Free is a great way to make money. Just ask Sling.
Sling TV’s FAST offering Freestream initially included over 200 free channels. They’ve recently expanded the technology to include Android users and have also crossed the 400-channel mark, boasting over 40,000 titles. The overall viewing experience is rather frictionless, in that no login or profile is required to access the free content. And that’s by design: by offering a massive selection of content through an easy-to-access experience, the thinking is that more Freestream customers will stay loyal to the service, and eventually upgrade to Sling Blue or Orange for $40/month. That loyalty may also provide an offramp for customers who only want to pay for certain titles periodically but can remain within the Sling ecosystem by continuing to watch the free content.
The Circana Take:
- Creating an appealing and robust ecosystem for customers should increase retention as well as incremental revenue.
- Frictionless access to FAST content is a novel way to develop an audience and shows the creativity Sling has used to grow its service.
WBD makes some obvious licensing plays, but one is turning heads.
When Warner Bros. Discovery announced licensing deals with Roku and Tubi, no one batted an eye. This week, when Amazon’s FAST offering, Freevee, announced 11 new channels featuring WBD content, it was business as usual. But when the story broke that WBD CEO David Zaslav was in talks with streaming juggernaut, market leader, and direct competitor Netflix to potentially license content (after an almost 10-year hiatus), heads turned. With the Max rebrand not even a month old, and only having turned its first (small) profit in the most recent quarter, this could be seen as competitive suicide to the Max brand. However, Zaslav is counting on the licensing revenue to outweigh any potential downside. The deal isn’t complete, and is rumored to be only a few titles, but it is still quite a disruption to the SVOD space.
The Circana Take:
- Content profitability over SVOD subscriber growth is now front and center and driving decision-making at the highest level.
- The risk of cannibalizing Max’s success in lieu of short-term licensing revenue is creating a lot of industry side eye.
Peacock spreads its wings with a flutter of moves.
A handful of recent announcements seem to indicate that Peacock is taking steps to broaden its reach while also signaling that the service is maturing. First, smart TV manufacturer Vizio announced that Peacock was its first premium streamer to offer free access to its content via Vizio’s WatchFree+ FAST network through its Content Connections portal, which offers subscription opportunities in parallel with the free content. Next, NBCU announced that the naming rights for the theater formerly known as the Microsoft Theater would now be named the Peacock Theater, which has hosted numerous awards shows and serves as an entertainment hub to the L.A. Live District. In kind, NBCU then announced that Peacock would be host to the 2024 People’s Choice Awards in February. And later this month, the free Peacock promotion through Xfinity will be sunset, which has allowed Peacock to drive discounted sign ups ahead of the switch.
The Circana Take:
- The PR moves will have a modest impact on the bottom line but offer opportunities for word-of-mouth recognition to grow over time.
- By removing free access to Peacock, and discounted subscriptions until the switch, there’s sure to be a modest bump to the bottom line in both incremental revenue and subscribers.