Pay-TV is under assault from a pincer movement, on the one hand losing subscribers to cord cutting and on the other growth slowing due to cord-nevers (Digital Natives with no interest in subscribing to traditional pay-TV).  Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and others welcome these consumers with open arms. The result is a steady erosion of audience share for traditional TV operators which in turn disrupts the TV networks that rely on them for distribution. TV Everywhere (TVE) strategy is the pay-TV industry’s response to the streaming insurgents and has begotten a host of channel apps.  TVE is still work in progress, racked by licensing tensions that could ultimately see studios and networks using it as a means to bypass TV operators in order to sell direct to the end user.

Companies mentioned in this report: A+E Networks, ABC, Apple, Amazon, AT&T, CBS, Comcast, Direct TV, Dish, Fox Networks, Foxtel, Google, HBO, Hulu, NBC, Netflix, Sky, TED, Telenet, Time Warner Cable, the Huffington Post, The Walt Disney Company, The Weather Company, Vevo, Xfinity