TV Analyst: Kids Love Netflix, And Disney Should Break Them Of That Nasty Habit
from the future-proof dept
The broadest, most obvious trend in media consumption is the shift to an on-demand world, where content is available when you want it on whatever device you're using. In the day-to-day, this gets lost behind neverending squabbles about licensing, and severely limited offerings accompanied by bold statements about embracing technology—but in the long run, what's happening couldn't be any more clear. Any long-term strategy for relevance and success in the world of media has to embrace that momentum by building new business models around such distribution schemes, while gracefully dismantling the business models that rely on dying habits and the limitations of antiquated technology.
Or, you can attempt to reshape the cultural norms of future generations by going to the source: kids. At least that's what analyst Todd Juenger suggests in a recent report about children's programming on Netflix. Juenger conducted a focus group with mothers and discovered that they really like Netflix as a source of entertainment for their kids, especially since they can put it on whenever they want—and that kids are growing accustomed this. To hear Juenger talk about it, you'd think this was both surprising and bad (it's neither). His advice to the providers of children's programming? Stop this trend immediately:
His advice for entertainment companies is to be cautious about how much kids programming they make available to the online video streaming provider and in which windows. "We remain firm in our belief Viacom and Walt Disney should limit their content availability on Netflix," Juenger wrote.
...
"Moms are increasingly directing their kids to alternative viewing modes for content control, commercial avoidance and time management," Juenger summarized the findings. "The moms we talked to originally subscribed to Netflix for themselves, but have recognized the dwindling supply of content for adults and are now using the service primarily for their kids…The content selection is perceived to be significantly better for kids than for adults, and the lack of commercials and ability to control the viewing choices are seen as positives.”
According to the analyst, the focus groups described children as device agnostic, "happily watching on TV sets, tablets, computers, even phones, with indifference." The result: “Our concern regarding Viacom and Disney’s kids’ networks has been reinforced,” Juenger said. “Viacom and Disney should do everything in their power to steer viewership toward modes with the best long-term economics, namely traditional TV and emerging forms of TV Everywhere VOD.”
Yes, he's confirmed that the "lack of commercials and ability to control the viewing choices are seen as positives", in case anyone in Hollywood was still clinging to the hope that consumers would grow to hate those things. And yes, kids are "happily watching" on a variety of devices, and we can't have that, can we? Some might respond to the observation of a clear consumer preference in young children by trying to embrace that change early (if anything Hollywood does with technology can be called "early" at this point) but Juenger thinks they're better off trying to hold back the tide, or at least redirect it into their proprietary canals.
The funniest part is that suggesting Disney and Viacom should try to "steer viewership" is appealing to the very power such companies are losing. Big media empires don't get to "steer viewership" the way they used to, and that's exactly why these new distribution methods represent a threat to them. Juenger is suggesting they keep the sinking ship afloat by tying it to... itself. That's not going to work.
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Filed Under: on demand, todd juenger
Companies: disney, netflix, viacom
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Heres to waiting for the dinosaurs to die off
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I see exactly the phenomenon described in the article happening in our family. The variety of programming gives parents plenty of choices, and there is some very good content to choose from. There are no commercials for sugared breakfast cereal or toys. The content is good enough to be the basis of a lot of family discussions.
The one thing I have noticed is the fierce brand loyalty the kids and the whole family develop to the shows they watch. There is a ton of merchandise being sold for even minor programs. If Disney wants to cut itself off from the kids market, I can't think of a more effective method than the one that Juenger recommends.
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A Better Family Breakfast (to fogbugzd, #22)
One interesting item is what Nikki Goldbeck called The Kibbutz Meal, a kind of cold smorgasbord for breakfast, with almost no cooking required. You take about twenty assorted pots and jars and bowls, representing all major food groups, out of the refrigerator, and put them on the table, and let everyone help themselves. Afterwards, you put everything back in the refrigerator again, and use it for supper, or for breakfast the next day. Eggs are present in the form of hard-boiled eggs (cooked in bulk in advance, and kept in the refrigerator), and there's an assortment of salad vegetables, various dairy products, preserved fish (sardines, herring, etc.), various kinds of bread, and presumably you could add cold cuts if you liked. There is a discard bowl for eggshells, rinds, etc., simplifying clean-up. If some of the vegetables start looking a bit "fatigued," you pull them, and use them for soup or stew instead. Obviously, this system is a fussy eater's delight.
