CNN+ RIP
CNN+ will shut down on April 30, just one month after it launched. The decision was made by new management after the merger of Discovery and Warner Bros. earlier this month. CNN+ launched just two weeks before the merger completed, but clearly management had a different strategy. The new plan is to house all the company's brands under one streaming service. Some CNN+ programming may eventually live on through that service while other programming will shift to CNN's main television network.
The NPD Take:
- This is yet another indicator of streaming moving into the re-bundling era as CNN programming is seen as more valuable as part of the company’s broader eco-system rather than within a standalone offering.
- News delivers daily viewership, something both HBO Max and Discovery+ will be challenged to do on their own with weekly releases of new episodes. CNN programming has the opportunity to do what Vice news did for HBO years ago, get viewers to tune in more frequently.
Netflix shares tank as the company eyes an ad-supported tier
Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers in Q1 and is expecting to lose another 2 million users in Q2. To stop the hemorrhaging Netflix will crack down on account sharing, up its content game and consider an ad-supported streaming tier. To put this in perspective, it’s been over ten years since they last lost streaming subscribers. Recent price hikes contributed to losses of around 640,000 customers in the U.S. and Canada from January through March.
The NPD Take:
- It was a matter of when, not if, the streaming giant had a correction. This is another indicator of the shift from all tides rising to the SVOD market becoming a battle for share of viewer’s time.
- The pivot to growing through ad-revenues ends a 15-year run of the idealistic on-demand, ad-free binge period; well, soon it will just cost us more to keep the dream alive.
YouTube, MLB renew streaming deal
YouTube renewed a streaming deal with Major League Baseball that includes 15 games during the 2022 regular season. It’s the fourth season of the deal, bringing back MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube, which allows the games to be viewed by fans for free in 182 countries. Some YouTube-only features of the new season include a live chat that features game commentary from MLB superfan YouTube creators and in-game polls for viewer engagement. Subscribers to YouTube TV get added features like the ability to re-watch key plays and view real-time game stats.
The NPD Take:
- MLB has been very active of late striking recent deals with Peacock, Apple TV and now YouTube.
- Watch for more sports licensing deals to help SVOD services minimize churn in an increasingly competitive market.