Welcome to the 15th episode of “The Mediatwits,” the weekly audio podcast from MediaShift. The co-hosts are MediaShift’s Mark Glaser and Rafat Ali, the founder of PaidContent. This show is all about cord-cutters, people who like to watch TV without paying for cable or satellite TV (like Mark & Rafat). The big news is that Fox will not allow free streaming of its shows online for 8 days after airing unless you pay for Hulu Plus or can authenticate that you are paying for TV. Special guest Brian Stelter of the New York Times talks about the move by Fox and how ABC might make a similar move soon. Brian also talks about the streaming race between Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and others, as Netflix raises its rates and Hulu goes on the sale block.
Plus, the show covers recent moves by various app-makers who are stripping out the ability to buy books or subscribe to magazines within apps to keep from having to pay 30% to Apple. Apps for Kindle, Barnes & Noble and Kobo all have stripped out “buy” buttons and are directing people to buy outside the Apple ecosystem. Will others follow suit? Will a rush continue to develop web apps and HTML5 apps that get around Apple’s big bite out of revenues?
Check it out!
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Intro and outro music by 3 Feet Up; mid-podcast music by Autumn Eyes via Mevio’s Music Alley.
Here are some highlighted topics from the show:
Cutting the cord
0:25: ‘We hate Skype’ episode
1:50: Rafat uses Roku, Apple TV to stream Netflix, Amazon
5:10: Mark sometimes watches shows on iPad via Hulu Plus
6:25: Rundown of topics on the show
Fox restricts online streaming of shows
7:45: Background on Brian Stelter of the New York Times
9:45: Fox affiliates happy with this move
12:20: Will people get to watch the shows they want when they want (without cable)?
14:15: The pain of authenticating pay TV to see streaming services online
17:00: Can Netflix get more content?
18:20: Competitors like Amazon now targeting Netflix
21:10: HBO Go as an example of the future of streaming
Getting around Apple app restrictions
24:00: App makers strip out “buy” button to keep from giving 30% to Apple
26:00: Magazines pull “subscribe” buttons, look at web apps instead
27:20: Amazon’s Android tablet could break Apple’s chokehold
More Reading
Your Guide to Cutting the Cord to Cable TV at PBS MediaShift
Fox to Limit Next-Day Streaming on Hulu to Paying Cable Customers at NY Times
Fox TV Shows Get Pay Wall at WSJ
Fox Affiliates Pleased With Network’s Plan For Limited Streaming at B&C
Amazon Prime Follows CBS Deal With Movies From NBCUniversal at PaidContent
Big Cable Braces for a Lousy Quarter at AllThingsD
Netflix vs. Hulu – the screen battle at Variety
How Netflix, Hulu And Amazon Stack Up at PaidContent
Analysts: CBS Corp.-Amazon Streaming Deal Bodes Well for Sector Giants at Hollywood Reporter
Apple forces Amazon to alter Kindle app at CNET
Kobo creating HTML5 Web app to buffer Apple at CNET
Weekly Poll
Don’t forget to vote in our weekly poll, this time about how you like watching TV shows:
Note: The Mediatwits will be off on vacation for the next two weeks. Check back with us again the week of August 15.
Mark Glaser is executive editor of MediaShift and Idea Lab. He also writes the bi-weekly OPA Intelligence Report email newsletter for the Online Publishers Association. He lives in San Francisco with his son Julian. You can follow him on Twitter @mediatwit.