Highlighting a One Billion Dollar Question, Timely Alerts, and a 47 Year Old Singing Sensation

Since there’s been a gap between this and my last blog post I’ve decided to do a short recap of several stories that intrigued this analyst over the course of these past two months. Yes, there were lots of choices when it came to exciting or provocative stories, but in light of this economy what better place to start with than a one billion dollar question? Don’t worry we’ll end with the “feel good story” of the hour so you won’t have to dwell on the economy long after, so without further ado…

Just how much does one year of NFL games cost? About One Billion Dollars

Well, perhaps more accurately stated one billion dollars for the near exclusive rights to distribute all the NFL games for one year. These were the terms reached between the NFL and DirecTV to extend their contract another four years (2011-2014). In light of this economy was this too much? Will this be four billion dollars well spent?   

In the end the best answer – maybe.   This is certainly a hefty price, but when you consider what the NFL Sunday Ticket (ST) has meant to DirecTV, rationalizing this expense requires far less creativity. There has been much debate on whether or not the ST is or has been a loss leader (or a profitable venture) for DirecTV and with each price increase, most recently $400M, to $700M and now $1,000M per annum, the topic resurfaces as the necessary incremental growth in ST subscribers climbs in kind, albeit offset to some degree by increasing rates. Throw in the fact that more “free” NFL games find their way to National TV and one might start to question the sustainability of the ST at these prices. At the end of the day, however, the satellite companies, generally speaking, are fundamentally at a disadvantage to the MSOs and Telcos – at least in countries with adequate wired infrastructure. Without a robust data or return channel the satellite operators are missing two pieces to the vaunted “triple play,” not to mention negating anything higher like the quadruple or even “quintuple” plays. Even though the satellite operators have helped the Telcos complete their bundle, eventually this ride will come to an end as the Telcos’ respective IPTV footprints spread. 

Step in the NFL Sunday Ticket and DirecTV gains a legitimate differentiator, since exclusive, or near exclusive rights to sport programming are usually strong drivers for growth or customer retention – e.g. Bundesliga in Germany. And to this end, at least in part, DirecTV has enjoyed net quarterly subscriber gains while their satellite competitor (Dish Network) has posted net losses. Granted there are a myriad of other factors as well, but it’s hard to ignore the NFL Sunday Ticket – even if other operators get the “Red Zone Channel” in 2012 (and viewers over broadband where DirecTV is not available). So it is an intriguing development to say the least. But we move on to the next story, Twitter!

Twitter seems to have found the uncanny ability to surface in numerous facets of our daily lives; it’s mentioned in the mainstream media outlets, Hollywood (e.g. Ashton Kutcher and CNN “duel”), the professional world, and just about anywhere else including friends and family. And yet with all this buzz and media attention the story that piqued this analyst’s interest the most was an article discussing how several police departments have embraced Twitter as a way to quickly disseminate vital information and/or alerts.

At its core Twitter is a great means to quickly and efficiently transmit short pieces of information, which like any communication medium has many uses. The service is naturally a good fit for news organizations like CNN, who can bolster their breaking news and up-to-the minute image – while at the same time encouraging followers to tune into their televised programming or website to dig deeper into compelling stories. But police departments like the Lakeland, Florida, Police Department are using Twitter to convey time sensitive alerts and at times the all important “what to do” in emergencies. And even if a relevant recipient is not a follower of the police department’s Tweets there’s a chance their friends and/or family members might be, thusly completing the connection. This story speaks to the potential for mass, near real-time communication. In addition, this model could easily extend to areas outside news, alerts, and social updates. Twitter could also develop into an outlet for advertisements – for instance an electronics retailer could send special “Tweet sales” to their Twitter followers; who would also get occasional Tweets on new products or mass marketing promotions, nothing is free after all. 

And yes some of the faithful have decried this recent attention, singling out the potential demise of its “cultish” allure. While this may very well be the case, the transition from “avant-garde” to mainstream is likely more an organic step than a departure from its core values. Ok, maybe laying the avant-garde status on a micro-blog site is a bit much, but perchance, one day down the road, we will reflect back on these events and realize they were in fact pushing the envelope more than we initially surmised. Well on to the final story.

Undoubtedly many now know the name Susan Boyle, the 47 year old woman who reached sudden stardom after her appearance on “Britain’s Got Talent” reality TV show. Perhaps it was her stunning voice or “unconventional” TV image that has inspired so many to follow/pickup her story but irrespective of the circumstances the rapidity and extensiveness with which it has spread is quite remarkable. Her story is truly special but so too was the events that resulted in the 5-7 minutes of video diffusing throughout the various channels to reach a wide array of potential viewers. This is more than simple word-of-mouth or viral “marketing” this is truly an example of content filtering through all forms of communication: mass and one-to-one. 

And perhaps this is our future – one where we can expect to receive news feeds as they happen, chronicled by those living in that moment, or perhaps “local” content will simply mean where it originated from and less so where it is available. In any respect these markets are continuing to evolve and reshape our perceptions if not our expectations of communication, entertainment, and society.