USA distribution -CBS All Access discussion
- Thread starter jefferiestubes8
- Start date
I thought paramount studios was in all this financial trouble.
And by CBSAA being "9th" does that include Showtime? Because I thought showtime was the larger of the two streaming services.
They are. How do you think they ended up in 7th place?
If you'd look at the linked article in the original post, Showtime was #8. YouTube Red was #7.
Reading makes me head burn.
Consider CAA has been just a repository of old shows, or stuff airing on CBS, being 9th isn't terrible. All the rest have had original content for a while longer.
Actual cost per episode and visual effects info:
While it's come a long way since ST:ENT with uprezzing standard definition visual effects for some season 1, farming out VFX layers saves time. I wonder if the VFX deliverables were all UHD 4k resolution (since it is on Netflix outside USA).
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While it's come a long way since ST:ENT with uprezzing standard definition visual effects for some season 1, farming out VFX layers saves time. I wonder if the VFX deliverables were all UHD 4k resolution (since it is on Netflix outside USA).
This is a great point.
I do not care for Discovery at all, but it would be great if CBS tied their All Access to the Star Trek wagon train.
I don't mind paying for it if I like the show.
Maybe they will create something new for the fans like me who want something that does not change canon so much.
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So bringing this back, what do people here think of CBS All Access so far?
I saw this article that put it in a bad light:
https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/10/...tar-trek-discovery-streaming-service-analysis
Also it looks like Viacom is setting up its own streaming service soon:
https://www.cbr.com/viacom-nick-mtv-streaming-service-fall-2018/
Frankly its pretty annoying that CBS and Viacom don't have a combined streaming service, considering those companies are getting together soon.
I saw this article that put it in a bad light:
https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/10/...tar-trek-discovery-streaming-service-analysis
Also it looks like Viacom is setting up its own streaming service soon:
https://www.cbr.com/viacom-nick-mtv-streaming-service-fall-2018/
Frankly its pretty annoying that CBS and Viacom don't have a combined streaming service, considering those companies are getting together soon.
CBS and Viacom (and paramount) are already together, both are owned by National Amusements, which are owned by Sumner Redstone. Despite public appearances through seperations, spin offs, mergers, licensing etc. is purely for corporate politics and trying to maximize profits. In the end, all the money flows to the same person regardless.
I suspect that Viacom is learning from CBS' mistakes and building a better one, in anticipation of the merger and that CAA will be sent to the bit-bucket, which is fine with me. I personally hate the video quality. It's by far the worst streaming service I've ever used. Constantly breaking and buffering, far more than Amazon Prime, Hulu, Fox, Netflix or any of the other real streaming services who actually invested in their infrastructure. It was useful once when my DVR accidentally recorded Big Bang and Young Sheldon on a CBS station I don't have for some inexplicably stupid reason. Fucking worthless DirecTV, but that's a different gripe for a different thread. Anyway, it saved me that one week when my DVR decided to swallow its face, but on the whole I would give the overall service a D-minus.
I had it some before discovery. I like it ok, but the interface and backend intrastructure needs some updates for the number of people who are watching discovery. Hopefully that is something they work on between seasons. They also need to work on video quality and sound quality but that probably ties into the infrastructure upgrades that are needed. CBS also needs to get more of their backcatalog on AA but I know a of that is based on existing deals that will have to expire.
I do agree though we are going to see some mergers in the different services down the road and I'm not sure though what form that will take. I think merging CBSAA and Shotime anywhere would be a great move and would create a really compelling service.
The problem is they are asking for 3 different fees for 3 different streaming services, when they own all the content on all 3 services. That comes off as gouging, put everything on one service and you have something worth keeping for the whole year. Netflix does not make you buy 3 different services to watch their content.
I'm making no subjective comments here on the morals of such splitting of services but it in terms of the economics, charging what each person is willing to pay for a given product is "price discrimination" taught in introductory economics courses. It's logical for the seller to do so in terms of profitability (if it can get away with it in terms of legal issues etc). The ultimate owners know they're desperately playing catch-up with their product(s) - OK CBS has a large back catalogue of stuff, which helps in the "new world" of TV where people pay for specific streaming services rather than a package of networks. However, - correct me if I'm wrong - the perception us Brits have from jokes on US shows is that CBS (with some notable exceptions) tended not to grab the best shows in terms of demographics and cash etc. Anyway it's in the interest of the owners to offer differing quality services/packages of shows, to see how to segment their market.
This is particularly so if the net neutrality battle is lost - and the finance blogs I read suggest that whatever the MSM says, things are not going well. Netflix is sitting on an enormous pile of cash which it needs to use on in-house productions and a good streaming service. CBSAA owners need cash - fast - if they're to pull their subdivisions up the rankings and be serious competitors in future. In terms of ST, as I've said before, it's a money-spinner and whether it continues on CBSAA, is also shown on a wider number of streaming networks, or ultimately gets sold off by an asset stripper (likely to Netflix) if CBS+others are unsuccessful and are stripped for parts, I don't think people need worry about its future like people seemed to do after ENT.
Welcome to the world of property ownership and copyright. It isn't that simple.
Netflix is NOT sitting on a ton of cash. Netflix is cash flow negative by a large margin. Their main money source right now is issueing a lot of junk bonds. I don't think that is a route CBS wants to take.
What if I only care about the content on one of the service and not the other 2. Buying just the one I want is a good thing. Put all 3 together and the price per month would have to be higher.
Disney is going to be launching 2 services. One for tv and films and one for sports and that is good since people can choose what they want.
Checked up and I was wrong re Netflix - you're right as to where it is getting its money, sorry. But that is not the central point - who owns your ISP or your phone company? They will likely in future get to decide if (for instance) Disney services are cheap/complimentary compared to (say) Netflix/CBSAA. They will get to decide how much you are charged for the sports channel, how much you are charged for the films channel, based on analysis of your willingness to pay, which is what they are all trying to suss out at the moment. If you just look up the net neutrality articles at a business site (e.g. the one here at nakedcapitalism) and particularly from knowledgeable people commenting, you begin to unpick the implications of "who owns whom" and what it'll mean for your choice of streaming service in future - if net neutrality goes, then most people will suddenly find themselves effectively having to choose between streaming services on price grounds and potentially even between channels within a streaming service. The streaming services all know this, which is why they are loading up on existing content and new productions like mad.
Except there could be people who want to watch shows from Viacom, CBS and Showtime and think that a combined service would be cheaper then 3 different services, especially when every subsection of every entertainment company wants their own streaming service.
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