It’s time for industry watchers to redefine the way they look at cord-cutting.
Since people first started cutting cable the prevailing way to describe what was happening was that people were getting rid of expensive services in favor of niche services or on-demand services that cost a fraction of the overall cost of things like cable and satellite service. It looks like a lifestyle change of sorts.
But with the emergence the modern cable replacements it seems obvious by the numbers that there is a substantial segment the cord cutting population that doesn’t mind ponying up a good chunk of change every month for the channels they enjoy. This is the only way to explain what is happening with fubo TV at the moment. While its backers can talk about value propositions the truth is that fubo TV the most expensive cable cable replacement service on the market. It starts at $64.00 per month but jumps to $79.00 for its more inclusove package that includes a 1000 hiur Looking at 1st quarter results across the industry fubo TV gained more subscribers than any other service that provides live TV in a traditional manner. Also of note another service that gained subscribers this quarter was YouTube TV. YouTube TV at $64.99 is also on the higher price range then others in the same space.
AT&T TV* -74K
fuboTV +43K
Hulu with Live TV -200K
Sling TV -100K
YouTube TV * +5K
fubo TV will be making some interesting moves this year including integration of sports betting into their TV service. That move alone could bring in a totally new audience and can provide a powerful branding advantage going forward even if other services pick up on the same kind of idea later.
Google TV has famously been associated with sports since its Inception as a international soccer destination. But with the inclusion of ESPN sports Networks that added to a collection that included Fox Sports regional Sports networks the NFL Network NBA TV the tennis channel the golf channel and so one along with support for broadcast networks that also Terry major sports like the NFL and NASCAR fubo TV has solidified that space.
Could it be that the biggest problem with cable television is not so much the price as it is frustration with contracts or lack of away from the home? Those are two issues that fubo TV customers don’t have to deal with. But of course all of their competitors offer the same perk.
It is worth paying attention to over the rest of 2021 to see if the service can maintain this early momentum.
