USA distribution -CBS All Access discussion

[cylkoth]

They're probably losing market share to Amazon Prime, Hulu and some of the other streaming services that are popping up out there. Instead of becoming more competitive in the services it offers, it is resorting to the tried-and-true easy way out by boosting fees without boosting service.

Morons.

They aren't loosing market share to Amazon, Hulu and the others. Their content spend for this year is $7 billion-that's $5 billion on studio owned material, and $2 billion global for original productions. And that $2 billion didn't get pinched from the main budget, but is money freed up after several studios choose not to sell them content (the Epix pay tv channel, then owned by Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM-now solely owned by MGM, was paid $1 billion for a 5 year licensing deal that ended in Oct 2015. Epix sells the same package of content to Amazon and Hulu, for far less than they got from NF). They aren't boosting fees for the fun of it. They are being charged far more than the other services are.
For example, HBO's content spend has hovered in the $2 billion range...for the last several years. And that's for both HBO and Cinemax. Showtime and Starz spend roughly the same. They aren't being gouged as Netflix is.

 

[BillJ]

The $2 isn't going to break me. But, I find less and less that I am interested on Netflix. I think in their mad rush to do original programming have lost a bit of what made them interesting to me to begin with, being able to go back and watch things that I missed.

I wonder how long it'll be before CBS pulls Star Trek off the service in the US?

 

[Jayson1]

You have to fill in your name and address, and a credit card under your name. Maybe they track it per household or something. These companies definitely have ways of spotting duplicates.

Kor

It couldn't be a long halt though. You could in theory do a free trial and then have a friend or family member do it and then when their trial is up do another yourself.

Jason

 

[Kor]

The commercials on CBS All Access sure are LOUD. I have to turn the volume down almost 40% during the commercial breaks!

Kor

 

[Shalashaska]

https://trekmovie.com/2017/10/03/fi...o-nine-episodes-breaks-new-all-access-record/

Only the first episode of Star Trek: Discovery aired on broadcast television so there will be no ratings for the rest of the series in the US. However, CBS did announce today that Discovery had again set a record high for subscriber sign-ups in a single week. CBS All Access’ daily growth in subscribers is up more than 200 percent year-over-year.

President of CBS Interactive Marc DeBevoise said in a statement:

Consumer response to the launch of Star Trek: Discovery has been tremendous. The build up to the show’s premiere led us to a record-setting month, week and ultimately day of sign-ups. The second week of the series has also exceeded our expectations and is a credit to the brilliant and dedicated work of the show’s entire creative team and cast. We can’t wait for fans to see what comes next for the U.S.S. Discovery and its crew.

According to CBS, Discovery is the most streamed premiere of a CBS show across their digital platforms on record, measured against all CBS programming – both in front of and behind the CBS All Access paywall. And according to data retained by Variety, “CBS was able to almost double the mobile subscription revenue for its CBS All Access service” with the premiere of Star Trek: Discovery.

 

[137th Gebirg]

I was hoping that we would get some hard numbers rather than CBS marketing puffery, but then it occurred to me that the fox is watching the hen house and we will likely never get hard facts on the health of this show.

Nielson is a 3rd party statistics collector that isn't holden to any one network, ensuring a relatively impartial breakdown of viewership, albeit somewhat flawed and incomplete. CBS literally holds all the keys to this castle. They can say whatever they want to make the show and the greater CBSAA network look amazing, profitable and ground-breaking, even if it isn't.

Honestly, how do we know that any of what they're saying is actually true?

 

[Noname Given]

The commercials on CBS All Access sure are LOUD. I have to turn the volume down almost 40% during the commercial breaks!

Kor

It's the same way on Broadcast/Cable/Satellite TV - most commercials have their default volume way up. They figure if you're not fast-forwarding, you're out of the room in another part of your house, but they still try to 'reach' you.

 

[Kor]

It's the same way on Broadcast/Cable/Satellite TV - most commercials have their default volume way up. They figure if you're not fast-forwarding, you're out of the room in another part of your house, but they still try to 'reach' you.

True. And I've read articles where broadcast people claim there is no difference in the volume.

Kor

 

[galad2003]

Netflix just announced another price increase to $14 per month before tax, starting next month. In Pennsylvania, that would bring it to $15.12 per month. That's after losing NBC's and FOX's television programming, and they're soon to lose Disney. Meanwhile, commercial-free CBS All Access is $10, with no tax in Pennsylvania. Considering Netflix's original programming is mostly crap, I'm actually glad that Discovery is on CBS All Access. Saves me over $5 per month.

That's the price of the high end plan.

