The Streaming Consolidation Rumor Mill Awakens
Is Netflix Really Buying Roku?
So there are all sorts of rumors this week that Netflix is looking to buy Roku, rumors persistent enough to send Roku’s moribund stock price skyrocketing.
If your perfectly rational reaction to this is “WTF??? Why???" it seems the most commonly asserted rationale is that buying Roku would give Netflix a large and relatively turnkey ad operation.
Though, as many have pointed out, there are far cheaper ways to achieve that goal.
There is also, as my friend Rich Greenfield pointed out, the not insubstantial matter that a Netflix-owned Roku would be in the uncomfortable position of having to sell sizable chunks of its main competitors’ inventory.
And it would not be Netflix-Roku that was uncomfortable.
Why It Matters
Every so often unsubstantiated rumors float to the top of the news cycle because there’s nothing else going on. ( I will admit that my first thought on seeing this bit of news was “Oh, good, at least I have something to write about for Week In Review.)
Or, it’s because the rumor is a bit of wish fulfillment for people who have invested much thought and energy into predicting that both companies (Roku in particular) would be involved in some sort of merger deal.
Regardless, Greenfield’s point, which was the second thing I thought of upon hearing the news, pretty much cuts to the crux of the matter… [READ MORE]
Standardization Was The Word At The Stream TV Show
The Stream TV Show was held this week out in Denver. It's one of my favorite events because it brings together the people buying and selling the shows with the people buying and selling the ads (along with all the tech partners who support them).
It even featured our very first TVREV event, a two-hour workshop on the FASTs, which drew in over 200 people live and just as many on demand.
But self-promotion aside, the key theme of the show, one which came up in just about every panel and keynote, was the need for standardization in every area of the streaming ecosystem: advertising, measurement, metadata, discovery, recommendations, user experience and interface.
Remedying that will be a tall order, but the clear consensus was that the lack of standardization is a huge impediment to growth for both SVOD and FAST services and results in frustrated advertisers and frustrated consumers, never a good combination.
Why It Matters
The pre-streaming television landscape was not all that complex. Which is not to say it never had been… [READ MORE]
READ THE FULL WEEK IN REVIEW ON TVREV
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NEWS YOU CAN USE
Everybody Wants To Rule The (Streaming) World
Another week, another streaming M&A rumor – this time, the idea that Netflix might want to buy Roku. Like all of the M&A talk around streaming today, it once again highlights that no service has the perfect solution and many could use some of their competitors’ best assets.
- Roku needs original content and access to users in the post-dongle world, while Netflix needs ad help.
- Apple TV+ and Amazon could use advertising assists as well, and have the war chests to just buy a more developed ad operation if they so choose.
- Both Peacock and Paramount+ could use a more enticing bundle from a content perspective.
You see the point. We won’t be done with streaming consolidation for some time…
Inside Roku, Talk Is Heating Up About An Acquisition By Netflix [Business Insider]
The timing would be advantageous for both parties if they were looking to strike a deal. Roku's valuation had plunged below $13 billion as of the close of trading on Tuesday, making an acquisition easier to swallow than a year ago when Comcast was reportedly eyeing a deal.
Netflix Needs Advertisers. Advertisers Really Need Netflix [Next In Marketing]
For starters, Netflix is big – as in roughly 80 million US homes. And people who have Netflix watch lots of Netflix. So if the company can convert a significant chunk of that subscriber base to ad supported, and add a few more million new ad-supported subs, brands may be able to access a much larger, reliable audience with CTV — one that is closer to classic TV.
Comcast Says It's Found The Ideal Ad Spend Balance Between Linear And Streaming [Adweek]
Programmatic ad views are growing, jumping 80% year over year, and audience-targeted campaigns have grown 50% year over year. FAST is a rapidly growing opportunity for advertisers. Viewership grew 25% year over year in 2021, faster than connected TV is growing as a whole.
Advertising
- Microsoft Poised To Sit Out TV’s Upfront Market [Variety]
- Add TV Ads To Streaming Branded Deals: Domino's With 'Stranger Things'...+? [MediaPost]
- How Interoperability Can Help Solve CTV Measurement Feuds [AdExchanger]
Streaming Wars
- Roku, Plex Execs At Odds Over The Future Of Aggregated Streaming Platforms [FierceVideo]
- How To Succeed Amid The Great Streaming Correction [Puck]
- Are Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video Poised For Big Gains As Other Streamers Pull Back? [The Streamable]
Data & Measurement
- TV Owners of OpenAP Make Pitch To Move Ad Dollars To New Measurements [Variety]
- The Case For Measuring TV Ads And Programming Separately [AdExchanger]
- Sports Wagering TV Ad Spend Grows 281% Over 9 Months, FanDuel, Caesars, DraftKings Major Players [MediaPost]
Sports
- Cricket Rights Sale May Give Disney Opening To Reset Streaming Ambitions [THR]
- Warner Bros. Discovery Picks Sports Chief To Navigate Streaming Era [NY Times]
- Boston Celtics Are Most-Watched Team of the NBA Playoffs [NextTV]
Landscape
- Big Tech Has Spent $36 Million On Ads To Torpedo Antitrust Bill [WSJ]
- Microsoft’s New Xbox TV App Will Let Players Stream Games On New Samsung Smart TVs Without a Console [TechCrunch]
- Broadcast Networks Prep For Primetime Jan. 6 Hearings [NextTV]
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- Travis Hockersmith, VP, Platform+, VIZIO
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