Advertisers and television executives would hate The Kibbutz Meal. It's completely unbranded.
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Just touch yourself at night.
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-1 for Family Guy
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Idiot
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Netflix's online portion gives parents a lot of control over their children's watching.
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Viacom & Disney?
We the people decide what we want to watch and when. Not you.
If you are unwilling to adapt then your business will die off. Its that simple.
Time to move over and let the next generation blaze a new trail.
People first; shareholders and corporations dead last.
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Re: Viacom & Disney?
Oh, now there's a brilliant business model... You had it almost perfectly worked out then you say something that completely opposes what you had correct.
Shareholders first, last, and every point in between.
That kind of necessitates that you stay in business, yeah? Which means you have to know what people want and sell it to them. Not because you give a damn about what they want but because it will make money for your shareholders. That absolutely requires they go by what you said prior to the quoted sentence.
The big media aren't dicks for trying to make money, though they are for the anti-capitalistic tactics they use. They're morons for not knowing how to keep making money or cowards for knowing how and being too afraid to do it.
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http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/04/17/shareholders-reject-citi-pay/
http://blogs. wsj.com/deals/2012/06/25/could-the-u-k-s-shareholder-spring-cross-the-pond/
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Sage Advice
I couldn't agree more.
The likes of Viacom and Disney should limit their content availability on Netflix (et al) right down to zero. It's long past time those dinosaurs and their ilk died.
Memo to the mentally aged: This is the 21st Century ffs.
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Video On Demand
Not that it makes much difference here in Australia where we have catch-up TV and not much else.
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Re: Video On Demand
In the natural way, when it is time to die, it dies off naturally, an imposed one somebody, somewhere keeps it alive harming the natural flow.
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Not that it makes much difference here in Australia where we have catch-up TV and not much else."
Easy solution, use a mediacenter program like XBMC and addons that let you access all those different sites from one interface (commercials and all). It works fine for HULU.
But I do believe it's too late, the ship has sailed, the genie is out of the bottle, big content missed the boat, the void has been filled with easy to access and nearly impossible to track infringing content.
I would be willing to watch commercials again but NOTHING would ever motivate me to return to cable. It would be like going back to using an icebox after using a refrigerator.
A rant brought to you by a citizen of the 21st century.
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They always made their money doing this, and change is bad!
VHS was going to destroy them!!!!
Yet they created artificial demand for their product on tape and made more money than before.
DVD sales let them pump forced commercials onto the masses and collect some more money for each disc sold.
Now offering just the content without all of the extra fluff is what the consumers want, it is much easier to say we have to stop this!!!! than to spend the time figuring out how to make it work.
You do not want an entire generation running around feeling entitled to getting content how, where, and when they want it... they might expect it as they grow older. And that could lead to them looking at alternate sources for the material like their parents did.
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And then...
Gotta love the "logic" behind MAFIAA's reasoning; "we don't want to let our content be distributed but then we blame when people "steals" it".
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Oh, and stealing requires that someone be deprived of something. What you meant to say was "nothing gives you the right to commit copyright infringement".
Just wanted to help you out there, stupid.
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Copying is not theft because no property is lost.
Second, and most stupid thing is content cartels creating something and not expanding their distribution platforms, if the content has a big target audience and it has created a fan base, you don't limit the access to the content, that's ultimately stupid, as I said before; how are they expecting people to buy their stuff if they are NOT trying to sell it? THAT'S STUPID, rejecting a distribution tool way more efficient like the internet is istupid because you are depriving their target audience of the content they are suposedly trying to sell.
Then they equate infringement and theft, and say that "piracy" is killing their business. If they limit the access to their content, people will try to find ways to access their content, it is not stealing, it is a consequence for a bad distribution model, "piracy" or infringement is caused by the LACK of legal options in this case.
Seriously, if you can't get a handle on this you have no hope.
