Decline of Cable TV

 Quick question: do you have a cable TV subscription?

If so, you are one of a rapidly declining set of customers.

I cut the cord (a term for moving to internet-only, no cable TV) many years ago when my provider sent me a notice my monthly bill would be increasing by 39%  with no corresponding change in service.

That trend is accelerating. Cable TV is nearing end of life.

Here is a recent piece on that:

cord-cutting-all-time-high

Here is a snippet from that piece:

As streaming video continues its ascendancy, cable, satellite and internet TV providers in the U.S. turned in their worst subscriber losses to date in the first quarter of 2023 — collectively shedding 2.3 million customers in the period, according to analyst estimates.

Best Regards,

J.W. Gant

PS I watched a portion of the Celtics game 7 loss to the Heat last night at a friend's who has YouTube TV. Not bad. We "tuned in" TNT to watch it. Easy. I have a digital antenna at home for basic TV viewing and just skip events that aren't on the big channels.

PPS Thank you to arstechnica.com for pointing me to this story.

Probes of Big Tech Coming

This headline says quite a bit, especially given the toxic political environment in the United States today.

AG Barr Promise to Probe Big Tech Unites Democrats and Republicans

Well then.  I guess this is happening.

The question of technology's place in our world, in our society, our laws, our forms of government, and much more, has been growing as the impact becomes more understood.

What is government but a place where the voice of the people can be heard?

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0259 The TV Bundle

Best Reading of the Day

One of the more interesting ongoing stories in the Age of the Customer is the ongoing revolution in "Television".

Can we call it TV if we watch a streaming video on our phone?

Anyway ...

This great read tell the history, the current situation, and where we are headed.  Well worth your time.

https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/5/2/18518666/bundle-tv-hbo-disney-netflix-apple-amazon-war

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Now you have more TV than you could possibly watch, for less than $50 a month, and we haven’t even gotten to the free stuff yet. The only people who will feel truly left out here — besides people who work in the Television Industrial Complex — are the ones who want to watch live major league sports or live news from traditional TV networks.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

New Streaming Video Services

With the news from Apple's big event today you would think I would write about the new AppleTV streaming service.

Nah.

Amazon is the really interesting kid on the block to look at.

Why?

Data.

I've heard Amazon employees talk about swimming in oceans of data.  Outside looking in we have little idea what they have on us.  Let's take a small look at that and how it gives them a competitive advantage in streaming video services.

Read a part of the story here:

Facebook knows who you want to be, but Amazon knows who you really are,” says Alan Wolk, Co-Founder and Lead Analyst at TVREV, a TV- and advertising-focused analyst group. “People may like Starbucks on Facebook even if they only go three times a year, but Amazon knows they have a standing order for Maxwell House. The advantage for a lot of these franchises is, Amazon can sell a lot of merchandise and a lot of ads.”

That point extends far beyond The Lord of the Rings. Sports content is another big entertainment focus; Prime members can stream Thursday Night Football. Last week, the company also reportedly reached a deal with the New York Yankees and Sinclair Broadcasting to purchase the YES Network.

“Amazon knows who’s tuned into the Giants game,” says Wolk. “When Eli Manning goes for a touchdown, they can put jerseys on sale and see if people buy them if they’re $38 or $40. Do they buy two minutes after the touchdown or five? It’s scary how much they know about everyone.”

Here is the full story:

https://www.clickz.com/amazon-entertainment-advantages/228248/

Here is a piece on how Apple's new streaming service might lead to an Apple Prime membership:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/why-apples-streaming-video-service-should-lead-to-apple-prime-subscription-bundle/

Oh, and, here is a piece on AppleTV's new streaming service:

https://thenextweb.com/plugged/2019/03/25/apple-tv-gets-an-overhaul-is-now-available-on-more-devices/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0259 Regulating Technology

Best Reading of the Day

"Robber Barons"

That's what they were called.

In the late 1800s they industrialists who used questionable methods to get rich came to be known as robbers. 

Here is a bit more on that subject:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robber_baron_(industrialist)

That is the language now in use to describe Google, Facebook, Amazon and more who have convinced the masses of the population to hand over their valuable personal data for free.  Time for regulations of these giants in technology?  There is an argument to be made.

Read more here:

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611425/its-time-to-rein-in-the-data-barons/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

When Mark Zuckerberg appeared before Congress earlier this year to discuss how the now-defunct political-data company Cambridge Analytica acquired data of up to 87 million Facebook users without their knowledge or consent, one of the few pointed questions came from Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina. “Who’s your biggest competitor?” Graham demanded. After Zuckerberg replied that Google, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft all had some overlap with various Facebook products, Graham chafed at the answer.

“If I buy a Ford and it doesn’t work well and I don’t like it,” pressed the senator, “I can buy a Chevy. If I’m upset with Facebook, what’s the equivalent product I can go sign up for?”

