1. Disney Has Netflix Envy

There is a report in the Wall Street Journal this week that Disney has been looking to revamp the user interfaces of its various apps, putting more emphasis on algorithms, less emphasis on humans. The goal is to keep people watching longer and to prevent them from churning, the reasons for the latter being somewhat self-evident, the reasons for the former being to increase ad revenue. (The longer someone watches, the more ads they see.)

Disney’s also looking to roll out linear channels to help surface its library content, or, as the article in the WSJ suggests, to help out viewers “who don’t have the time or energy to scroll through viewing options.”

We may have mentioned that these sorts of linear channels were in the works across all of the SVOD services. Though the launch of a Simpsons-only channel should put to rest the unfortunate notion that linear single-IP channels are somehow solely the province of free services.

What's curious about Disney’s POV though, is that it seems to ignore The Great Rebundling and how that will impact the overall viewing experience.

Or, to be less cagey, are viewers going to care more about the in-app user experience than they are about the operating system’s user experience.

Smart money is on the latter.

Why It Matters

Talk to your non-industry friends, and one of their biggest frustrations with the new streaming ecosystem will invariably be the difficulty they have actually finding anything.
The old program-guide style interface may have been ugly but at least people knew how to use it. 

Viewers resent having to go from app to app searching for shows and then having to hunt down shows they’ve been watching within the app.

I can attest to the latter. I recently caught up on the last season of that erstwhile comedy, The Bear. And yet even though that was the only thing I’d been watching on Hulu, every time I opened the app I had to scroll halfway down the page to actually find a link to The Bear.

And it’s not just Hulu—I’ve had similar experiences with just about every app and while I get the business logic behind it, for a user, it’s annoying AF.

That dichotomy is due to the inherent conflict in the way streaming works, at least from a consumer POV.

The various SVOD services want you to stay within their apps and limit your viewership to their shows. They want to curate your entire television viewing experience, only in  doing so, they rely on the erroneous assumption that their app is the only app you ever watch.

Which is why, from a consumer-centric POV, the TV’s operating system should control the interface, should be where you search for shows, should be where the various streaming services promote their offerings.

That’s great for consumers, but not so great for streamers, who have a vested interest in keeping you within their walled garden where they can continue to pitch you on new offerings, serve you more and more ads, and closely monitor your viewing habits.

Most of which they fear they’d be unable to do if the OS interface took over.

It’s a conundrum in that the more confusing viewers find the streaming experience, the more likely they are to entertain themselves in other ways, whether that’s TikTok, Spotify or trying to get to Genius on Spelling Bee.

There’s also the whole bundling thing. Consumers who are paying for bundles of streaming services will expect those services to play nicely with each other. An expectation that will only rise when the bundle comes to them via their MVPD as part of a double or even triple play package.

That’s why it is in the interests of everyone to start cooperating—for the interface owners to give the app owners the sort of viewership data they need and the app owners to allow their programming to be accessible to the OS interface so that deep-linking (allowing the OS interface to link directly to the show in question rather than going through the front door of the app) is an option.

The key will be to create an interface that allows everyone in the equation to feel like they’re getting what they need, consumers in particular. That’s going to require a lot of negotiation and letting go, meaning I am not sure it is feasible, but if someone can actually solve for this, they will be putting a very meaningful win on the board.

What You Need To Do About It

If you are a viewer, don’t settle. You are the customer and the industry needs to provide you with an interface and overall viewing experience that meets your needs.

If you are an SVOD owner, you need to accept the fact that your viewers use a variety of streaming services. That means ensuring them a positive experience when they are in your app for sure, but also providing them with a positive experience on the operating system UX.

That can be everything from more information about the show, a way to bookmark it, or recommendations on what to watch next.

You also need to remember that Netflix and its amazing algorithm-driven interface made a lot of sense back in the day when streaming was not people’s primary way of watching TV and when Netflix was likely the only streaming app they used. In today’s viewing environment, walling off your app from the rest of the industry seems to add little real value.

If you are an OS owner, make sure that you are giving the app owners the data they need, providing them with a way to promote their new shows and that you’re customizing all your offerings based on what you know about their viewers. 

The easier you are to deal with, the more likely it will be that the SVOD services will be willing to collaborate. That’s going to involve some sweet talking and some hand holding, but in the end it will all be worth it.

Trust me.

2. WNBA Strikes Gold

The WNBA just signed a pretty amazing $2.2 billion 11 year rights deal with Disney (ESPN), NBCU and Amazon that will see their games broadcast on all of the aforementioned networks. 

Thank you Caitlin Clark. 

The current rights deal nets out to around $220 million annually. By contrast, the WNBA’s previous rights deal got them $50 million annually.

And while that huge disparity is sinking in, I’ll throw in this—the league isn’t done with its rights deals yet and expects to gain an additional $60 million annually when all is said and done, for a grand total of $280 million.

Why It Matters

First and foremost, that means more money for the players. A lot more money. 

One of the sad truths about the WNBA was that the players were severely underpaid, especially compared to their male counterparts. So now they’ll just be underpaid in comparison. Not “severely.”

The deal is significant however, in that interest in women’s sports is on the rise. The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), for instance, just signed a deal that will get them $240 million over four years. 

That’s a huge shift in the value of women’s sports in a short time and the impact on the television industry will be significant. (I’ll let someone else cover the impact on society.)

To begin with, sports properties will become more and more valuable to advertisers thanks to the 15,000 Merits situation, wherein affluent, more educated viewers do not watch, read or listen to ad-supported media… except during live sporting events. 

Given that a portion of the audience for women’s sports will be unreachable on men’s sports, that makes those women’s sporting events even more valuable.

Another big shift is that the more sports there are on TV, the more outlets there are for them. So while FAST services are unlikely to grab WNBA rights, smaller events like women’s lacrosse are most definitely in their wheelhouse. Those live events are valuable for all TV services, but especially for FASTs, where they can help to define the service and bring in more loyal audiences.

Finally, there’s the continued marriage of sports and TV. While some types of programming are okay to watch on a smartphone or tablet, sports programming really shines on a big screen TV. And so I suspect we will continue to see technological and interface advancements that make watching live sports on the big screen an even better experience.

What You Need To Do About It

If you are the NBA, make sure you continue to do everything you can to promote the WNBA. You’ve got an 11 year contract and if you play your cards right, the networks will be regretting how little money they are paying you for WNBA rights by the end of that.

If you are the WNBA, focus on fan outreach, on getting people to watch and to show up at the arena. Embrace shoulder content around your teams and players—the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, TN is due for a documentary. Maybe even a tournament. Hire smart marketing people—they’re more important than you realize.

If you are a FAST or smaller streaming service, there are a lot of women’s sports leagues out there with strong and loyal fan bases and bringing them on board will be good for your bottom line, for all the reasons listed earlier in this piece.

And if you are the WNBA—not just Caitlin Clark, but all the players who paved the way for her, all the coaches and assistant coaches and managers and front office types—take a bow. Job well done!