1. The Comedian, The President and The Great Big Mess
So, let’s start off by saying it’s not a good thing when the President of the United States appears to be able to get TV networks to fire comedians over jokes he did not like.
That’s sort of a given, especially when other networks are still employing anchors who speak out in favor of a latter-day Aktion T-4. (Google it.)
But the issues with late night TV are far more complex than the black and white pictures that you’re likely seeing on social media. And so once again, we bring you shades of gray.
Why It Matters
While social media seems convinced that Disney caved after yet another mean tweet, the Wall Street Journal suggests the real impetus may have come from Nexstar, in response to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.
Or, as they put it: "Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Kimmel during an interview with conservative political podcaster Benny Johnson Wednesday and suggested the regulatory agency could take action against the broadcast licenses of ABC-owned stations. Owners of some ABC TV stations, including large broadcasters Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair, told the network they were dropping the show."
And in case you’d forgotten why they’d want to please Carr, the two companies are looking for the FCC to not only approve their merger, but to void both the 39% rule and the rule that says no one can own more than one of the four largest stations in a market.
So when Carr goes on talk shows to criticize Kimmel, they are listening.
There’s another oddity around late night too, and that’s its time slot.
People just don’t stay up that late anymore. At least not on a school night. Which is why so much of late night is viewed as clips on YouTube, not live on TV. Which then brings up the question of how profitable late night is anymore.
Its main purpose at this point seems to be to show the various broadcasters how much value they are getting from the networks as part of their affiliation agreements— not just primetime, news and morning shows, but late night too.
So, in that sense, they may not want to give them up.
But as more and more viewing moves to streaming and hosts like Kimmel seem mainly relegated to clips, they may indeed be looking for a way to rid themselves of expensive hosts like Kimmel and appearing to cave to Trump is just a lucky strike extra.
Or an opportunity.
Take your pick.
What You Need To Do About It
If you’re an elected official, you need to let comedians be comedians. Their job is to say things you don’t want to hear, and their ability to allow voters to let off steam through laughter is valuable to both you and to the overall state of our democracy.
If you’re Disney: well that backfired.
No one is happy with you except maybe your accountants and the FCC still may not give you what you want. And now you’ve got the governor of Disneyland less than thrilled with you.
If you’re Jimmy Kimmel: start a podcast. It would be an instant hit and you’d fully control your destiny.
Something to think about.
2. How Korean TV Avoids Cord Cutting
I was in Seoul to deliver a keynote at the BCWW show this week and one of the topics we discussed in both the moderated Q&A afterwards and the press conference after that, was the state of FASTs in Korea.
Which is not all that great given that few people actually cut the cord, thus alleviating the need for free streaming anything.
And why is cord-cutting so rare in Korea? The fact that most pay-TV packages are less than $10/month likely has a lot to do with it.
Why It Matters
Korea pay TV isn’t cheap because it’s shoddy or stripped down. It's cheap because the system relies on multiple synergies.
To start, broadband penetration is near universal which means infrastructure costs are spread across massive urban populations, and service providers bundle TV with internet and mobile in a way that leaves pay TV prices very low.
Throw in a regulatory environment where public broadcasters like KBS and EBS are funded through license fees or electricity surcharges and costs come down even further.
Then there’s the fact that a lot of the content is locally produced (e.g. no expensive licensing deals with Hollywood), and the result is a model where $10/month is not a one-time promotional come-on, but rather, a sustainable price point.
Finally, factor in that the shows on broadcast TV are generally high quality and still quite culturally relevant, versus the U.S., where almost all of the most-buzzed about shows are on streaming.
The result is that no one bothers cutting the cord because there’s no reason for them to do so. The consumer value equation is such, that the kind of disruption we’ve seen in the U.S. is unlikely to ever take hold. It’s a reminder that sometimes what looks like consumer loyalty is really just consumer math.
Meaning that when the perceived value is greater than the perceived cost, people stick around.
What You Need To Do About It
If you are Korean TV, accept that FASTs are not going to grow as fast as they did in the US and that’s okay.
If you’re the rest of the world, embrace the notion that Korea is a great place to buy from, not sell to.
Alan Wolk is co-founder and lead analyst at the consulting firm TV[R]EV. He is the author of the best-selling industry primer, Over The Top: How The Internet Is (Slowly But Surely) Changing The Television Industry. Wolk frequently speaks about changes in the television industry, both at conferences and to anyone who’ll listen.
Week in Review is an opinion column. It does not necessarily represent the opinions of StreamTV Insider.