Hulu Original. The decision, underscoring the blurring of the lines between linear and streaming at the major media companies, was made in order to get Maggie in front of audiences instead of keeping it on the bench because of a lack of available slots on the network.

CBS News and the network’s owned stations get a major streaming overhaul with a new name, the CBS News Streaming Network, dramatically expanded OTT programming and the launch of a new local streaming channel in Miami.

NBCUniversal said it hired senior Hulu executive Annie Luo as EVP, global partnerships and strategic development for its Peacock streaming service. Luo follows Kelly Campbell, who was head of Hulu and is now president of Peacock. Hulu is controlled by the Walt Disney Co., but NBCU’s parent Comcast owns a minority stake in Hulu. Comcast is expected to sell its stake to Disney, but the two sides are haggling about how much Hulu is worth.

The research company admits that Don’t Look Up was “not fully credited” in its Christmas week rankings.

Marvel’s Daredevil appears to be making a comeback, three years after its cancellation by Netflix, ranking at No. 8 on Nielsen’s weekly U.S. streaming chart of originals for Dec. 20-26. The series has sparked new interest following the recent cameo of Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, played by Charlie Cox, in Spider Man: No Way Home. Additionally, Murdock’s arch-nemesis, Kingpin, played by Vincent D’Onofrio was revealed as a key part of Disney+’s Hawkeye storyline that week.