While listening to TWiG this morning I came up with an idea regarding IPTV, set-top boxes, over-the-top programming, and whatever the other current buzzwords are for this kind of thing. I just wanted to throw it out there and see what people thought.
More and more people are cord-cutting (myself included, since about 2008) in favor of Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, and things like that. To combat this is that the networks have all started their own services, or are planning to. So you can watch HBO for $15 a month, ESPN for $7, etc. (I think those numbers are actually different, but whatever.) If you just watch one or two of those services it's not bad, but eventually you're going to want 15 or 20 channels and the next thing you know you're going to be back to paying $200 a month, but instead of getting 1000 channels you'll only have the 15.
Apple, Google, and now it looks like YouTube are all trying to create some kind of cable-replacement service, but are having trouble getting deals made because they, rightly, want to make sure their service doesn't cost $200 a month, and the networks, understandably, don't want to lose out on the money they're currently making off the cable companies.
What if someone were to create a set-top box (like the Apple TV or Sling or whatever) that had access to dozens or hundreds of cable channels, and offered a revenue share with the channels? So, for example, let's say the service costs $12 a month. (Pulling numbers out of my ass here.) The company would keep $4 per month per subscriber, and the remaining $8 per subscriber would be paid to the networks on the system, divided up based on how often each one was watched.
So, for example, Customer X watched 100 hours of TV last month. Assuming we'd have to start making deals with the more obscure networks since I doubt HBO and ESPN would ever go for this (at least at first), let's say that Customer X spent 30 hours watching The Mold Channel, 20 hours watching Prison TV, and 50 hours watching The Trampoline Network. Then The Mold Channel would get 30% of Customer X's $8 ($2.40), Prison TV gets 20% ($1.60), and The Trampoline Network gets 50% ($4).
So the more popular networks would make the most money since they'd be watched the most, and being digital we can get accurate metrics to the second of who watched what. And the less popular networks would still be listed on the service next to the big guys to help expand their audience.
The problem is this is not an area I have any kind of experience nor expertise in. So what I want is for you guys to shoot this idea down so I don't waste any more mental energy on it. :)
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