44  WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL NOVEMBER 29, 2019  45

SWEET STREAMS
TELEVISION VIEWERSHIP Service for years ending in September R R FOUR QUESTIONS WITH
While over-the-air viewership is relatively flat of late and cable is down, consumers are watching more streaming
content — and, more importantly, per the bottom graphic, spending ever more for digital subscriptions in recent years.
Streaming Over the air Cable-plus
87.2%
85.9
83.9
80.4
76.4

The way we watch content is changing faster than anyone could imagine
BY CAROLYN M. PROCTOR | cmproctor@bizjournals.com | @WBJBookofLists

This year, for the first time ever, more people paid for streaming online video services than subscribed to traditional services like cable or satellite
television. Netflix may be the most popular streaming service, but an ever-growing number of other services are available, including Hulu, Amazon
MIGUEL
Prime Video, HBO Now and the newly launched Disney+. So, what’s going on with traditional cable channels, and for that matter, traditional MONTEVERDE
network TV, especially given that some of their most popular programming can also be viewed digitally? What’s to keep viewers invested and Senior vice president and general
manager of WETA Greater Washington,
convince them not to cut the cord? Well, for some TV executives, as the saying goes: If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. on the streaming revolution:

What do you see as your

11.0 12.2 12.7

10.7
12.9
1 current edge against streaming
competition? As a local broadcaster,
10.5%
ENTERTAINMENT SUBSCRIPTIONS IN 2019 we have a unique understanding of
Binge-watching is officially in, folks. It’s clear that as of this year, streaming video has gained traction among viewers of all ages, but particularly the crucial millennial 3.9 5.4 the 6 million viewers in the D.C. area,
2.2% 3.1
population, which overwhelmingly opts for it over paid television, according to data by consulting firm Deloitte. can fill our air time with content suited
specifically to their interests and tastes,
Gen Z Millennials Gen X All ages 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 and can create original local programing
SOURCE: Nielsen produced just for them.

What’s a new product you’re

57%
HOW PEOPLE WATCH TV In 2018, by home distribution channel
2 launching to compete? On Dec.
1, we’re launching a change to our on-air
51 schedule to add nearly five new hours of
Several times 2-3 times
67 Every day a week Once a week a month or fewer Never news and public affairs programming to
our daily broadcast. While many viewers
65 Pay TV 33% 22% 9% 19% 17% are watching their favorite programs
PAY TV on-demand, when they do turn on their
Online subscription 20 22 8 21 29
TV for live programming, increasingly
EST/VOD 3 5 4 23 65 it’s for news and information. We think
80% Physical disc 4 6 5 35 50 we will be super-serving the news- and
public affairs-hungry D.C. audience.
88 SOURCE: MPAA
What’s a new strategy you’re
77
3 considering? We are considering
investing even more in locally oriented
STREAMING VIDEO 69 SPENDING ON HOME ENTERTAINMENT content for WETA. We have several
BY FORMAT In millions Physical (e.g. disc) Digital BY PAYMENT In millions Transactional Subscription concepts for new shows that would
showcase all the great things about
17.5 living in the D.C. area that could
58%
potentially become the foundation for a
60 14.1 much more locally focused network.
$13.0 13.3
12.3
47 11.4 11.6 How else might your TV content

STREAMING MUSIC 41
$10.3
9.1 8.9
10.5 10.4 10.0 4 change in the next five years?
In the TV business, it’s always hard to
7.6 8.0 7.8
6.8 predict the future beyond the next two
5.8 5.7 or three years, but it’s not inconceivable
4.9
52 that WETA could grow viewership quite
substantially over the next several years
53 as a local broadcaster, remaining laser-
focused on producing and broadcasting
33 local programming to D.C.-area
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 residents that they aren’t able to find on
GAMING 30 SOURCE: Deloitte SOURCE: Digital Entertainment Group any of the streaming services.

A CONVERSATION WITH there might be hundreds of channels. over the air. So Tegna recently acquired we launched. We’ve done, I think, collectively tens of billions of dollars on I wouldn’t go that far. I think the trend
But as that bundle becomes smaller and Justice [Network] and Quest, two of the six podcasts so far in the true crime original programming per year. They lines are pretty clear. But people are
ADAM OSTROW Chief digital officer, Tegna Inc.
skinnier, local TV stations are kind of one
of the essential things, for anyone trying
leading multitask channels.
R What else are you doing differently
genre that have been downloaded
millions of times. Probably the most
need content, right? So we think there’s
a big opportunity for Tegna and our
consuming content more than ever
before. I think they’re just doing it in new
Tegna Inc. is a $2.2 billion public company that owns multiple local news stations to compete in that space. So we actually notable is a project we did called Vault initiative to be a supplier. and different ways.
now? We want to be a supplier of
around the country. But it knows it must change up its approach when dealing with think we’re in a good position. “Bardstown,” which is based in Kentucky
content to companies like Netflix, but R How else are you changing your R What else is on your horizon? I
competition from streaming content providers. The Tysons company is embarking — five unsolved murders with kind
R What’s your company’s reaction to it’s kind of thinking about our assets in strategy? We also think about, in terms think we know we need to reinvent the
on several new initiatives, per an interview with Chief Digital Officer Adam Ostrow. of interesting potential connections
all the cord-cutting? We are looking a different way. So, Netflix doesn’t offer of consumption patterns, how critical product. And I think we need to do
Read on to see what he said, edited for space and clarity. between them. The Vault team
at new opportunities that these trends our TV stations, but what we do have to a role mobile is now playing. The shift things to appeal to younger audiences.
are creating. One is, as people cut the offer is original content. We created a produced that in association with WHAS, over the last few years in the number of It’s a competitive landscape — people
cord, there are skinny bundles that division within the company that we call which is our station in Louisville, and people accessing Tegna’s content via have more choices than ever when it
R How do you see R Is any of your content available services. So you can stream our stations that was the No. 1 true crime podcast in

Q
are growing, but you’re also seeing in Vault Studios. And what that focuses on mobile devices has been enormous. So comes to content. So we need to focus
& your stations as streaming now? There are companies today. the last several years a lot of growth in is taking all the true crime stories that all of Apple for a period of time. we’ve also invested in digital content on reinventing the consumer experience

A
competitive against like Netflix that are providing R And how is that going? When people using antennas again, over- our stations do — in some cases, true R Do you see that effort evolving and digital products. We launched new of local TV. And that isn’t just about
streaming services? entertainment on demand, but then you’re watching a new skinny-bundle the-air consumption. And they do that crime stories from our archives, going into anything else down the road? mobile apps for all of our stations this what we put on television, but it’s also
Our content is unique you also have what are being called streaming service, local channels are because maybe they have Netflix but back many years — and turn that into The goal is to eventually turn that year that have been really well received. about how we use digital platforms,
in that it’s local news, streaming “skinny bundles,” if you will one of the things that viewers demand they still want to get their local stations. new original programming. into programming for streaming. And We have focused a lot on growing our or websites or apps, how we engage
it’s live and we have — things like YouTube TV, and Swing the most. It’s a skinny bundle in that And there’s also, as part of that, what you’re starting to see this happen in audience on YouTube. in social media — those all play an
brands that people know, and have and Hulu Live. And Tegna and our R What kind of programming?
there’s a lot fewer channels on it than we call multitask channels — those are We started with podcasting when the media landscape more broadly, R Do you think cable is going away? important role in setting us up for the
known for a long time. TV stations are generally on all those your traditional cable package, where additional channels that you can receive where streaming services are spending future.