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> Case in point: There is no Comfast Xfinity or Dish style subscription that is online only that doesn't require a cable box or dish as your primary source of r

> Case in point: There is no Comfast Xfinity or Dish style subscription that is online only that doesn't require a cable box or dish as your primary source of reception. But certain content owners are catering to the internet only crowd. Check out the NHL's Gamecenter Live offering. Sure it's on the pricey side (like most on-demand sporting content), but it actually goes beyond simple streaming and makes use of the richness of the platform with customizable PiP, pause, rewind and a visual break down of the timeline of the game with goals, penalties, other noteworthy events highlighted by a small timeline at the bottom of the viewer. It's pretty slick... when it works (reliability is still an issue) and they went ahead and implemented region based blackouts that really don't translate well to the watch anywhere - anytime pitch of the product.

Terretta 15y ago
The NHL is a great example. We carried their games as streaming for years (until Akamai purchased the company that was reselling us), allowing you to listen to every single game, everywhere in North America, every game day. It was like NFL's season tickets on DirectTV, but for hockey. Fans love that. The content owners who realize they can market mass audience content through traditional "channels" while also marketing niche content at a premium through direct "over the top" streaming, and that the niche offering does not cannibalize the mainstream offering, are showing the way. NHL's less popular games, Champs car racing multiple cameras, Tour de France full coverage -- all these offer the die hard fan something more than they can get on TV, so the fans go for both. We had fun working in the late 90's with the World Wrestling Federation whose shows were popular enough the cable companies wouldn't drop them even if they were made available as streaming. A given PPV was priced the same on cable and on Internet, meaning the only people who bought it from us were the people who couldn't get it on their cable system. The lift was significant and more than paid for production and bandwidth, back when bandwidth cost 100x what it does today. Over the top can be a massive revenue driver when used to supplement or support your TV offering. Here's hoping more rights holders at least get the idea they can have tiers of content released appropriately.

Terretta 15y ago

The NHL is a great example. We carried their games as streaming for years (until Akamai purchased the company that was reselling us), allowing you to listen to every single game, everywhere in North America, every game day. It was like NFL's season tickets on DirectTV, but for hockey. Fans love that. The content owners who realize they can market mass audience content through traditional "channels" while also marketing niche content at a premium through direct "over the top" streaming, and that the niche offering does not cannibalize the mainstream offering, are showing the way. NHL's less popular games, Champs car racing multiple cameras, Tour de France full coverage -- all these offer the die hard fan something more than they can get on TV, so the fans go for both. We had fun working in the late 90's with the World Wrestling Federation whose shows were popular enough the cable companies wouldn't drop them even if they were made available as streaming. A given PPV was priced the same on cable and on Internet, meaning the only people who bought it from us were the people who couldn't get it on their cable system. The lift was significant and more than paid for production and bandwidth, back when bandwidth cost 100x what it does today. Over the top can be a massive revenue driver when used to supplement or support your TV offering. Here's hoping more rights holders at least get the idea they can have tiers of content released appropriately.