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its something that is easy to do but hard to stop and it only hurts idiots
if u trolls want to complain to nature about making the wrong choice in this matter, mind bringing up how over eating makes me fat is stupid
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P.S. stupid.
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My parents would have watched the new Dallas, but it's on a cable channel they don't get and it's not available on Hulu. Oh, well. I guess Dallas looses two pairs of eyeballs they might have had. My parents might watch it online/on Hulu. but they are certainly not going to subscribe to a higher cable plan. Trying to steer people to cable TV fails, and Dallas becomes completely irrelevant, in this case.
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With Netflix, the incumbents can leverage their massive back catalog (something especially true with children's programming) to capture the long tail of viewers, without worrying about the friday night lineup, changing schedules and demographics, or syndication. This should be seen as utterly fantastic and a way out of the corner they're being painted into, but instead it's nothing but passive aggression and walled gardens as the current players refuse to realize that Netflix is actually providing value, and not just making money off of the content they provide.
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Re: Netflix is actually providing value, and not just making money off of the content they provide.
that Netflix is "stealing" money they should be getting.
Customers being willing to pay more for the same content just because it is available
at a time and place of their choosing fills their heads with the delusion that they
did not charge Netflix enough for that content, totally ignoring that Netflix
and Hulu add value by providing the content on demand.
Not being able to adjust what content and when to match what customers are willing
to pay for is why potential customers move into piracy initially and the Media companies'
arrogant atitude assures that those potential customers will never submit to their abuse again.
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Because limiting content availability is SUCH a good idea...
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Obviously not a parent
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The parents who had much more immunity due to being sprayed by some umbilical juices at birth called it being a little fussy. The kid would stand in the middle of her detonation space and inhale for a solid 6 seconds, like a single WHOOOOooooooooooooooooooop. This was your last warning.
Then the screams would start, staccato, long pulsing shrieks, I swear this kid was screaming in three pitches at once. I never saw one take less than 20 minutes, the kid was Avatar deprived for the time the FBI warning took to play. The other 18 minutes was pure rage. These people carried 6 copies of Pocahontas at all times.
"Moms are increasingly directing their kids to alternative viewing modes for content control, commercial avoidance and time management" No, it's to avoid scream bombs, and it's NOT new, there are many worn out multiple copies of VCR tapes that reek of pablum.
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TV Analyst Fail
Oh wait, you did not come to any correct conclusions, anyway. Hmm. How long have you been a TV analyst for? Is anybody foolishly paying you for your analytical skills?
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Anyways, they do know what commercials are, they are the point in the show to get up and ask for more water or go to the bathroom etc.
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Go Disney!! NOT!
This is actually a pretty good idea if you're looking to turn people to piracy that is.
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The Iron Price
And then you're wondering why people pay the Iron Price?
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How do I get THAT job?
SWEET
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2. Notice what Trends my employers want to see
3. Give faulty recommendations based on 2.
4. ???
5. Profit!
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Another bloody brain fart
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"Go on..."
"We should go back to the old days, limit access to our content as much as possible, and say to our customers that the way they're viewing content is wrong. It doesn't matter at all what they want, they're just the unwashed masses".
At this point, I'm not surprised that the higher ups at Disney are okay with this sort of thinking, that actively saying that you will deny customer demand is somehow a good thing.
Analyst Guy - If your customers clearly want to watch their shows on Netflix, LET THEM! However, if you limit access, DO NOT and I repeat, DO NOT come back crying woeful tales of piracy destroying your company.
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sidenote: Happy Treason Day Everyone!
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Nothing to see here
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http://torrentfreak.com/acta-is-dead-after-european-parliament-vote-120704/
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http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2012/PR17.12E.html
We don't celebrate the 4th of July here in Europe (read: no skipping work), but this is turning out to be a great day regardless ;)
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HAHAAAAA
HAHAHA ya ok ....no really lets get kids downloading cause what? they can control that cause they got isps bent over ?
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@13
seriously awful...lol
don't worry its its last bread winner and its slowly dying off....
people with a brain get ready for the revolution
me and others are teaming up to do the sci fi you love or we think you might....
and it will all be free with a donate button
4 seasons of one show are written , the sketching is ongoing
and the only thing left is to garner some voices for the animations....
we don't need actors we just need voices....
i got that covered too. also coming from our realm will soon be games for free too.....
if the corporates cant give me entertainment ill make it....
and im gonna do something unique and ive seen aspects of it from book authors....