"The middle plan, which allows HD streaming on up to two devices at a time, will rise from $9.99/mo to $10.99/mo. The high plan, with 4K streaming on up to four devices at once, will rise from $11.99 to $13.99. The cheapest plan (one screen, standard def) is still $7.99."

https://lifehacker.com/netflix-costs-a-buck-or-two-more-now-1819173817

 

[Krandor]

I was hoping that we would get some hard numbers rather than CBS marketing puffery, but then it occurred to me that the fox is watching the hen house and we will likely never get hard facts on the health of this show.

Where are the hard facts netflix or amazon or hulu releases about their shows?

For CBSAA, subscribers are what matters and then only time we are likely to hear any numbers of those are on the quarterly earnings calls.

 

[Fateor]

https://trekmovie.com/2017/10/03/fi...o-nine-episodes-breaks-new-all-access-record/

Which is meaningless because they are still counting all the free subscriptions.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

I don't believe I've read this elsewhere:

The network reportedly sold international rights to Netflix for about $6 million per episode, dramatically reducing its financial risk.

though I did read about the production cost of each episode before:

“Discovery” worth the high cost (it’s reportedly CBS’s most expensive series, with a price tag approaching $8 million per episode)?

SOURCE
https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/308470/cbs-all-access-infuriating-but-smart.html

So how much did Canadian TV CRAVE/SPACE pay for Canadian rights?
Has anyone else seen a source for the Netflix $6million/episode cost?

 

[fireproof78]

I was hoping that we would get some hard numbers rather than CBS marketing puffery, but then it occurred to me that the fox is watching the hen house and we will likely never get hard facts on the health of this show.

Nielson is a 3rd party statistics collector that isn't holden to any one network, ensuring a relatively impartial breakdown of viewership, albeit somewhat flawed and incomplete. CBS literally holds all the keys to this castle. They can say whatever they want to make the show and the greater CBSAA network look amazing, profitable and ground-breaking, even if it isn't.

Honestly, how do we know that any of what they're saying is actually true?

We don't really, and probably never will.

The main indication will always be if DSC continues.

 

[Spider]

CBSAA doesn't not exclude advertisements on their Live TV option. I was switching my TV back and forth to compare CBSAA and my $20 HD antenna, and I get a better picture with my HD antenna. And that's not because of my LAN, because I'm getting about 80mb download speeds. I don't get a really good HD picture on my TV when streaming on CBSAA, and I can get out of the CBSAA app on my Fire TV and watch anything else, and I get true HD quality. CBSAA just really fucking sucks.

I watch Discovery on my PC because it looks better than my TV.

 

[SFC3]

As title states, this is a rather peculiar (recent?) change. There was no preview for 1x06, and the rest were removed. What gives?

 

[Big Data]

I apologize if this has been discussed. Do you plan on continuing to pay the monthly rate after Disco is done for the year, or would it make sense to cancel and sign up against next season. If that is doable that seems like a pretty big flaw in CBS's model.

 

[Daddy Todd]

I don't even plan to pay for all access during the mid season hiatus, much less for the 9 (or more) months between the conclusion of season 1 and the start of season 2. There is literally nothing else on all access I have any interest in seeing.

 

[MvRojo]

I apologize if this has been discussed. Do you plan on continuing to pay the monthly rate after Disco is done for the year, or would it make sense to cancel and sign up against next season. If that is doable that seems like a pretty big flaw in CBS's model.

It's the same model that Netflix and Hulu have. I cancel and re-start those subscriptions whenever I don't have anything I have to watch. It's not a flaw, so much as it allows consumer flexibility. The goal for all of these streaming systems is to have new content all the time so that it minimizes the cancellations. But for me, if there's not episodes of Marvel TV shows on Netflix, I tend to pause my subscription since I don't watch much else.

 

[cylkoth]

I apologize if this has been discussed. Do you plan on continuing to pay the monthly rate after Disco is done for the year, or would it make sense to cancel and sign up against next season. If that is doable that seems like a pretty big flaw in CBS's model.

People do exactly the same thing with Game of Thrones. They subscribe to HBO during the time the show is on, and then cancel. Every monthly subscription service has it's seasonal customers. The industry term for this is called ''churn''. We can assume CBS knew this sort of behavior would occur, and they are not in the least bit surprised or shocked over it.

It's not a flaw in their model.

 

[137th Gebirg]

I plan to cancel during the hiatus, yes. I don't cancel my HBO sub while GoT isn't on, because they come up with other interesting programming to keep me on (Veep, Insecure, Ballers, Westworld and so on). I don't see CBS stepping up to do that. Until they do, and then I'll keep them.