TV Everywhere: For Whom and for How Long

The ‘TV Everywhere’ movement is a strategy to help pay TV subscription providers who are losing customers in growing numbers (cord cutters) retain the customers they still have by allowing them to watch the content they pay dearly for, on devices beyond their in-home TV.

And while this strategy, backed by big content companies like HBO, may stem the subscriber losses, it faces its biggest challenge in the years ahead as the so-called ‘Facebook (News - Alert) generation’ is presented with the opportunity to sign up for a full-blown cable programming deal for over $100 a month.

Disconnect

For many, this is happening now and they are opting for one or more programming alternatives to cable or telco TV. The prime reason? Most don’t watch traditional TV much, if at all, and have found values elsewhere. They aren’t cord connectors in the first place, so they won’t become cord cutters.

This concern for the future of cable TV subscriptions was reinforced by speakers at the Video World Conference last week in Austin, TX. One keynoter, Joe Weber from TiVo (News - Alert), suggested a possible parallel/analogy to the one time consumer voice providers who believed their cash cow would continue to be these long distance calling offerings.  He noted that video providers control the user interface. But, still, we all know how cash cows come and go if you focus on retention to the exclusion of enhancement/evolution.

Retention vs. Extension

Truth be told, my teenage nephews spend a lot of time on Facebook, video chat, YouTube (News - Alert) (which just announced 60 new original content channels to its current 100) and online gaming. They will watch certain live sports events on traditional TV, but that’s it. Period.

And their access device for all this from the very outset is a gaming console, or laptop - not a traditional TV with set-top box/DVR etc.

I’ll do a series of free ads for the industry’s largest cable company if either of these teenagers ever signs up for a TV Everywhere or anywhere service subscription as presently constituted.

As younger generations, they are the future and increasingly the present reality of video content use and consumption. They have to first sign-up before they can cut the cord.

The Tallest Task

If I were a cable, telco or satellite TV strategist, I would be laser focused on creating offerings for the generations and demographics that aren’t paying for traditional TV and movie channel packages today. ‘Retention through TV Everywhere’ is fine, but acquisition should be front-of-mind now.

Content owners that are driving TV Everywhere plays are beholden to the distributors of their prized video assets, but those who don’t, and won’t, sign-up for pay TV subscriptions from traditional providers aren’t, and won’t be.

Those who see beyond TV Everywhere have identified items that greatly enhance the viewing experience, such as Jinni, a Video World Conference participant, whose speaker focused on personalized video recommendations in a new – and engaging – way.

Pay TV subscription providers need to expand their focus beyond TV Everywhere retention strategies to acquisition-driven offerings to ensure they have customers to retain as the Facebook generation expands exponentially.