( ya i have an editor LOL ) and im part of the new generation that will replace the old....and ill write a new license called GO the heck ahead and do as you want ....screw creative commons and attribution enjoy recreate and have fun, also as i go ill release new meshes and imagery and tutorials so everyone can do it.....its not about making money its about the art, then this is what one must do....opensource the making and doing and sharing....
I am what hollywood fears....I am the NEW FOX PIRATE....and i don't care about them.
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The who penned this report works for TiVo
"We remain firm in our belief Viacom and Walt Disney should limit their content availability on Netflix... So that everyone will still use TiVo.
http://www.thearf.org/am-speaker-juenger
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I wonder if it is the same people that still pay AOL for email.
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Are these people using the same Netflix I am?
I think the biggest challenge to cutting the cord is the aforementioned childrens programming. Disney et al is already keeping it away from Netflix. They don't need anyone to tell them to.
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Meta: stale cache?
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That way I have something left over to get me thru the times like this and the weekends.
Come Monday morning the spasms and shaking are barely noticeable.
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Not seeing their own words
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Circular argument?
OK, so Mr Consultant comes along and writes the report his employers mostly want to hear then...right at the end as he recommends continuing the stare into the rear view mirror be also adds VOD. Which, in many ways, is what Netflix is. Hulu too if they'd recognize that the border between Canada and the States has never really existed when it comes to broadcast and who cares anyway? (We even get the same ads now!) He may, of course, be referring to an as yet imaginary VOD service for Disney and Viacom only.
As others have asked "how much was he paid for this"?
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/MAFIAA
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This idea about steering viewers is completely out of date. I like the new show Longmire on A&E, but by 10 pm on a Sunday, I'm ready to hit the sack. So I record it and watch at a more convenient time.
From my point-of-view, traditional TV does not represent a medium with the best long-term economics.
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they might be able to do this and force people to watch their shows on tv today. but 5 years down the road they will find themselves completely irrelevant, and with tons of competition.
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SIXTEEN parents in total?
Can we get "Juengering" into the lexicon?
One who is guilty of Juengering has an overwhelming wish to be named in a "news" article, despite any and all indication(s) that the conclusion(s) drawn are unlikely to be representative of fact.
This would fit nicely alongside "Streisand effect" and "Carreon effect" and be of great use when discussing Chiefs of Police who equate IP addresses with SWAT targets, LEOs who believe recording their public duties is illegal, et cetera.
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Kids will now only be asking for action figures of characters as-seen-on Netflix.
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Big content to consumers: "You do not have a choice in what you'll watch, when you'll watch it, or to ignore any detail of the entire broadcast including its commercial advertising."
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Proper Frame of Reference
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Really?
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And I LOVE it when TV analysts try to make my life more difficult and miserable!
Is there a company more in touch with their customers then these guys?
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Netflix
I bought my wife an IPAD this year and now she watches her shows online. We stopped watching our DirecTV, so I cancelled it 10 months ago. Netflix for $8 plus purchasing TV shows via ITUNES is alot cheaper than the $95 DirecTV bill.
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Of COURSE streaming content is a threat to their "industry models"!! They can't dictate what propaganda our children watch if it's uncommercialized and on-demand, now can they?? Instead of shoving their penises--I MEAN, their "religion" (see http://www.lolzilla.net/images/65833384040483307357.jpg for clarification) down our kids' throats, they see us lowly parents as being to stupid to properly edumacate our kidlets ("YOU MUST BUY OUR CRAP", "YOU MUST WATCH ONLY WHAT WE TELL YOU TO WATCH", "YOU MUST LISTEN TO WHAT THE OVERLOARDS SAY AND DO IT", "YOU MUST PAY FULL PRICE FOR EVERYTHNG WE DEEM TO BELONG TO US", "ARGUMENT NOT ALLOWED").
Yeah, it makes turning us into shuffling, lockstepping, zombie drone slaves SO much harder!! :tard:
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