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Welcome Alphabet, Move Over Google

In a quiet and, for many, very surprising late-day announcement yesterday the company named 'Google' has just been radically re-organized.

Say hello to Alphabet.

Google as a company will continue within the the superstructure provided by the parent company Alphabet, as will a collection of other companies.

Here is a story from the Silicon Valley Journal:

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2015/08/10/google-names-new-ceo-under-new-company-led-by-page.html

Here is a snippet from that piece:

"For Sergey and me this is a very exciting new chapter in the life of Google — the birth of Alphabet," Page wrote in a blog post. “We liked the name Alphabet because it means a collection of letters that represent language, one of humanity’s most important innovations, and is the core of how we index with Google search.”

The company announced the moves after the market closed on Monday. Google shares traded about 6 percent higher in after-hours trading around 3:33 p.m. Pacific time.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0218 Netflix Redesign

Best Reading of the Day

I've been sitting on this one for a few days since finding it over the weekend.  It is a great read though. Which digital video streaming service do you currently use?  Hulu?  Amazon?  Netflix?  HBO? YouTube?

Here is a great read on Netflix.

What do you do if you design a system that is used by 10 people?  Chat with them and see how it works, maybe make some minor adjustments, and plan on the next big update to help them out.  What about if you have 10 million people using that system, or many more like say 62 million?

That becomes a pretty big challenge right?  Sure is.  Read more here.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/22/8642359/the-science-behind-the-new-netflix-design

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Back in March, a developer named Renan Cakirerk wrote a small piece of code that made a big impact on Netflix. Cheekily named "god mode," it addressed one of the most annoying aspects of trying to use Netflix in your browser: scrolling through the company's ever-growing list of movies. Once enabled, it would simply give you one, big list. Instead of sitting there, holding your mouse in anticipation, you could simply find the title you wanted and get on with watching.

The web lit up with stories hailing it as a crowning achievement of little-guy ingenuity. TechCrunch called it a fix for a "wonderful problem." CNET dutifully noted that it "saves you from the slow monotonous horizontal scrolling." Mashable, meanwhile asked, "Are you listening, Netflix?"

Inside Netflix, though, god mode was old news. In fact, the company had already tried it out on thousands of unsuspecting users years earlier. And it was a total disaster.

Good stuff.  I like the A/B testing at play there.  Release it to a scientifically controlled sample size with a control group and analyze the results.  Is the impact significant?  If so, in what way?  Does it "help" or "hurt" the user experience?

I'm a user of Netflix after coming back in to the fold recently.  I hadn't used them for years since I previously received DVDs through the postal service.  I like the digital service and am blown away by the 4K presentation of shows like 'House of Cards' on my fancy new LG set.  Good stuff and a fun company to follow.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

YouTube for Kids - Brilliant!

Have kids?  Thought so.  Do you find them constantly getting a hold of one or more of your devices such as your smart phone, and doing whatever they can while they have it in hand?  Yeap.

YouTube knows this as well and is releasing a kid-friendly app just for them, and for the parents out there.  Brilliant!

http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/youtube-kid-friendly-app

Here is a snippet from that piece:

YouTube is set to release a new app next week called YouTube Kids that will contain only child-appropriate content and feature a kid-friendly interface with big icons and minimal scrolling.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Twitter Video and HBO's Video Streaming Struggles

Two more stories are interesting news to read over.

First up is Twitter providing mobile video.

http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/social-networks/19722.html

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Twitter hopes the introduction of native mobile video will boost the number of people who use its service, supplementing its new search partnership with Google and other moves aimed at broadening its appeal.

With its recent rollout of native video, which allows users to capture, edit and share videos within the Twitter mobile application, Twitter is taking its cue from Facebook, which is pressuring YouTube as the go-to destination to upload and watch video.

Next is a piece on the struggles of HBO to go to a streaming service model.

http://recode.net/2015/01/29/hbo-tech-executives-leave-ahead-of-internet-launch-as-networks-strategy-changes/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

The original plan discussed by the network’s top executives was to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to develop a sophisticated streaming platform that would make HBO, one of the best-known premium channels in the United States, capable of challenging streaming video services from Netflix and Amazon head-on. Berkes, who was also a cofounder of Xbox, was a key part of that ambitious project — he had been hired by HBO in 2011 to set up a new office in Seattle, initially hiring 80 engineers with plans to grow much bigger.

The idea was that the technology would support not only HBO but potentially other Time Warner offerings, such as Turner Broadcasting and Warner Bros.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Comcast Sales Metrics

Waitaminute, the service support staff is supposed to sell, sell, sell?!!?

Hadn't we figured that out?

