http://mashable.com/2012/04/04/cut-the-tv-cord/

The report they quote says 3.58 million will cut by end of 2012.

$ up for grabs.

Nflix
Amzn
Aapl
Goog

(sorry posting from phone)

Today’s article in The Wrap shows the evidence that a LOT of people aren’t doing cable and Netflix. Cord Cutting Is Real: 1 Million Subscribers Lost. They are forgoing cable and assembling their entertainment diet from Netflix, iTunes and Amazon Prime Instant Play and the like. 

We are really at the precious right now. A lot of people are becoming very au fait with how to navigate video streaming and download services and the upcoming Apple and Google TV’s will make it a lot easier. When these services become even easier for Mums and Dads to use, expect an increase in usage. I would suggest that PS3 and Xbox streaming dont make much of a difference because they are too hard to get critical mass or really move the dial. 

The Time Warner Guide is still the worst the thing I have see in the digital age. How do they even have that up in there foyer. This ugly blue and yellow thing with ugly fonts and no real pictures to get you excited about content. This is especially prevalent when you scroll the Movies On Demand. Do it for yourself and it is really hard to pick something because they all look so boring as just vanilla Helvetica type faces.

The login process for the Time Warner digital services like their iPad app etc is a complete and utter fiasco. You have to get customer numbers from invoices - which is separate from an invoice number and its a number that customer service representatives cannot give over the phone. This is the problem with having technical people who want to do things “right” versus “commercial” kill your demand. They would rather it that way. You need commercial people in there that get it and see the personality reasons for those people wanting to do it that way.. and then smash it to pieces. Need people who get it making the decisions - and to make decisions you need to know where the fucked up points are. You really just need to keep using it yourself and smash everyone out of the way until you get it to a point where you are addicted to it. 

My feeling is that there are 4 circuit breakers that are keeping people hooked to cable now but could get them to cut if they go away. 3 are still on TV, 1 of them is already transitioning away. 

1) Late Night Shows (Letterman, Leno etc)

2) Premium Cable Shows: HBO, Showtime etc do not allow their programs to be downloaded until well after the season is finished. 

3) Morning Shows: The Today Show etc. 

4) ESPN: The Watch ESPN app is very cool. Currently it is tied to you being a cable subscriber - but I am sure that will go away with time. 

** One last thing I will throw in. MLB.TV is a prime example of a pile of content that you can connect with without having a cable relationship. I think most sports will go this way as their contracts cycle out with major providers. Or the providers are going to have to pay even bigger dollars. 

The point is - it is all up for grabs. The people who will win will be half innovation slave, half slave to what consumers want. 

Amazon is building an eco system similar to that of Apple. Merging software with goods for sale. The piece they are missing the mobile software piece at the moment. They will either look to partner with a Microsoft/Nokia Lumio or create their own. It would actually be smart for Google to abandon doing their own music and streaming programs and take a big chunk of Amazon revenue. Google Wallet will never be Amazon Prime in my opinion. 

More to come on this.. But try using these:

Try using the following: 

Amazon Prime Instant Streaming 

Amazon Cloud Player

Amazon Kindle 

Amazon Storage 

Pinterest all seems cute, really. And a lot of people are rolling their eyes with, “Oh, another Twittery new thing that will be dead in a second.” So wrong. This thing is huge and making massive money already. Which is not like early stage social media sites at all. 

You “pin” photos that link to their place on the web (most important part - read on) to your own board and share it with friends. 

From the other side, it all seems big dollars, really. 

Each time you create a board, you are creating a store for Pinterest. Here is how they make money. 

- When you pin a photo, Pinterest checks with their affiliate marketing partner called Skimlinks if that site has an affiliate deal. 

- Pinterest then changes the link to that photo to include their affiliate ID for that site that photo was originally from. 

- So, when any traffic goes back to the site where the pic originally came from, Pinterest will take a clip of any sales that are derived from the visit. 

- Affilate deals range from 5%-25% of sales.. Often depending on volume. Pinterest is already driving HUGE traffic. 

- Oh, and you just thought it was a cute little click around your friends pics site… 

Genius. 

Also, shows that lead generation is where the real money is the online world. 

If you want to come up with an idea, just figure out ways you can get in between buyers and sellers and take a clip. 

Explained further here at Learnvest

Cutting Cord Cable

In this article about the “Uncertain Future Of The QR Code” you can hear the last whimper. 

A lot of people think something is worthwhile just because it is new. They want to sound smart and they see a rational reason why it could work. The reality is, most things dont work out and very become trends are widely used. And when I say widely used, I mean enough to impact a business. 

So, now if/when QR codes come up in a meeting, you can confidently say, “Lets not use it because QR codes are dead.”

Reason ? Well, the fact that no one uses it is a pretty big one. 

Not because they have to be… but because they do not innovate. 

