Category: Multichannel News Blog

In late 2017, after two years of research, analysis, and writing, The Carmel Group published the first in-depth report about what we term the Broadband Wireless Access, or “BWA” industry. Many traditionalists still call it the fixed wireless industry. The full 23-page “2017 BWA Report” can be downloaded for free at this link: TCG 2017 BWA Full Report Yet, the… Read More

Pay TV operators and equipment vendors are facing remarkable new changes, as TV consumers increasingly become “cord cutters” and migrate away from cable and satellite providers toward cellular/mobile and fixed-wireless providers. Understanding the latter two pay TV competitors thus becomes ever more critical to managing today’s cable and satellite TV landscapes. Some very interesting data points have emerged within the… Read More

Denver chapter’s session draws big crowd Sometimes a view to the future of TV, video and data delivery comes in odd ways, and from unusual sources. One key to keeping abreast of those changes is to keep a wide-open and broadly curious mind so that when — often most subtly — they do arise, they are capable of capture and… Read More

Part 2: Technology-enabled shifts in the distribution ecosphere Following up on six trends driving the future of content, here are six technology-enabled developments that are driving how television content is distributed and consumed.   1. More (and Smarter) Devices Both mobile and stationary devices will continue to populate the home, business and travel lives of Americans. That’s because we like it!… Read More

Part 1: Developments affecting the content side An awful lot of  telecom, media, entertainment — and especially video — companies find themselves in a rather chaotic business these days. In Part One of a two part series, following are six video and TV trends affecting the content side of the business. (Next week’s Part Two will focus more broadly on… Read More

Traditional Pilots vs. Viewer Measurement Few know and appreciate that one of the best examples of the power, indeed the magic, of modern data analytics is Netflix’s series House of Cards (HOC).   Indeed, HOC registers as one of the most successful TV and video programming introductions of all time. Yet, what is most remarkable is how HOC was developed and introduced. As HOC star Kevin Spacey explained in… Read More

Consolidation, Diversification Rule the Day It is wise to occasionally remind readers of the reason behind this column’s name, “Mixed Signals.”   “Mixed Signals” got its name because so many of the video silos we construct to help us understand and organize the chaotic video marketplace are rather artificial. This is another way of saying that the businesses and signals… Read More

Ad-Blocking App Misses the Point   It was one of those “Ah-ha” moments. It then turned quickly into an out-loud “What!!!???” moment.   The San Francisco Bay Area’s KGO radio station was talking over-the-air with an anonymous technology editor, labeled an “expert” on the topic of advertising. It was mid-afternoon last Friday, Sept. 18.   The topic was ad-blocking, specifically… Read More

Is A La Carte a Fairy-Tale Answer to Choice in American Pay TV? As children, the concept of “free choice” is introduced to us quite early, in the form of the classic folk fairy tale “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” Yet, the simplicity of those “big,” “medium” and “small” choices belies the complexity behind the video viewing pastime enjoyed by… Read More

Devices Trend Toward Providing Answers, Entertainment (Plus More Democracy) Everywhere Watching hundreds of middle- and lower-income citizens of greater Chicago while in town for INTX earlier in this month — often riding the ‘L’ train in and around the Windy City — I was pointed to a wonderful example of technology giving the greater mass of people greater power, and… Read More