Friday, February 24, 2006

A Contented My Network Is a Perpetual Feast

You've probably already heard about Fox's announcement for My Network TV, and you may have even read a few of the analyses. I just want to add my $0.02 to the pot.

Fox has an incredible opportunity for real market analysis this Fall. No focus groups. No questionnaires. No hypotheticals. Real market data. That opportunity really excites the stat geek in me.

My Network TV won't be available nationwide. Viewers in New York, LA, and Chicago will definitely see it. People in Boston and Philadelphia? Maybe not. In a way I hope that Fox keeps the roll-out of My Network TV limited to its one independent station and its nine former UPN stations this Fall.

Think about it.

Fox can present the same content:
  • for free at scheduled times on My Network TV;
  • for a rental fee on DirecTV Video-on-Demand (VOD) for satellite subscribers;
  • for a rental fee on DirecTV VOD online (streaming);
  • for a rental fee on DirecTV online (day pass download);
  • for an ownership fee on DirecTV online;
  • for an ownership fee on My Space pages for each series.
All Fox has to do is analyze utilization and demographic data to estimate content consumption habits. Fox can monitor the effects of:
  • access to free viewership;
  • access to DirecTV satellite service;
  • geographic location;
  • city size;
  • show type;
  • consumer age;
  • consumer income;
  • other consumer habits & attributes;
  • other series attributes;
  • maybe even price.
I just love the fact that Fox will be able to estimate the effects of the first four factors and really let the market determine what combination of content delivery methods satisfy the customer and generate significant revenue for Fox.

Take a look at a snippet from this article:
But he [News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch] did not sound convinced that selling Fox TV shows online was the answer. "We're in discussions with all major players in this arena and we'll announce deals when we're convinced they'll create real value," he said.
Maybe Murdoch is waiting for results from this real market study to determine their strategy.

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