(Following on from my original post “Beginning Of End For Dumb Cable Companies. Move Now Or Die” In August 2011)

They see themselves as “cable companies” instead of “entertainment access” companies with billing relationships with millions of customers. Their best form of defense right now would be to go on the offense and cannibalize their own products in some instances all to protect that billing relationship they have. Once it is gone, they will never get it back. What is going to happen next ? See down the bottom…

Where Did 9 Million Subscribers Go ? (AllThingsD)

The obsession with bundling and selling 140 channels of which people only watch 5 to 8 will be the death of them. Personally, apart from Brian Roberts at Comcast who has divested into content with NBC Universal, I do not see anyone at Time Warner or Comcast or Verizon with the balls to do any of this. Every cable and entertainment company argues that a la carte programming i.e. picking and choosing by channel, will destroy the industry and result in deterioration of choice and quality of news, sport and entertainment for the consumer. This is bs in so many ways. Imagine asking the government to protect your profit and fat cat spending with a straight face. Oh no, no more private jets to meet with a super star about being in a movie you have just paid $10 million dollars for the right for… and will probably go nowhere. Give me a break. Like what happened to the music industry,  the filmed entertainment industry has been heading for a smack in the head for a long time. Its coming. Big time. And no, filmed entertainment doesn’t have the touring option to fall back on.

Cable companies are trying to force people to stay in the past with them. They are depending on people being too lazy/dumb to be bothered with new technology…. and the really dirty secret is that they believe that people just can’t be bothered calling to cancel. 

They should obsess about what/how consumers will consume content in the future and mould themselves around that. Instead of trying to milk the investment they have made in infrastructure. They should be thinking and acting about owning how people access content and services and either move first or aggressively second. How Netflix has grown up in front of them is very much like watching how Red Bull ate Pepsi and Coke’s lunch. How did that company grow into a $20 billion company in front of their eyes when they relied on stealing shelf space from those two big dinosaurs???

So what is going to happen next ?

An iTunes model where you can cobble together your entertainment diet based on smaller transactions. Buy a season, buy by month, buy by year etc. 

http://dontlistentothis.tumblr.com/post/8741419469/beginning-of-end-for-dumb-cable-companies-move-now-or

http://allthingsd.com/20120105/where-did-nine-million-cable-subscribers-go/

Not sure about you, but it was as if Bartz and Yahoo were preparing for the day she would be fired from her first day at work. Bartz/Yang felt like Ovitz/Eisner all over again. And we all know after Yang singlehandedly ruined the Microsoft $33 bid for Yahoo (they now trade around $13) we all know that whatever goes right is Yangs work and whatever doesn’t, is someone else’s fault. he has made his money. He is now just trying to get his name up next to the Zuck, Jobs and Gates.

What always pisses me off in these situations is that the board that hired the obvious debacle of a situation were saying they were right back then AND right now.

Anyone, including Blind Freddy, could see that she was not the right fit. There is next to never any blame apportioned to the people that hired her in the first place. She acted in a way that was very true to her past behavior. She went to their plan. She did not fail, they did.

Solution:

- Make people pay for their past decisions. In a good and bad way. If it goes well, pay them for it.

- Attach an incoming CEO’s success to the payment of the board making the decision.

It has just been announced that cable companies have lost a record amount of subscribers for the April-June period. 

Note that I said for “dumb” cable companies. 

This is the clearest signal that things are changing for the very worst for cable companies. Do not for one second believe that unemployment or a sluggish market is causing cable cutting. Trust me, people would give up their left leg before getting their entertainment fix. This is due to other options like Netflix, iTunes and Hulu. It would be like Hotmail saying back in the day that people wont really switch to Gmail for extra storage space. 

Solutions For Smart Cable Companies - NB Have to be acted on now. 24 months from now will be too late. 

- The cable companies need to use the connection they have to household for more than delivering streams of channels. What about recommendation engines, “checking in” on programs you are watching. 

- They need to get rid of their programming guides. Programs and movies look so boring in the oldest text font you can find. Look at Netflix!!!

- Remove the idea that you have physical cable out of the picture. It is no longer a unique selling point. The same way Netflix is dropping DVD for streaming… Move, move, move. 

- Hire strong executives that are tied to subscriber and stock price. Someone who is accountable AND in control. (Steve Jobs went back on a $1 salary so no salary taking person could ever really question his commitment)

- Create powerful applications for content providers like ESPN to use that consumers will actually use. So that means drop this stupid obsession with 3D and get social. People like to watch together. Google Hangouts! How could cable companies miss this insight ?  

(Disclaimer: I do not own or plan to buy Netflix, Apple or cable company stock. I am long Disney)

Want likes and followers? Run contests, give product away at 60% off.

Basically all big social media programs start with WIN.

Want to keep your job and talk about actual profit? Well, you need to think about it. It seems as though that cuts out 90% of the workforce.

To be in the 10%, you need to think about business. Which is defined by selling goods or services at more than it costs to make and market them. That’s called proit. And its the point of business.

The whole point of business is to widen the gap between the bottom line (costs) and top line (revenue).

Start to try and explain all your ideas with how your or your clients business makes money. Then how your idea drives that.

I firmly believe that selling your good or service as a good idea is the toughest but most lucrative endeavor. Set a price and stick to it. Sure there may be offers now and then but shouldn’t become the way you move 60% of your product.

Entertain and educate. Prove, in a profitable way , that you are a great part of people’s lives.

For godssakes, stop the cheap grabs for likes. They are mostly contest people who just roam from page to page to win… and who will most certainly not buy your product at full price.