I think there is no question this has been the case for some time with some of the major service providers but this story tells the inside details we always suspected.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/19/6028059/training-materials-show-how-comcast-pushes-customer-service-reps-to

I first found this story over on ArsTechnica:

http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/08/leaked-comcast-employee-metrics-show-what-we-figured-sell-or-perish/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Media attention and fallout from Comcast’s viral customer service missteps continue to plague the country’s largest Internet service provider. First there was Ryan Block’s ludicrous cancellation call, then Comcast refused to refund invalid fees for Tim Davis until he caught the company in a lie, and then Comcast kept Aaron Spain on hold for three hours, long enough for the customer service lines to close and leave Spain in limbo.

Each instance has been met with a swift response from Comcast’s PR group after going viral, but quick, reactionary responses don’t do anything to fix the underlying problems. Leaked documents obtained by The Verge (full PDF) paint a portrait of exactly how broken things are in Comcast call centers throughout the country, and the documents confirm what current and former Comcast employees have been saying for the past few weeks: selling services is a required part of the job, even for employees doing tech support.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE** It feels like the floodgates have opened.  Here is a new story about a poor customer service call.  This one was recorded for YouTube, lasted nearly 2 hours, and had the caller go through 6 different reps without getting an answer to his issue.
http://bgr.com/2014/08/20/why-is-comcast-so-bad-15/

Shameless PayPal Plug

Have been having discussions about the capabilities of BLE and Beacon/iBeacon technology and thought it was a good time to capture a couple very illuminating spots created by PayPal.

Reality is different, so far, from what is being shown here but it sure gets the wires clicking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8h_i8qv1FY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBLdOIRSvQU

Enjoy!

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0131 YouTube Recipes

First Pinterest, now YouTube for recipes.

Yes.  Recipes.

Google is out with a self-serving piece about engagement with Generation Y, "Millenials", and their eating habits.

http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/millennials-eat-up-youtube-food-videos.html

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Whether consumers are looking for a flatbread recipe or watching their favorite foodie celebrity, food is thriving on YouTube. New research from Millward Brown Digital, Firefly and Google delves into how YouTube is fueling the foodie fan culture, with insights into the audiences who devour food videos. They’re tuning in to watch videos that inspire, educate or entertain. They’re loyal, passionate and highly engaged, powering a 280% growth in food channel subscriptions over the past year.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0067 Black Friday by Google

Google Think Insights is out with another excellent write-up.  This one speaks to Black Friday and the importance of the multi-platform approach to retail.

http://www.google.com/think/articles/black-friday-multiday-multidevice-event.html

Here is a snippet from the writing:

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are no longer one-day events. Facing a shorter holiday season, retailers rolled out deals earlier than ever this year, and shoppers followed suit. In fact, people were searching for Cyber Monday deals as early as Thanksgiving Day when "Cyber Monday" was a top trending search on Google. What else does our data show? Not only did consumers start early, but they also hunted for deals all weekend long, often on mobile devices. Tech gifts dominated and vloggers shared their finds in “haul videos” on YouTube. Savvy advertisers are tracking these trends to inform and improve their efforts all season long.

Happy reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0038 Excellence

Econsultancy.com has an excellent article up titled:

10 Inspiring Uses of Mobile in Retail

This is really a great piece.  The examples are fantastic.

One really stood out to me:

Meatpack: Hijack

This one is genius and resulted in the 'hijacking' of more than 600 customers from rival retailer's stores, who must have hated it. 

Meatpack is a shoe store in Guatemala, known for its edgy style and for being down with the kids. 

It used GPS technology to detect users of its app when they were in competitor stores, before sending them a message with a discount. 

It would start at 99% and drop by 1% every second. So, the faster users got to a store, the better the discount. 

Are you kidding me??!!??  Customers were literally running out of the store to go to Meatpack, sprinting across the mall to get their discount.

Brilliant!

Here is the complete article including a YouTube clip of the Meatpack example:

http://econsultancy.com/tn/blog/63446-10-inspiring-uses-of-mobile-in-retail

Happy reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0037 The Participation Age

Google is out with another study.  If you haven't begun doing so you should really check out Google Think.  I've linked to the best articles and studies from there already, in my blog for your convenience, but you may find other articles interesting as well.

This is the first of a three part study on how to build an engagement engine, or a way to engage with your customers.

build-your-engagement-engine-part-1

Here is a bit from the article:

Marketing has changed. Once, offering killer creative was enough. Now that’s just the first act. In the participation age, consumers want an opportunity to tell brands what they think of their content — and expect brands to prove they’re listening. In the first article of a three-part series, David Mogensen, Head of Brand Engagement for YouTube and a former brand marketer for a Global Fortune 500 company, highlights some of the ways marketers are prioritizing engagement in their media planning through a combination of nimble media, ads consumers choose, and longer campaign windows.

Happy reading,

J.W. Gant