Tag: entertainment attorney Los Angeles

HBO Max and YouTube partner with Spectrum TV

Spectrum Guide will be rolling out both YouTube and HBO Max on eligible devices throughout their service areas, allowing them to be accessed centrally from the Spectrum TV platform. It’s yet another sign of the evolving digital landscape we now produce entertainment in, so we sought out Brandon Blake, entertainment lawyer Los Angeles at Blake & Wang P.A, to break the implications down further for us.

Brandon Blake

Customers will now be able to tune directly to both streamers through eligible Spectrum Devices using Spectrum Internet. The HBO Max side of the deal alone will allow Spectrum customers access to well over 13,000 hours of WarnerMedia content, including subsidiaries like Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, and, of course, HBO. A subscription to the streamer will still be needed for viewers, but they can organize this directly through Spectrum if interested.

YouTube, of course, is a little different from the average streaming service. It won’t carry a separate subscription cost by default, although there are premium tiers people can consider. It will instead allow users to access the hottest aspects of ‘social media video’ through their TVs, as well as allowing them to stream it in 4k through their TVs.

With Roku and YouTube still sitting very uneasily with each other, this does offer Spectrum TV a unique chance to gain some extra traction in the market. YouTube, particularly, has been a drawcard for the smart device industry, and is loosely considered an essential by many in the market. HBO Max has become an attractive on-demand service as well, with WarnerMedia finally able to play at the top tiers of streaming society alongside Netflix and Disney. As with Netflix, they’re also trying to further expand their originals market with new content, all to gain extra market position in a crowded environment

It’s a neat two-for-one deal from SpectrumTV, and one that will doubtless prove enticing for shoppers looking for great deals on compatible devices as we head into the year-end frenzy of gadget buying. Will it gain extra traction as an OTT internet TV service? That remains to be seen.

Roku reached 55 million active users

This week we see Roku reveal that 1.5 million new active accounts have been added during the second quarter, bringing the overall total to 55.1 million active users. All the same, their balance sheet shows a slight decline in growth as we emerge into the post-pandemic landscape. Entertainment attorney Los Angeles Brandon Blake looks deeper into what these numbers could mean for future growth.

Overall net revenue for Roky topped out at $645M for Q2, with $338M of that as profit. Yet we also see player gross profit fall off badly, with a 180% year-on-year decrease and a $6.7M hole in their pockets. Streaming hours also lagged behind Q1 by 1 billion hours, although when the overall total was 17.4 billion, that’s not all that bad in context. 

The driving factors for the decline are also logical. Out-of-home entertainment has been a big focus for people in developed countries as vaccine programs lead to the easing of pandemic restrictions. A broader dip in streaming and overall TV hours is being seen across the board, and even the Roku CFO noted this. Overall, streaming hours on active accounts appear to be leveling out at 3.5 hours a day, similar to Roku’s own pre-COVID levels and suggesting a solid entrenchment in the market that should continue to deliver well.

More positively for their bottom line, monetized ad impressions have doubled year-on-year, indicative that mainstream marketing has finally noticed the potential of streamers. Roku itself also added the Quibi library to their own, rebranded as Roku Originals, and Roku seem very happy with the acquisition. With 8 shiny Emmy nominations for Roku Original shows, it’s hard to argue. Intriguingly, stats suggest that many of the users coming on board for the new content are first-time viewers, too, suggesting a broadened market appeal through the acquisition.

Overall, while there is some slackening on the pandemic boom, Roku’s balance sheet and future profile are looking strong.