In a January 20th article for the Hollywood Reporter, Georg Szalai writes of the opinion from one analyst who feels TV Everywhere could be a literal gold mine for the industry.
Szalai pens that the initiative to get content from pay TV available on multiple platforms has been quite slow. However, according to the analyst with Needham & Co., Laura Martin, the wait may indeed be well worth it, as she predicts the total revenue for this venture could top $12 billion annually.
Martin is quoted as saying, “These dollars dwarf any near-term revenue streams from digital platforms (Hulu, YouTube, etc.),” and that “these are low risk dollars as adding services to the TV bundle suggests additional revenue rather than economic cannibalization.”
Szalai further writes that Martin believes the big time content owners, such as Disney and Time Warner could see the biggest gains to their advertising revenue, as much as 12% or $10 billion annually, because they are the farthest along in rolling out their products to TV Everywhere.
As for the operators of pay TV, this initiative has the potential of adding an estimated $1.7 billion to their revenue stream from the addition of these new services. Martin feels the big boys of cable, like Time Warner Cable and Comcast, are most likely to see these increases first as they are among the early adopters of the TV Everywhere initiative.
Szalai concludes the article with one more drool-worthy notion from Martin: if these predictions are accurate, then this initiative could very well bring in anywhere from $24 billion to $48 billion – apart from the above mentioned revenue – to the TV economy from additional market value, over the next five years. The industry is currently valued at about $330 billion of revenue annually.
While these figures are quite extraordinary and sound exactly like the type of figures the industry needs to make this initiative happen even faster, I wonder what these projections are based on. Szalai doesn’t give any references other than the fact that this is simply one analyst’s opinion; so what I’d really like to see, then, is what data Martin is basing these figures on.
This kind of money should be enough to get this initiative moving into a higher gear. One might even expect to see the government take measures to back it even more to stimulate the economy! But, perhaps that is a bit too far fetched. This is really quite the rosy picture – and it will be interesting to see how accurate Martin’s projections are; but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see – it will take time for the true value of this initiative to be known, but it certainly seems like a win-win situation for all interested parties: content providers, distributors, and viewers. Let's hope this equation doesn't change and we can finally enjoy TV Everywhere!
Lol, unfortunately, the "big boys of Cable" aren't even fully on board the TV Everywhere train just yet. Their TVE product, as you need to be inside the home to use it, merely turns your $500 device into a super-cool remote control. If I want TV Everywhere, I want it EVERYWHERE. Not just in my own home, as it would seem satisfies the majority of Comcast and TWC customers. That's cool, they can keep it. I have DISH, and with my Sling Technology and DISH Remote Access app on my Android, I can take ALL my live TV channels and ALL my DVR capability with me on the go! I need only connect to 3G or WiFi to access my system, and know that if I need to schedule a DVR from the road, it's no problem. If I want to watch the game LIVE while on break at work, it's no problem. DISH is the only provider to let you actually take your home TV with you, and the DRA app is free!! It works on dozens of different devices, and when my boss at DISH told me employees could get it too, I signed right up. I've never had this much control, or fun, with my TV!!
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