Monday’s figures – which shows the worst performance combined subscriber cable, satellite and telecommunications providers of video from SNL Kagan began tracking the data in the 1980s – suggests that the time is right for the Titan Web make a significant bet on consumers canceling their Pay TV subscriptions in favor of Web TV offers.
Cable suffered its worst loss of video, shedding 711,000 video subscribers in the second quarter and six of the eight largest cable companies, said his three-month period darkest. In general, cable, satellite and telecommunications providers shed 216,000 video customers in Q2 compared with a gain of 378,000 in the same period last year.
SNL Kagan estimates that nearly 3 million U.S. households use Hulu and other options for Internet TV as its main video solution at the end of the year, up from 1.5 million in 2009. By 2011, the company expects that figure to hit 4.3 million. (There are about 115 million U.S. households.)
“In particular, see the continuing decline in the cable industry,” said SNL Kagan analyst Ian Olgeirson The Hollywood Reporter.
The stations were key to the weak Q2, the analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein’s Craig Moffett, who predicted that multichannel TV operators grow subscribers for the full year despite a weak second quarter. “Now, if we were to see the weakness persist through the fourth quarter, then Houston, we would have a problem,” he said.
The second quarter is always the weakest TV providers, but the report also highlighted the economic factors – such as high unemployment and weak housing market – as well as the effect of a one-time cancellation by the who had registered for a television service a year ago amid great discounts associated with the transition of the nation of digital television.
With media giants over planning Internet TV offers that require a cable or satellite subscription television – part of its TV Everywhere initiative – “This cramps some of the current” Internet-only, but there are still “a lot content “available online that will entice more people to stop paying for cable TV or other accounts, Olgeirson said.
Given that these attitudes play into video websites, many on the street say that acquiring a major stake in Hulu for Yahoo would be costly (given a reported $ 2,000,000,000 objective assessment of a possible initial public offering this year), but it could help overcome the burden of Yahoo’s efforts to offer more content.
Similarly, Janco Partners analyst Martin Pyykkonen said that Yahoo is the buyer more natural that the company “should be more of a work of content, because they really have lost the search game.”
Jordan Rohan, an analyst said the same in a report Friday that started the debate.
“While an investment in Hulu does not solve long term problems relevant Yahoo alone could strengthen Yahoo’s position as a central entertainment destination,” he said.
“In a thousand rivers revenue base, we believe Hulu generates $ 14, six times the Google-owned YouTube. Perhaps most importantly, Hulu brings a clear must-buy status among brand advertisers, something that we believe Yahoo is at risk of wasting time. ”
Asked why only Yahoo urged to buy a stake in the place of all of Hulu, Rohan told The Hollywood Reporter that the price would be high and that “existing research partners should be expected to keep some skin in the game. ” Other experts reiterated that the maintenance of current entertainment giant’s around the shareholders to make sure they have something to say on the future of Hulu and an incentive to make their content available.
But digital media analyst Dan Rayburn of Frost & Sullivan Technology said players are not what Hulu needs. “Hulu … no one would benefit from having control of technological as well as Hulu does not have the technology of service, lack of content,” he said.
Who owns Hulu down the line may have to spend money on content bids, Pyykkonen said. “Netflix put a line in the sand with their agreement Epix, which had a significant price tag,” he said of the agreement contained in about $ 1 billion announced this month.
Dealing Starz – covering Sony and Disney movies – with Netflix ends next year, Hulu could look to add movies to your content bids most demanding television. “They have to be in the movie business somehow,” said Pyykkonen.
Some experts also said Monday that any Web or other technology giants could benefit from owning a significant stake in Hulu, Microsoft, AOL or even a cable operator as SNL Kagan boosting expectations for weaker basic cable users.
“Given that Microsoft is working with Yahoo in search, maybe these two companies consider investing together,” said Rohan. AOL, while focused on the growth of your content bids, has concentrated on less than $ 100,000,000 offers. Yahoo and other companies listed would not comment.
Meanwhile, Rohan said: “Google would not be an effective vendor due to its ownership of YouTube and antitrust scrutiny already on the search giant.”