was watching Purdue vs Virginia game on Direct TV Now and first commercial break at end of game, they couldn't even get someone to pay for an ad. Instead got a "will be back soon" message.
How are they going to pay down debt if they can't even get advertisers for station breaks? No wonder there are so many layoffs. Is this new advertising division another failure?
Consider yourself lucky they didn't insert one of their own ads. They really s-u-c-k. Everyone involved in the campaign should be surplused.
A la carte is great, but a no-go for content owners. Just look at Disney...
In order to get ABC and Disney channels on a cable service, Disney mandates the cable companies to provide ESPN as "basic" cable. That requirement of ESPN adds an average of $2.50 to your bill. Everyone's bill.
Now guess how many cable subscribers across the U.S. actually tune in to ESPN??? Less than 25%.
So, in reality, the other 75% is subsidizing ESPN for the 25%. That s---s for the consumer. And it's welfare for the ESPN viewer.
Oh... And it's free and easy money for Disney.
A la carte is my preferred method, but won't happen for a long time. Content owners have too much to lose.
And don't even mention the unintended consequences of having to shutter channels that mathematically start to prove unprofitable.
I can hear it now... : "America is racist because I can't get BET on basic cable anymore!!!" "Why we gotta pay a premium to watch WE & BET & REVOLT??" "It's racist!!! Wahhhh!!! Wahhhh!!!! Wahhhh!!!"
Here comes Al & Jesse protesting and boycotting!!
Won't happen anytime soon.
One simple tweak would fix the DirecTV and DirecTvNow subscriber problem.
A-la-carte channel picking. Pick and pay for only the channels you want for a simple price per channel and done. Yes, some channels will cease to exist because so few people watch them but, if you don't have the subscribers to make your content viable, then you certainly don't need " package deals " to prop you up. It just makes everything that much more expensive for everyone else.
I've seen the same all weekend across multiple networks. Those slots are usually for some local advertising to be appear. Seems like someone messed up on the ad insertion
Huawei pulled their ads at the last minute.
Xander is gonna fix that with big data. Any day now the bucks are gonna start rolling in and the company will be saved. Workforce 2020 in action with Data Science to the rescue. Oh I crack myself up. :-)
I don’t pay a subscription to watch ads. You are messed up. If I see ads, I cancel.
I'm sure the company lies about how much money they can make through advertising. I saw them not be able to sell commercial time during an ESPN break. Why not put up a cell phone ad? An "ESPN will be right back" message only points out how pathetic they are.
It also makes me cringe to hear them say they can have targeted ads down the individual household. If they really are planning to do that, it makes me not want to own any of their products since they are not getting that data by you volunteering it to them.
Why would companies pay to advertise on DirecTV Now knowing that the subscription base is so low and will be even lower as subscribers continue to cancel?
On a streaming service it’s interactive too! Someone is really dropping the ball (pun intended).