Episode 162: Olympic Viewership Numbers; Apple TV F1 and MLS News; Akamai Earnings; OpenAI Ads Wrongly Compared to Netflix

This week, we discuss why a "unified streaming stack" is not the same as combining two streaming services, despite media reports that HBO Max and Paramount+ will merge into a single DTC service shortly. As we break down the latest details of the proposed Paramount and WBD deal, we speculate on the layoff impact across both companies, as Paramount tells bankers it expects to see billions in cost savings while telling employees the savings target will be realized mostly through non-personnel means.We also cover the launch of F1 on Apple TV, Versant Media's full-year 2025 earnings, Sling TV losing 167,000 subs in Q4, NBCU not planning to publish Super Bowl viewership numbers for Peacock/digital, and YouTube in talks to stream four more live NFL games. Finally, we detail that, due to rising costs for servers, RAM, SSDs, and energy, Akamai has notified customers and partners of upcoming surcharges and contract renewal adjustments.Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, we discuss the latest Olympics viewership numbers on Peacock and debate whether Peacock's offer to give me a 72% discount on the service for six months to keep me as a subscriber is beneficial to the company's long-term viability. We cover the latest Apple TV news, including MLS, which kicked off the season this week; Apple's launch of its new dedicated Formula 1 channel in the Apple TV app; and the news that IMAX will show five major Formula 1 Grands Prix in their theatres. We also detail the new ultra-low-latency technology behind Comcast’s 30 Mbps upscaled 4K Super Bowl Stream, called RealTime4K, the workflow, and the supported devices. Finally, on the infrastructure side, we cover the latest numbers from Akamai's Q4 and full-year 2025 earnings, as well as the news that it will no longer break out delivery revenue. In addition, we detail the numbers from CDN Netskrt, which has broken out its network capacity, capital-to-revenue ratio, and the unique factors behind its underlying costs.Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, I discuss my review of Peacock's Super Bowl stream, which was executed flawlessly, along with some of the limited viewership numbers released to date. I also detail the new live TV bundles from YouTube TV, the launch of HBO Max in the UK and Ireland and a new bundle from Sky that includes Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix, and Hayu. I cover earnings results from Roku (full-year revenue up 15%), AMC Networks (AMC+ price increase), Optimum (lost 49,000 pay-TV subs), Amagi (which had its IPO last month) and positive earnings from Fastly and Cloudflare, with Fastly stock up 116% in the week of earnings.Finally, with the hyperscalers projected to collectively spend close to $700 billion in capex in 2026, I break down what we are seeing in the bond market for their capital raise, the risks, and why analysts expect free cash flow to plummet this year.Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

Filippo Maria De Salazar, General Manager of the Brightcove business, sat down with me for a detailed conversation on the state of the business, one year after the Bending Spoons acquisition. Filippo discusses Brightcove's size, its structure under the Bending Spoons umbrella, and the benefits Brightcove derives from being part of a larger software and engineering company. We also discuss Brightcove's business, including OTT services for media customers and video use cases for enterprise customers tied to marketing and communications. Finally, Filippo details Brightcove's roadmap, highlighting the new functionality already added to the platform and the 2026 product roadmap they released publicly earlier in the month.Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, I detail the numbers you should know from Q4 2025 earnings results from Netflix, Amazon, Fubo, FOX, YouTube, Comcast, and Disney. I cover subscriber additions, profit and loss, Fubo's plans for a reverse stock split, the latest on its carriage dispute with NBCUniversal, and the latest cord-cutting numbers. With the NFL and ESPN deal now closed, giving Disney control of the NFL Network and other NFL Media assets, I break down the terms, the additional content Disney gets, what the deal is worth, and how it is structured. I also cover viewership numbers from Paramount's first UFC stream, with 7 million households in the U.S. and Latin America having tuned in, and Crunchyroll raising prices across some of its tiers in the U.S. Finally, I give the latest news on the Netflix and WBD deal, with Netflix's co-CEO, Ted Sarandos, testifying before the US Senate’s antitrust subcommittee.On the vendor side, I detail the exact extent of Vimeo's layoffs, share my thoughts on Brightcove's 2026 product roadmap, and provide financial figures for CDN and infrastructure provider Gcore, which showed significant revenue growth over the past two years.Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, I detail viewership numbers from Prime Video’s exclusive stream of the NFL Wild Card playoff game, making it the most-streamed NFL game in the U.S., as well as those from Peacock’s exclusive NFL game on December 27th. I also review the latest subscription numbers for RTL+ and TF1+, as well as the recent price increases from Paramount+ and Spotify. Additionally, I discuss the new Amazon content deals with M6 in Europe and RTVE in Spain, involving live linear channels. Finally, I explain why the Metaverse was never real and just a fantasy of executive egos with money to burn, and detail Stats Perform's acquisition of the assets of the ultra-low-latency tech company Phenix Real Time Solutions for approximately $7 million.Added Jan 20th: Correction: I mispoke regarding Paramount's efforts to compel WBD to disclose additional financial information. The judge has not rejected Paramount's efforts, but rather rejected the motion to expedite the trial.Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, we discuss news that FIFA has partnered with TikTok to allow select media partners to live-stream parts of matches from the FIFA World Cup, with limited details on what exactly that means. We also review the latest viewership numbers for NFL and NBA games across Netflix, Peacock, and Prime Video, while noting that ESPN (Disney), CBS (Paramount), and FOX don't disclose the percentage of NFL regular-season viewership that comes from streaming. Finally, we cover Dish countersuing Walt Disney Co. and ESPN, Comcast spinoff Versant going public on the Nasdaq, and WBD’s board once again rejecting Paramount's latest bid.Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, I wrap up the year with a review of NFL streaming during the holiday week across Netflix, Prime Video, ESPN and Peacock, with no major QoE issues reported. I also highlight ESPN's data-enhanced MNF telecast, featuring a well-designed stats overlay that was informative and not obtrusive. Finally, I wrap up with a few news items from Amazon, Sling TV, and Netflix, a recap of traffic to my posts, and a thank you to readers and listeners for what has been 30 years for me in the streaming media industry.Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, we highlight the NFL's distribution strategy during the Christmas holiday, with five games played, none of which will be broadcast nationally on broadcast TV, during some of the year's largest viewership windows. We cover the news that Instagram is launching an app for TVs, rolling out first on Amazon's Fire TV devices in the U.S. and suggest that many in the media are making this out to be bigger CTV ad news than it is, when selling ads in an 8-minute video on YouTube and a 15-second video on Instagram are very different.We detail how Amazon Prime Video has removed AI recaps from certain shows after users reported errors and why AI is absolutely overhyped in its deployment in the streaming video stack, with almost no examples of how well it works, what it costs to implement, or proof that it works at scale. Finally, we cover the latest news about YouTube, ESPN, Netflix, JioStar, Crunchyroll, FIFA, Brightcove, and Fastly.Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

Rob Koenen, Founder and CBO of Tiledmedia, the company that built the multiview player for F1, joined me for a detailed conversation about the latest multiview deployments across the OTT industry. Rob and I discuss the different technical approaches to building multiview functionality, the trade-offs of each, and the challenges of delivering multiview across so many devices. We cover latency, the impact of limited bandwidth, customizing multiview layouts and the challenges in offering a multiview option that's scalable and personalized.Podcast produced by Security Halt Media