TV Everywhere could be the just what the doctor ordered to lure cord cutters and cord nevers back to the pay cable universe, a panel of programmers and marketers told The Cable Show in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Providers and networks need to stop fighting about whose app viewers should use, and just embrace the different ways in which viewers want to consume TV if they want to retain their business.
“It’s of the utmost importance that our companies collectively promote the value of the TV bundle, and I think TV Everywhere is a great place to start to get into the mix with the cord cutters and the cord nevers,” said Jamia Bigalow, senior vice president of distribution marketing for Fox Networks. “We have to get to their sweet spot. I think it’s about getting in front of those people and showing them the value if you were to add up what they spend on cable and all of their over-the-top services. I think that’s an interesting comparison.”
Bigalow said that Fox Networks recently partnered with Charter Communications on various college campuses in an effort to reach younger consumers who may not be natural cable subscribers to promote both TV Everywhere apps and available bundles.
Rori Peters, TVOne’s senior vice president of national account and field sales strategy, said that the industry needed to stop looking at provider apps and network apps as being in conflict.
“I think that if the distributor promotes it as a simple aggregated place from which to get all their wonderful content in one space, and then the individual networks know that viewers can also get what they want over there [at their apps], then I don’t think they’re in conflict.”
Chris Brush, senior vice president of affiliate sales and marketing at Disney and ESPN Media Networks thinks data is king, too, when it comes to figuring out how to lure consumers back.
“I think there are opportunities to leverage data from people who may have left your service—if they were a big sports fan or had Showtime, for instance. How do we create programs to attract them back?” Brush said.
Pulling all content down from Netflix and other streaming services isn’t a solution either, Peters said. Because at the end of the day, some consumers are just different.
“You have to acknowledge that everyone is looking for something different. You’ll go where the content is that you’re looking for. But I don’t necessarily believe that one cannibalizes the other,” Peters said.
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