Inside The Stream

Sports streaming continues to gain momentum, with Peacock, Disney, Fubo, and DirecTV all part of the action this past week. We review all the activities and what’s ahead.

Themes at the Connected TV World Summit included broadcasters and digital, streaming sports, and YouTube. Also, new FAST research from Gracenote and AI updates from Bango. You can download the free Bango report here .

VideoNuze’s conference last week, which focused on the intersection of CTV and AI, included valuable insights from 18 speakers in 5 sessions. We highlight the top takeaways.

It’s not all plain sailing for AI in connected TV. Four experts highlight some of the technology's challenges and how they think it will revolutionize the industry in 2025 and beyond.

Revy's fight with The Trade Desk has spilled into the trade press. In this interview, Revry’s co-founders explain why all specialty and fan-forward providers could be affected.

Tubi delivered with its live Super Bowl stream, outperforming YouTube TV and broadcast in the process. And way more streamed the game than the 13.6 million using Tubi.

Disney continues to defy gravity by raising prices and cutting content without losing subscribers. Meanwhile, YouTube ads soared above $10 billion with help from long-form content.

Peacock subscribers held steady at 36 million in Q4, while its quarterly loss significantly improved. Super Bowl ads are $8 million. And plenty of new streaming research. Scan the QR code below or click this link for a free copy of the Looper Insights report Streaming Forward: Trends Shaping Digital Entertainment in 2025. Thanks to Looper Insights for sponsoring this episode. https://nscreenmedia....

Netflix delivered a stellar Q4, with subscriber and revenue gains across all regions. Ads and gaming will fuel future growth, but tracking its evolving success will be much tougher.

Tubi’s Super Bowl UHD livestream plan is bold, but can it deliver? Prime’s wildcard game gets its best NFL rating yet. Vizio jumps into SVOD bundles and consumer AI research.

The Disney-Fubo deal seems to clear the path for the launch of Venu Sports and provide Fubo with financial strength. But DirecTV thinks it doesn’t settle the issue.

PBS has a new distribution deal with Amazon to simulcast 150 local stations. We talk with PBS’s digital head, Ira Rubenstein, about the deal and its 2025 strategy.

In this exclusive interview, Antenna’s CEO shares insights on streaming’s ad-supported growth, live sports, and the NFL’s impact on subscriber acquisition and 2024’s top promotions.

Starz’s CEO outlined the company’s streaming strategy, which includes partnering with SVOD aggregators, retaining originals, and avoiding annual rate bumps.

Walmart closed its $2.3 billion acquisition of VIZIO, creating many opportunities to extend WatchFree+ and drive new ad revenue and one-click buying.

Comcast’s decision to spin out all of its cable networks except Bravo into an independent company is a signal of more cable network consolidation to come.

Disney CEO’s slip reveals AVOD’s dominance in subscriber gains, and a Netflix announcement confirms the trend. New data shows Prime Video’s content inefficiency.

eMarketer says that 20 million more viewers will consume live sports on streaming than on pay-TV this year, with the gap more than doubling by 2027. Listen on for the implications!

This week, two big indicators of significant change in the TV/video industries: Comcast may spin off its cable TV networks, and YouTube hit a $50 billion revenue run rate.

Disney+ and Hulu dropped Apple’s App Store, IAB Tech Lab is driving new CTV ad standards, Fubo is offering premium sports services, and streamers are partnering with grocers.

Bloomberg Screentime interviews highlighted Amazon's dominance in streaming distribution, while Comcast seemed indifferent to cable TV despite NBCU's reliance on it.

Google’s Rob Caruso joins us to discuss key new features in Google TV and the new Streamer device. Can smart home and photo integration boost the TV OS’s market share?

In this exclusive interview, Antenna’s CEO shares new research on specialty SVOD services, which show robust growth, dependence on Amazon Channels, and particular success stories.

Google and Roku released new streaming media players, Disney rolled out paid sharing, Netflix is dabbling in sports, and a new initiative to measure FAST viewing has been launched.

YouTube is revamping its CTV app to emulate best practices in SVOD apps and launching a series of AI features for creators that will drive better viewer experiences.